Chapter 6 - THE HOUSE WITH THE LOCKED WINDOWS
The Moretti family owned beautiful houses.
Large estates.
Waterfront properties.
Quiet country residences hidden behind iron gates.
But the house connected to Vittorio was different.
It was a private medical retreat surrounded by thick trees.
No sign.
No public entrance.
Just cameras, locked gates, and a narrow road leading toward the property.
Investigators obtained legal authorization to search the location.
Luca provided ownership records and security information.
I waited at a nearby command center with Sarah Mitchell.
My hands wouldn't stop trembling.
My mother might be inside.
Elena might be inside.
And somewhere in that building could be the explanation for everything Leo had been trying to tell us.
Luca sat beside me.
He looked exhausted.
I glanced toward him.
"Have you eaten?"
He shook his head.
"Neither have you."
I almost laughed.
"Fair."
He handed me a bottle of water.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he said:
"Avery, I owe you an apology."
I frowned.
"For what?"
"For pulling you into this."
I shook my head.
"You didn't make Leo reach for me."
His expression softened.
"No."
"And you didn't put my mother's necklace around my neck."
He looked down.
"True."
I swallowed.
"But you might have ignored the truth."
Luca nodded.
"I did ignore things before."
He looked toward the windows.
"Elena told me something was wrong with the charity accounts."
My heart tightened.
"And?"
"I told her Vittorio handled those details."
I remained silent.
He continued.
"I trusted him because he was family."
I looked toward him.
"Family can lie."
Luca closed his eyes.
"I know that now."
Hours passed.
Then Sarah's phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her face changed.
I stood.
"What happened?"
She looked toward me.
"They found Margaret."
My heart stopped.
"Alive?"
Sarah nodded.
"Yes."
Relief almost knocked me down.
I covered my mouth.
"Thank God."
Luca stood beside me.
"And Elena?"
Sarah hesitated.
"Not yet."
My stomach tightened.
The search continued.
Medical personnel evaluated the people found inside.
Several residents appeared to have been confined under questionable circumstances.
Investigators collected documents.
Medication logs.
Financial records.
And surveillance footage.
Then another call came.
Sarah's expression changed again.
"What?"
She listened.
Then looked toward Luca.
"They found a nursery."
Luca went completely still.
"A nursery?"
Sarah nodded.
"Yes."
He stared.
"Why would Vittorio have a nursery?"
I thought about Leo.
The strange way he reached for me.
The necklace.
Elena.
Then the birth certificates.
Something cold moved through my chest.
Sarah continued.
"There are photographs."
"What photographs?" Luca asked.
"Of Leo."
He stopped breathing.
She looked toward me.
"And Avery."
My eyes widened.
"Me?"
Sarah nodded.
"Photographs taken outside Aurelia."
My heart pounded.
Someone had been watching me.
For weeks.
Maybe months.
Luca's expression hardened.
"Who?"
Sarah swallowed.
Then showed us a photograph from the nursery wall.
Leo.
My mother.
Elena.
And a third woman standing beside them.
A woman I'd never seen before.
But she looked exactly like me.
Same dark hair.
Same eyes.
Same face.
I stared.
"Who is that?"
Sarah looked at the identification note beneath the image.
Then whispered:
"Her name is Amelia Cole."
My breath stopped.
I looked toward Luca.
Then back at the photograph.
Because the woman in the picture was not Elena.
And she wasn't me.
She was another woman.
A woman who could have been my twin.
May you like
Then Sarah said the words that shattered everything I believed about my family.
"Avery, according to the facility's records, Amelia Cole is your identical twin sister."
