Raffaele chuckled softly at Gio’s words. “Oh, to be praised by the great Gio Locatelli. But don’t forget my sister; she was also in charge of that. We wouldn’t have succeeded without her and her magical research. Maybe we should turn it into a business, Gio. We might have many clients abroad.”
We reached a door, a large one at the end of the hallway on that floor.
Raffaele opened the door, and Gio entered first, followed by his three men. I trailed behind Gio, still unsure about what was happening.
“Gio, where are we?” I asked as I held his hand.
We walked for a moment, and not far from the door, I saw a bed. The room looked like a private hospital room, and on the hospital bed was what Gio wanted to show me.
I covered my mouth when I saw him looking at me with a smile. He waved at me, and on the other hand, tears welled up in my eyes.
“Hi, Sis,” she greeted me, giving me the sweetest smile ever.
I sobbed silently, whispering her name.
“Sienna…”
~***~
I hurriedly ran towards Sienna, almost stumbling in my haste. When I got close to her, I observed her closely.
“Is that really you, Sienna?” I asked her, thinking that maybe my own eyes were deceiving me.
Sienna chuckled softly before nodding. “It’s me, Sis.”
Without a word, I embraced Sienna. She laughed even more and reclined on her bed because of my hug. I, too, shed tears upon feeling the familiar scent and warmth of my sister. She’s alive! She’s not dead!
That thought kept repeating in my mind. I was confused because I knew I had seen Sienna’s lifeless body being dragged to the river.
“Sis, I can’t breathe.”
I broke the embrace at that moment. Sienna laughed briefly and smiled.
“Sorry, I know you were sad. I know you cried and were hurt by what happened, but please understand, we did it for the betterment of the situation,” she said, holding my hand. My lips quivered as I felt the warmth. Sienna was really alive. “I hope you’re not angry.”
“No!” I protested. “Why would I be angry? You’re alive, and so is Dario. Isn’t that what’s important?”
I glanced at Gio, who was watching us with interest.
“But how did all of this happen? I saw Sienna’s body! There was an autopsy report,” I said. I needed an explanation, and they had a lot to clarify.
I looked at Gio, expecting him to explain, but he remained silent.
“The body was fake, Millie. It was from our lab; we actually created it. It’s not a clone, though. You can think of it as a high-end prosthetic body that resembled your sister. The autopsy report and DNA were also fabricated. Everything was part of the plan, with Sienna and Dario as co-conspirators. Everything was staged to catch the traitor and corner Nicolas Belleza,” Raffaele explained.
My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe that the body I had seen was fake.
“You know, we can manufacture fake bodies, Gio! I told you, we’ll have plenty of clients in other countries.”
“Shut up,” Gio replied coldly, still studying my expression and reactions carefully.
“Okay, just kidding. It was hard to do. We spent a lot of time on it. Thanks to my ever-brilliant sister, we made it possible. The materials were also not always readily available and accessible,” Raffaele shrugged, still thinking about their fake Sienna body.
“Wait, can someone explain everything from the top? I’m having trouble grasping it all.”
Gio sighed. I looked at him because I felt he was about to speak.
“Like I said earlier, I had a hunch that Mariana might be a traitor from the moment she survived that explosion at the conference you attended. I knew she was working with one of our enemies, but after further investigation, I found out that she was collaborating with enemies we didn’t even know. I tried to uncover who they were, and that’s when I realized there might be a connection to the Belleza family. So, I devised a plan before they could outsmart me. That’s where all of this comes into play,” Gio explained.
David entered the conversation and spoke up. “I spied on them. I infiltrated the Belleza organization. That’s my job, to be the Locatelli’s eyes – a spy. That’s why I knew they wouldn’t find out who I was really working for. When I successfully entered their organization, that’s when I provided all the information Sir Gio needed. When they revealed their plan to capture you, which became my mission, I immediately informed Sir Gio, and that’s when Miss Sienna and I joined forces.”
I glanced at Sienna, her brow slightly furrowed. She smiled at me, apparently trying to make amends.
“Mom and I already knew what they were planning to do with us. David, my driver, gave me a heads-up. So, we knew what we had to do and what might happen during that time. My fear, my tears, and everything, Sis, were all part of my acting,” she chuckled, seeming pleased with her performance.
When Sienna saw that I was raising an eyebrow, she pouted.
“Do you remember this, Ma’am Millie?” Dario showed me the hair tie he had given me. I was about to respond when he beat me to it. “It has a tracker so we could know your whereabouts. During those times, David couldn’t communicate with us to provide details; he might be caught by Nicolas Belleza. The separation between you and Sienna was also part of the plan, as well as my timely arrival to see you. Sienna took the hair tie to quickly determine her location because of the tracker,” Dario explained to me.
By that time, our team members were in their designated positions. That’s why we knew Sienna would be safe even if you left her alone. What we didn’t anticipate was Mariana’s appearance in person. I was surprised to find her there, so I was slightly caught off guard and got shot. But thanks to her, she made my job easier. I caught her red-handed, conspiring with the enemy.
I immediately turned to Sienna, feeling concerned about what Dario had said.
“What about you, were you shot?” I asked Sienna.
“No, Sis! Dario had me wear a bulletproof vest underneath my clothes, so even though I was shot, I wasn’t hurt,” Sienna giggled. “Dario had already seen my body, Sis! He ordered me to undress in front of him just to wear the vest under my clothes! He thought I didn’t know he just wanted to see my body! Make him marry me, Sis!”