Chapter 1

To settle a blood debt with the Moretti family, a contract killer announced that he would butcher Don Moretti's daughter.

My parents immediately moved every guard and armed man at the estate to protect their adopted daughter, Adela.

They left me behind.

Their biological daughter.

Paralyzed from the waist down and completely defenseless.

The killer found me first.

By the time he was finished, I was barely conscious.

Before killing me, he picked up my phone and dialed my father's number.

He even offered me one last chance.

"If your family comes for you, I'll let you live."

Someone answered.

Not my father.

One of the Moretti guards.

His voice was impatient.

"Don Moretti and his wife are busy. Miss Adela is terrified, so they ordered everyone to stay with her."

"What do you want?"

My throat tightened.

"I've been taken by the killer."

I struggled to force the words out.

"I'm at an abandoned property in Southside."

"Please."

"Come get me."

The guard went quiet.

Then he sighed.

"Miss Moretti, your father already warned us about this."

"He said you'd probably fake some kind of emergency tonight to get everyone to come back."

My fingers trembled around the phone.

The guard continued.

"You've called more than a dozen times already. Don Moretti ordered us to ignore every call."

"Shouldn't you have gotten the message by now?"

I stopped breathing.

So that was why.

Every call I'd made.

Every desperate attempt to save myself.

My own father had shut them down one by one.

Then the phone changed hands.

My father's voice came through.

Cold.

Impatient.

"I don't care what stunt you're pulling tonight. We're not indulging you."

"Dad..."

"Enough."

He cut me off.

"Do you have any idea what people would say if your mother and I abandoned Adela tonight and rushed back to you?"

"They'd say we favor our biological daughter."

"They'd say Adela was never truly accepted into the Moretti family."

His voice hardened.

"We've spent years building this family's respectable public image. Do you want to destroy it over one of your tantrums?"

My eyes burned.

"I'm not lying."

But he wasn't listening.

"Besides, Adela is terrified."

"She's always been sensitive. How could we possibly leave her alone when a killer has threatened this family?"

I looked at the man standing over me.

Then at what remained of my body.

"Dad, I'm scared too."

The line went dead.

The killer laughed.

"So that's the Moretti family."

He took the phone from my hand.

"Now I almost feel sorry for you."

Those were the last words I heard clearly.

He killed me and disposed of my remains in an abandoned septic tank outside the city.

A month later, the Moretti family held an extravagant charity gala.

In front of reporters, politicians, businessmen, and allied families, my parents announced that their beloved adopted daughter, Adela Moretti, had survived the threat unharmed.

They thanked the family's security team for protecting her.

They smiled for the cameras with Adela standing safely between them.

That same day, police opened an abandoned septic tank on the outskirts of the city.

Inside, they found the mutilated remains of a young woman.

……

When my parents prepared to leave after Adela's call, I stopped them.

"The killer threatened me, not Adela."

I stared at them.

"You're taking every guard at the estate to protect her. What about me?"

My mother shoved my hand away.

Disappointment filled her face.

"Adela may not be our biological daughter, but that doesn't mean she's safe."

"Your father and I have spent years turning the Moretti Foundation into the respectable face of this family."

"If we leave our adopted daughter defenseless while surrounding our biological daughter with armed guards, what do you think people will say?"

"Do you want everything we've built to be destroyed?"

I stared at her in disbelief.

"The killer is Adela's biological father."

"What exactly is he going to do to her?"

My voice shook with anger.

"You'd leave your own daughter here to die just to protect the Moretti family's reputation?"

"How can you even say that with a straight face?"

A slap knocked me sideways.

I fell from my wheelchair onto the floor.

My father stood over me, furious.

"Gertrude, you've completely lost your mind."

He raised a hand again, but my mother grabbed his arm.

Then she looked down at me coldly.

"Gertrude Moretti, we've kept your identity out of the public eye for years."

"Adela is the daughter who attends charity galas, political dinners, and public events with us."

"Everyone outside this estate knows her as the Moretti daughter."

Her expression hardened.

"So if someone publicly threatens our daughter, Adela is the obvious target."

She paused.

"And the foundation's annual gala is coming up."

"If something happens to your sister now, every politician, banker, and family we've spent years building relationships with will question whether the Morettis can even protect their own."

"Can't you think about this family for once?"

I laughed.

Then I pointed at my useless legs sprawled across the marble floor.

"Think about the family?"

My voice turned bitter.

"I already lost my legs because of this family."

"I lost my future protecting the secret you wanted protected."

"Wasn't that enough?"

For a moment, guilt flickered across both their faces.

Five years ago, someone whose family had been slaughtered by Adela's biological father came looking for revenge.

He kidnapped both Adela and me.

When my parents arrived, the man was wearing an explosive vest.

He dragged us in front of them and screamed one question.

"Which one of them is his daughter?"

He wanted Adela.

He wanted to kill the daughter of the man who had murdered his family.

And my parents knew exactly which one of us she was.