Chapter 2

Adriana's POV

I didn't sleep all night.

My phone rang over a dozen times—all calls from Marco. I didn't answer a single one. Now wasn't the time to confront him.

At six in the morning, I sat in a rundown café on the outskirts of town, fingers drumming against the table.

Tommy arrived right on time, his face even more serious than last night. He sat down and pushed a manila envelope directly in front of me.

"Boss, you're not going to like this news."

I tore open the envelope. The first photo stopped me cold.

It was a surveillance shot of "Lucia" from last night, but the name written below read: Bianca Sterling, age 16.

"Sterling?" My voice was barely a whisper. "Senator Sterling's daughter?"

"Yes." Tommy nodded. "And she's very sick."

I flipped to the second page—a detailed medical report.

Congenital blood disorder, requiring regular transfusions and bone marrow transplants to stay alive.

"Interesting." I let out a cold laugh. "A dying politician's daughter living in my house, while my real daughter is nowhere to be found. Very interesting."

Tommy lowered his voice: "Boss, it gets worse."

"Tell me."

"She needs blood transfusions weekly, and her blood type is extremely rare." Tommy turned to another page. "Rh-negative, with very strict HLA matching requirements."

My hand froze.

Rh-negative?

"Tommy, what's Lucia's blood type?"

"Don't you remember? Also Rh-negative. And..." Tommy paused. "I found Bianca's complete compatibility report."

He handed me a lab report.

The moment I saw those numbers, the entire world went silent.

HLA-A24, HLA-B51, HLA-DRB1*04... every single marker matched Lucia's file almost perfectly.

"Compatibility rate of 80%," Tommy's voice sounded distant.

I set down the report and looked at Tommy: "They've been using my daughter as a living blood bank."

"Boss..."

"Keep going. What else?"

Tommy pulled out another financial record: "For the past ten years, someone's been paying Bianca's astronomical medical bills."

"Who?"

"Lucia's trust fund."

The coffee cup shattered in my hand.

Scalding coffee spilled across the table, but I felt no pain. All I felt was murderous rage.

"Say that again."

"Lucia's medical trust fund has been transferring five hundred thousand dollars annually to the Sterling family's private medical account," Tommy said carefully. "For ten years straight. Total amount..."

"Five million." I finished his sentence. "Using my daughter's own money to keep alive the girl who's been draining her blood."

"Yes."

"Who has access to Lucia's trust fund?"

Tommy lowered his head: "The legal guardian. Marco Rossi."

Marco. My husband. Lucia's stepfather.

He'd sold my daughter to the Sterling family in exchange for political protection and money. Then used Lucia's own money to keep alive the girl who was bleeding her dry.

"Boss?" Tommy asked carefully. "Are you alright?"

I opened my eyes. Tommy must have seen a different person entirely.

"I'm fine." My voice was terrifyingly calm. "Now get me everything on Willowbrook Rehabilitation Center."

"Willowbrook?"

"That's the address on the contract in Marco's office drawer. I'm guessing that's where my daughter is."

Tommy nodded: "I'll arrange it immediately."

I stood up and pulled out my phone.

First call to Vincent.

"It's me. Activate all networks immediately. I want detailed files on Senator Sterling and Marco Rossi. Financial records, phone logs, travel schedules—everything."

"Boss, what happened?"

"Someone hurt my daughter." My voice sounded like it came from hell. "You know what to do."

Second call to Richard on Wall Street.

"Richard, I want to short every Sterling family investment. Whatever it takes."

"Adriana? That would require massive capital..."

"Use the Swiss accounts. All of it."

"That's ten billion dollars!"

"They're worth that price."

Third call to media mogul Catherine.

"Catherine, I have a big story for you. Political corruption, illegal medical trafficking, and minors as victims."

"Sounds interesting. When do we meet?"

"Tonight. Bring your best investigative journalists."

The last call went to the family's old doctor, Antonio.

"Uncle Antonio, I need you to investigate a medical facility. Willowbrook Rehabilitation Center. I want to know everything that happens inside."

"Child, you sound dangerous."

"Because someone made me dangerous."

I hung up and straightened my clothes in the mirror.

Ten years. I thought leaving was to give Lucia a better life, to clean the family's assets so she could grow up in the light.

Instead, she'd been locked in darkness, used as a blood bank.

And I, foolishly believing every word Marco said.

Now it was time to show them what Marcelli family fury looked like.

I walked out of the café into blinding sunlight.

But my heart was colder than the darkest night.

"Lucia, Mommy's coming to save you," I vowed silently. "Everyone who hurt you will pay in blood."

The car started, and I began this war of vengeance.

Marco was still at home waiting for me to return for breakfast. Bianca was still pretending to be my daughter. Sterling still thought his secrets were safe.

None of them knew that the gates of hell had just opened.