Chapter 8 - THE DNA TEST
Daniel survived.
The bullet had grazed his shoulder, and he was taken to a hospital under police protection. Vincent escaped before officers could secure the building, leaving behind a gun and a trail of blood that ended near the road.
Lily sat in the hospital waiting room beside Isabella.
Neither woman spoke for nearly an hour.
Finally, Isabella broke the silence.
“If the records are true, one of us was raised under the wrong identity.”
Lily looked at her.
“Does that change who you are?”
“No. But it changes everything I thought I knew about my family.”
Lily understood.
Her mother's love had never depended on a name or a birth certificate. But the people who had controlled the family had treated identity like property, something that could be transferred, hidden, or destroyed whenever it suited them.
When Daniel was stable, Lily asked to speak with him.
Lorenzo stayed outside the room.
Daniel looked exhausted.
“Did you find the missing page?” Lily asked.
“No.”
“Do you know what it said?”
He hesitated.
“It identified the child who was transferred. I memorized the name years ago, but I never knew whether the record was genuine.”
“Tell me.”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“Not until the DNA results are confirmed. I won't risk another person's life based on a document your grandfather could have falsified.”
Lily wanted to argue, but she recognized the fear beneath his caution.
“Then we'll test it.”
An independent laboratory agreed to compare DNA samples from Lily, Isabella, and the available family reference samples. The attorney supervised the collection and documented every step.
The results would take several days.
In the meantime, Lorenzo tightened security around the apartment and the hospital. He also turned over financial records linking Vincent to several unauthorized payments.
For the first time, he agreed to cooperate with investigators without trying to control the outcome.
One evening, Lily found him alone on the apartment balcony.
He was looking at a photograph of Matteo.
“Do you miss him?” she asked.
Lorenzo slipped the photograph back into his pocket.
“I miss the brother I thought I knew.”
“Maybe he wasn't the man you remember.”
“Maybe none of us were.”
She leaned against the railing.
“Do you think my mother would have wanted me involved in all this?”
“No.”
The answer surprised her.
“She spent her life trying to keep me away from your family.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you helping me uncover it?”
“Because protecting you doesn't mean deciding what you're allowed to know.”
Lily looked at him.
“That sounds almost reasonable.”
“Don't tell anyone. It could ruin my reputation.”
She laughed before she could stop herself.
The sound surprised them both.
For a few seconds, they were simply two people standing in the cold, trying to make sense of a family that had taken more from them than either could measure.
Then Lorenzo became serious.
“I want you to know something. Whatever the DNA results say, you have a place here if you choose it. But you don't owe me loyalty, forgiveness, or a relationship because we're related.”
Lily's eyes filled.
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
It was not a grand promise.
It was better than one.
Two days later, the attorney called.
The results were ready.
Lily, Isabella, and Lorenzo gathered in a private conference room while the attorney opened the sealed report.
The first page confirmed that Matteo was Lily's biological father.
The second confirmed that he was also Isabella's biological father.
The third contained a result no one expected.
Isabella was not Sofia Bellandi's biological daughter.
The laboratory had compared her sample against the available reference material and found no biological relationship.
Isabella stared at the page.
“My mother adopted me?”
“Possibly,” the attorney said. “The DNA alone cannot establish the circumstances. We need the original records.”
Lily looked at Daniel, who had been brought to the meeting under medical supervision.
He lowered his head.
“Your grandfather arranged the transfer. He wanted one child to inherit the Moretti name and the other to disappear into an ordinary life. But I never knew which child he intended to keep.”
“Then how can we find out?” Lily asked.
Daniel looked at her.
“Your mother left a final letter with the family lawyer. I never found it. If it still exists, it will tell you why the babies were switched.”
The attorney made a note.
“We'll search the estate records.”
Lorenzo rose.
“Then we'll search every record my father ever kept.”
Before anyone could leave, a message arrived on Lily's phone.
It was from Vincent.
You have the wrong sister. Ask Isabella what happened the night Sofia died.
Lily looked across the table.
Isabella had gone completely pale.
“Is that true?” Lily whispered.
Isabella didn't answer.
Then she reached into her bag and removed a small envelope.
“I didn't tell you everything,” she said.
Inside was a photograph of Sofia standing beside Matteo.
May you like
On the back, in Sofia's handwriting, were the words:
The child I raised was never mine.
