Chapter 5 - THE DNA OF DECEPTION: LAB RESULTS THAT SHATTER A MILLIONAIRE’S REALITY
Inside the nursery, Liana froze. The words echoed from the speaker downstairs, hitting her like a physical blow.
If you let that maid hold him a moment longer, you won't have a son left to protect.
What did that mean? Was the woman at the gate accusing Liana of being a threat, or was there something much deeper hidden beneath the surface of the Varric estate?
Before Liana could process the threat, heavy footsteps echoed down the second-floor corridor. The nursery door swung open violently. Matteo strode in, his chest heaving, his face pale and twisted with conflicting emotions.
“She’s in the holding room on the ground floor,” Matteo said, his voice raw. “My security team locked her down. She claims to be my wife. She claims the woman in the grave was a decoy.”
“Did you talk to her?” Liana asked, holding Nico firmly against her chest.
“I looked into her eyes,” Matteo whispered, running a hand through his disordered hair. “It’s her. Or someone with her exact DNA, her exact memories, her exact voice. But if Elena is alive, then who was in the car crash seven months ago? And whose body did I bury?”
“Mr. Varric, look at the baby,” Liana said suddenly, her voice urgent.
Nico had stopped whimpering. Instead, his little body was stiffening. His wide eyes were fixed not on Liana, but on the nursery door.
From the hallway came the sound of soft, familiar footsteps.
The door, which Matteo had left slightly ajar, creaked open.
Standing in the doorway was the woman from the gate. She had bypassed the ground-floor holding room with terrifying ease. Her charcoal coat was wet with rain, and her eyes were fixed entirely on Liana and the child in her arms.
“Elena,” Matteo gasped, whirling around, drawing a small, concealed pistol from his waistband in a fraction of a second. “Stop right there! How did you get out of the holding room?”
The woman didn't look at Matteo. Her gaze remained locked on Liana.
“Put the gun down, Matteo,” she said, her voice trembling but steady. “You’re pointing it at the wrong woman.”
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“Explain yourself right now, or I swear to God—”
“She isn't a maid, Matteo,” Elena interrupted, pointing a shaking finger directly at Liana. “Ask her what really happened twenty-two days ago at St. Jude’s Hospital. Ask her whose baby she actually buried.”
