Chapter 8 - THE DOCTOR WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Nobody spoke.
The doctor stood at the bottom of the stairs, completely calm.
His clothes were wet from the rain.
His face looked older.
Tired.
But alive.
Giovanni stared.
“Dr. Harris…”
The doctor looked at him.
“Hello, Giovanni.”
Giovanni’s fists tightened.
“You died.”
Dr. Harris gave a bitter smile.
“That’s what they wanted everyone to believe.”
Marco stepped forward.
“How did you get inside?”
The doctor ignored him.
His eyes stayed on Giovanni.
“Elena tried to warn you.”
Giovanni’s anger exploded.
“You were the one treating her.”
“Yes.”
“You told me she had a heart condition.”
Dr. Harris looked down.
“I lied.”
The room became silent.
Giovanni walked closer.
“Why?”
The doctor swallowed.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid of who?”
The doctor looked at everyone in the room.
Then his eyes stopped on one person.
Clarissa.
Giovanni noticed.
“Why are you looking at my daughter?”
Dr. Harris didn’t answer immediately.
Finally, he said:
“Because Elena found out the truth about her.”
Clarissa froze.
“What are you talking about?”
The doctor pulled a small folder from his jacket.
Inside was a DNA report.
Giovanni stared.
“No…”
Dr. Harris placed it on the table.
“Your daughter isn’t who you think she is.”
The world seemed to slow down.
Clarissa stepped back.
“Stop lying.”
Dr. Harris looked at her.
“I wish I was.”
Giovanni grabbed the paper.
His hands trembled.
The report showed one thing.
Clarissa’s DNA did not match Elena’s.
Or Giovanni’s.
“No…”
Giovanni shook his head.
“This is fake.”
Dr. Harris looked at him.
“Elena discovered it two months before she died.”
Clarissa started crying.
“She never told me.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
Giovanni looked at his daughter.
Every memory came rushing back.
The day she was born.
The first time she called him Dad.
The nights he stayed awake when she was sick.
None of that changed.
But now there was a question.
A horrible question.
“Who is her real father?”
Nobody answered.
Then Adrian spoke.
“I know.”
Everyone turned.
Adrian looked at Clarissa.
“Your father is the reason Elena ran away from Maravilla.”
Clarissa’s face went pale.
“Who?”
Adrian took a deep breath.
“His name was Victor.”
The name hit Marco like a punch.
Giovanni noticed.
“Marco?”
Marco looked away.
“You know that name.”
Marco said nothing.
Giovanni stepped closer.
“You know him.”
Marco finally whispered:
“Yes.”
“Who was he?”
Marco looked at the old photograph.
The one of Elena and Adrian.
Then he said:
“Victor was my brother.”
Silence.
Giovanni felt sick.
Another secret.
Another lie.
“How many people in my life have been pretending?”
Nobody answered.
Then Giovanni’s phone rang.
A message appeared.
Unknown Number.
It contained one photo.
A photo taken inside his house.
A photo of everyone standing in that room.
The message said:
May you like
STOP SEARCHING.
OR THE NEXT BODY WILL BE YOUR SON’S.
