Chapter 10
Chapter 10: The Second Daughter
The door locked behind them.
Grace turned immediately.
Matteo tried the handle.
Nothing.
“It's electronically controlled,” Michael said.
Matteo looked at him.
“You've been here before.”
“For three years.”
The words settled heavily in the corridor.
Three years.
Matteo stared at his brother.
“They kept you here for three years?”
Michael nodded.
“I was moved between facilities.”
“Why didn't you escape?”
“I tried.”
Michael touched the scar beneath his jaw.
“They knew everything about me. Every place I might go. Every person I might contact.”
His eyes moved toward Dominic.
“And they knew exactly what would happen if I tried to reach you.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“You should have been told.”
“I know.”
The intercom crackled.
Sophia's voice returned.
“You have questions.”
Grace stepped toward the speaker.
“Where is my sister?”
A pause.
“Which one?”
Grace froze.
Michael looked at her.
Dominic's face changed.
Sophia continued.
“You have always been told there were two Bennett daughters. That was true. But there were three children connected to Evelyn.”
Grace's hands curled into fists.
“Where is Elena?”
“She is alive.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“That's not an answer.”
“It is the only answer you need for now.”
Grace looked at the cameras mounted in the ceiling.
“You kidnapped my family.”
Sophia laughed softly.
“No, Grace. I saved your family.”
“You murdered my father.”
“I did not.”
“Carlo did.”
“Carlo followed orders.”
“Yours.”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You've spent years manipulating everyone around you.”
“My son.”
Dominic stiffened.
“You call me that?”
“You are my son.”
“You abandoned me.”
“I protected you.”
Grace looked at Dominic.
He was trembling.
Not with fear.
With anger.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
Sophia's voice softened.
“Because I needed you to become someone they could not control.”
“Who?”
“You became exactly what Vittorio feared.”
Dominic gave a bitter laugh.
“And what did he fear?”
“A man who could inherit everything without needing anyone's permission.”
Grace looked at Michael.
“Why was he kept alive?”
Sophia answered.
“Because Michael is the only person who can prove the original succession.”
Grace frowned.
“Succession?”
“The Moretti estate was never supposed to pass through Vittorio.”
“Then who?”
“You.”
Grace felt the room shift beneath her.
Sophia continued.
“You are the legitimate heir.”
Dominic stepped closer to Grace.
“Don't listen to her.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother has always known how to turn truth into a weapon.”
Sophia laughed.
“Still defending people who lied to you.”
Grace looked toward the speaker.
“Why me?”
“Because your mother trusted you.”
“My mother barely knew me.”
“No.”
Sophia's voice became quieter.
“She knew exactly who you were.”
Grace's breathing slowed.
“What does that mean?”
“You were born with something your twin did not have.”
Grace's heart stopped.
“My twin.”
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
Sophia did not answer.
Grace stepped closer.
“Who is she?”
The intercom went silent.
Then a door opened at the end of the corridor.
A woman walked through.
She was approximately Grace's age.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
A small scar above her eyebrow.
She wore a simple gray coat.
Grace stared at her.
The woman stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then the woman whispered,
“Hello, Grace.”
Grace couldn't breathe.
She knew the voice.
Not from memory.
From the recording.
From the letters.
From the dreams she had never understood.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled sadly.
“My name is Sophia.”
Grace stepped backward.
“No.”
The woman shook her head.
“Not your grandmother.”
She touched her chest.
“Me.”
Dominic stared.
Michael whispered,
“She's here.”
Grace looked at him.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
Grace turned toward the woman.
“My twin.”
The woman nodded.
“My twin.”
Grace studied her face.
There were similarities.
The eyes.
The shape of the mouth.
The small crease that appeared between the eyebrows when thinking.
But there was something else.
A familiarity that made Grace's chest ache.
“What's your real name?”
The woman looked toward the ceiling.
“They gave me many.”
“That's not what I asked.”
She swallowed.
“My birth name was Grace.”
Grace stared.
“No.”
“They changed mine.”
“Why?”
“Because they couldn't have two Graces.”
Dominic's voice was quiet.
“Then who are you now?”
The woman looked at him.
“Isabella.”
Grace felt the name settle into place.
Isabella.
Her sister.
Her mirror.
The child who had supposedly never existed.
“What happened to you?”
Isabella looked down.
“Grandma took me.”
“Why?”
“Because I was sick.”
Grace frowned.
“Sick with what?”
“A heart condition.”
Grace remembered the hospital records.
The missing pediatric files.
The false death certificate.
Her mother had given birth to twins.
One was healthy.
One was sick.
Sophia had taken Isabella because she believed the family could save her.
But the family had not saved her.
They had used her.
Grace understood.
“You were the first beneficiary.”
Isabella nodded.
“Vittorio created the trust for me.”
Grace looked at Michael.
“And when you disappeared?”
“The trust became a secret.”
“Why transfer it to me?”
“Because Isabella was declared dead.”
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“I wasn't dead.”
Grace moved closer.
“Did Mom know?”
“Yes.”
“Did Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't they tell me?”
“Because Sophia threatened them.”
Grace looked at the speaker.
Her grandmother's voice returned.
“I told them that if they exposed Isabella, both children would disappear.”
Grace's hands trembled.
“You threatened your own grandchildren.”
“I protected the family.”
“No.”
Grace looked directly into the camera.
“You protected your power.”
Silence.
Then Sophia said:
“You sound like Evelyn.”
Grace's voice broke.
“Where is she?”
Sophia did not answer.
Isabella did.
“She is alive.”
Grace turned.
“Where?”
“On the island.”
“What island?”
Isabella looked at Dominic.
“Your family owns it.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“What island?”
“Bell Island.”
Michael stepped forward.
“No.”
Isabella looked at him.
“You've been there?”
Michael nodded.
“Once.”
“What happened?”
“I saw Evelyn.”
Grace's heart stopped.
“You saw Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Was she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she now?”
Michael looked toward the camera.
“She was taken from the island six days ago.”
Grace's blood ran cold.
“By Sophia?”
“No.”
Michael's voice dropped.
“By someone Sophia fears.”
The lights went out.
A siren began to sound.
Isabella grabbed Grace's hand.
“We have to leave.”
“Where?”
“Before they arrive.”
“Who?”
Isabella looked toward the locked door.
“The people who are coming for all of us.”
The first explosion shook the building.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Dominic grabbed Grace.
Matteo drew his weapon.
Michael moved toward the emergency exit.
May you like
And Isabella whispered,
“They found us.”
