Chapter 7 - The Sister I Lost Wasn't the Only Child My Mother Hid
Anton escaped before Matteo could reach the warehouse.
Leo was recovered safely.
But his final words stayed inside Alina's mind.
You were never supposed to survive.
She returned to the hospital.
Isabella was waiting.
Alina placed the old maternity record in front of her.
"Tell me the truth."
Isabella looked at the paper.
Then at Alina.
"There were two babies."
"My mother gave birth to twins?"
"Yes."
"What happened to the other?"
Isabella's eyes filled.
"You."
Alina stared.
"What?"
"You were the second baby."
"No."
"Sofia was not your sister by three years."
Alina's world shifted.
"What are you saying?"
"You were twins."
Alina sat.
All her memories suddenly felt false.
Two small beds.
A photograph she had never understood.
Her mother's habit of calling Sofia "my first moon."
A second silver moon bracelet.
There had always been two.
Isabella explained.
The birth was complicated.
Anton wanted a male heir.
When Elena gave birth to twin girls, Anton was furious.
He ordered one child removed.
Elena refused.
Sofia was hidden.
Alina was placed with another relative and the records were changed.
But something happened.
Anton discovered the truth.
He wanted both girls separated permanently.
Sofia's identity was altered.
Alina grew up believing she had an older sister.
In reality, they were twins.
Alina cried silently.
"Why did nobody tell me?"
"Because your mother thought memory would protect you."
"Memory?"
"You were very young."
Isabella placed another photograph on the table.
It showed two little girls.
One was Alina.
The other was Sofia.
Same eyes.
Same smile.
Same tiny moon bracelets.
Alina touched the picture.
"She knew."
"Yes."
"And when Sofia disappeared..."
"She was trying to protect you."
Alina closed her eyes.
"Why did Leo reach for me?"
Isabella smiled through tears.
"Because you and Sofia shared the same blood."
"That's it?"
"No."
She reached into a drawer.
A medical report.
"Leo's biological mother, Clara, was carrying twins."
Alina stared.
"Twins?"
"One died."
"Then why does this matter?"
"Because the surviving baby's DNA was manipulated."
Matteo entered the room.
He had heard enough.
"What does that mean?"
Isabella looked at him.
"Anton switched birth records."
Leo's identity was bigger than they thought.
He wasn't only the heir to Matteo's fortune.
He was the living evidence of a network built on stolen identities.
Children had been given new names.
Families had been erased.
Records rewritten.
Alina looked at Leo.
"Then why did Sofia leave him with me?"
"Because she knew the truth would eventually catch up."
Matteo crouched in front of her.
"Alina."
She looked at him.
"I lied to myself for years."
"No."
"I thought Sofia abandoned me."
"No."
"I thought she was dead."
"She wasn't."
"I thought my family was ordinary."
Matteo gently took her hand.
"It wasn't your fault."
She cried.
He stayed beside her.
No speeches.
No grand promises.
Just stayed.
Later that night, they received a call.
A voice spoke through distorted static.
"Blue Moon."
Alina froze.
"Sofia?"
A pause.
Then:
"Alina."
She collapsed into tears.
"Where are you?"
"Not safe."
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay."
"Come home."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because Anton isn't working alone."
Matteo stepped closer.
"Who is with him?"
Sofia breathed.
"The man closest to you."
Alina looked around.
"Who?"
"I can't say."
"Then how do we find you?"
"Follow the moon."
The line died.
Matteo looked at Alina.
"We have another clue."
A silver moon symbol had been painted on the hospital wall.
Under it was a direction.
North.
Two hours later, they reached an abandoned mountain chapel.
The door opened.
Sofia stepped into the light.
Alina forgot how to breathe.
She was older.
Thinner.
There was a scar near her temple.
But it was Sofia.
Her twin.
Her other half.
Alina ran to her.
They collided.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Then Sofia whispered, "I'm sorry."
Alina cried into her shoulder.
"You should have come home."
"I wanted to."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because I discovered who was helping Anton."
"Who?"
Sofia pulled back.
Her eyes moved toward Matteo.
"I didn't know if I could trust him."
Matteo stiffened.
"Why?"
"Because someone has been feeding information to your enemies."
"Who?"
Sofia looked at Alina.
Then at Leo.
May you like
And whispered:
"Your best friend."
