The Computer

Bianca's POV

The laptop screen glowed in the darkness.

My fingers trembled as I plugged the USB drive into Alessia's computer. The small device felt hot in my hand, like it was burning with secrets.

Outside, Dr. Bianchi had vanished into the shadows. The baby too. I'd watched from the window until they disappeared behind the tall hedge. My heart was still pounding from seeing them.

Was that Alessia's child? The baby she'd written about in her letter?

I had to know. The USB drive would have answers.

The computer made a soft beeping sound. A new window popped up on the screen.

ENTER PASSWORD

Four empty boxes waited for me to type something.

I stared at the screen. Of course it needed a password. Alessia was too smart to leave important files unprotected.

But what would she use?

I tried the obvious things first. ALESSIA. Nothing. BIANCA. Nothing. MORETTI. Still nothing.

The cursor blinked at me like an impatient eye.

Think, I told myself. What mattered most to Alessia?

I typed LEO. The screen flashed red. Wrong again.

My hands were getting sweaty. Every second I spent here was dangerous. Someone could come looking for me. Leo might wake up. Victor might decide to check on his "replacement."

I tried CAVALCANTI. Wrong.

LEONARDO. Wrong.

ITALY. Wrong.

Each wrong answer made me more desperate. How many tries did I get before the computer locked me out forever?

I closed my eyes and thought about my sister. What did I really know about her? We'd grown apart over the years. She'd lived her life, and I'd lived mine.

But we were twins. We'd shared a bedroom for eighteen years. Shared secrets. Shared dreams.

What were Alessia's dreams?

I remembered something. A conversation from years ago, when we were still teenagers.

"I want to be a teacher," Alessia had said. "I want to help kids learn to read."

"That's boring," I'd replied. "I want to travel the world."

"Reading isn't boring. Books take you everywhere without leaving home."

Books. Alessia loved books.

I tried BOOKS. Wrong.

READING. Wrong.

TEACHER. Wrong.

Frustration built up inside me like steam in a pot. I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw the computer across the room.

But I couldn't. I had to stay quiet. I had to keep trying.

What else did Alessia love?

Music. She used to play piano for hours when we were kids. Our parents made us both take lessons, but she was the one with talent.

MUSIC. Wrong.

PIANO. Wrong.

What was her favorite song? She used to hum it all the time when she was happy.

"Moon River." That old song from the movies. She said it reminded her of dreams coming true.

MOONRIVER. Wrong.

MOON. Wrong.

RIVER. Wrong.

I was running out of ideas. My brain felt fuzzy with panic.

Maybe it wasn't about what Alessia loved. Maybe it was about what she feared.

VICTOR. Wrong.

DEATH. Wrong.

MURDER. Wrong.

I put my head in my hands. This was impossible. Alessia could have used any word, any number, any combination of letters. I'd never guess it.

Unless...

I looked at the letter again. The one hidden in the music box. Maybe there was a clue I'd missed.

I read it slowly, looking for anything that might be a password.

The father is not who you think.

Those were the last words. The most important words.

FATHER. Wrong.

WHO. Wrong.

THINK. Wrong.

Wait. What if it wasn't one word? What if it was a phrase?

I tried typing the whole sentence: THEFATHERISNOTWHOYOUTHINK.

Too long. The password only had four boxes.

But maybe it was the first letter of each word.

T-F-I-N-W-Y-T.

Still too long.

I thought harder. What if it was just the important words?

FATHER. NOT. WHO. THINK.

F-N-W-T.

I typed it in: FNWT.

Wrong.

I was about to give up when another memory hit me.

Alessia's favorite place. The old oak tree behind our childhood home. We used to climb it together and pretend we were pirates looking for treasure.

She'd carved something into the bark once. Our initials.

A + B.

Always together, she'd said. Always sisters.

I tried AB. Wrong.

BA. Wrong.

What about both our full names?

ALESSIABIANCA. Too long.

Just the first letters of our first and last names?

AM for Alessia Moretti. BM for Bianca Moretti.

AMBM. Wrong.

I was sweating now. My nightgown stuck to my back. The room felt like it was closing in around me.

One more try. One more guess before I gave up.

What had Alessia called me when we were little? Before she got fancy and started using my full name?

Bee. She called me Bee because Bianca was too hard for her to say when she was three years old.

And I called her... Allie.

ALLIE. Wrong.

BEE. Wrong.

ALLIEBEE. Too long.

Wait. What if she'd used numbers too? Our birthday. We were born on July 15th.

ALLIE15. Wrong.

BEE15. Wrong.

AB15. Wrong.

I was about to slam the laptop shut when I remembered something else.

The year we were born. 1998.

Just the numbers.

My fingers shook as I typed: 1998.

The screen flashed.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly, files started appearing. Hundreds of them.

I'd done it. I was in.

My heart raced with excitement and fear. Finally, I could see what Alessia had discovered. The truth about the Cavalcanti family. The truth about her murder.

The files had names like STOLEN_CHILDREN and MONEY_TRAIL and BIRTH_RECORDS.

I clicked on STOLEN_CHILDREN first.

Photos filled the screen. Dozens of them. Babies and toddlers with big, sad eyes. Each photo had a name and a number.

Maria Santos - SOLD

Tommy Rodriguez - SOLD

Sofia Chen - SOLD

The list went on and on. So many children. So many families destroyed.

My stomach felt sick. These were real babies. Real people who had been stolen from their parents and sold like toys.

I opened another file: MONEY_TRAIL.

Bank records. Account numbers. Money transfers. Millions of dollars changing hands.

All connected to Dr. Bianchi's clinic.

All signed by Victor Cavalcanti.

I found proof of everything Alessia had written about in her letter. The baby trafficking. The fake documents. The murdered families who got too close to the truth.

But where was the information about Alessia's own baby?

I searched through more files. Birth records. Medical files. Treatment schedules.

Then I found it. A file labeled BABY_A.

Inside was a medical report. Alessia's name was at the top. But the father's name wasn't Leo.

It was Victor.

Just like I'd suspected. Victor was the father of Alessia's child.

But there was more. Another document showed that the baby had been born three weeks ago. While I was still living my normal life, not knowing my sister was dead.

The baby was alive. Healthy. Hidden somewhere safe.

According to the file, a woman named Elena Rossi was taking care of the child. She lived at 47 Pine Street in the old part of town.

I memorized the address. Tomorrow, I would find Alessia's baby.

I was about to close the file when I saw something that made my blood freeze.

A birth certificate. Official looking, with government stamps.

But the baby's name wasn't what I expected.

The name on the certificate was LEONARDO CAVALCANTI JR.

Leo thought the baby was his son. Victor had made sure of it.

And according to the notes in the file, Victor was planning to use the child to destroy Leo completely.

PHASE TWO: Use the child to gain control of the empire. Make Leo think his "son" is in danger. Force him to make mistakes. Take over when he's weak.

I felt sick. Victor wasn't just evil. He was brilliant. He'd created the perfect trap.

But now I knew the truth. I could warn Leo. I could save the baby.

I could stop Victor before it was too late.

I started copying the files to a new USB drive. Evidence. Proof. Everything I needed to expose the monster who killed my sister.

The computer made soft whirring sounds as it worked. Almost done.

Just a few more seconds.

Then I heard something that made my heart stop.

Footsteps in the hallway.

Slow. Careful. Like someone trying not to make noise.

Someone was coming to my room.