Placebos
Caroline was terrified, not knowing what plans her mother might have for her. Perhaps she would hand her over to Carlo to torture her and force her to reveal her sister’s whereabouts, or maybe she would force her to marry some disgusting rich man.
Every time Sonia entered her room, Caroline would chase her away in the worst possible way. She wondered if souls truly chose their parents before birth, what on earth was hers thinking when it chose that mother?
She thought about her sister; she must be worried. Caroline should have told her about Sonia’s visit and not made decisions on her own.
Vinizzio was nervous. The doctor had arrived with the results, and he handed over the envelope, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
“Based on the common alleles found between sample 1 (alleged father) and sample 2 (child), it can be established that there is a genetic relationship between the two samples, reaching a paternity percentage of 99. 9 (I. P. = 23583498).
Predicates of Hummel:
Practically proven paternity if the paternity percentage is greater than 99. 73%.
Highly probable paternity if the paternity percentage is greater than 99%.
Very probable paternity if the paternity percentage is greater than 95%.”
After reading the results and the interpretation, there was no need to ask the doctor what that meant. A result with a 99. 99% probability clearly indicated that Caroline was his daughter. It was the first time since the death of his wife and later his daughter that Vinizzio was seen crying.
“She’s my daughter, Donnaciano, she’s my daughter.”
The doctor’s eyes also welled up with tears upon seeing him in such a state.
“Yes, son, she is.”
“Dio mi ha restituito mia figlia.”
“No, Vinizzio, you must understand that she’s not Alessia, no matter how much she resembles her.”
Vinizzio ignored those words, rushed out, and headed to his daughter’s room. He knocked on the door, and Caroline opened it after a few seconds.
He hugged her tightly, and Caroline’s eyes widened. She didn’t know what was happening; who was this man embracing her so warmly?
“Who are you? Let me go. I’m telling you right now that I won’t marry you.”
“Marry me? Oh no, you’ve misunderstood. You are my daughter.”
“Your daughter? Excuse me, sir, but you’re mistaken. My father is already dead. 2
Vinizzio handed her the test results, and Caroline took them, but even after reading them, she didn’t understand.
“I don’t understand what’s going on. This must be a sick joke.”
“It’s not a joke, my dear. He’s your real father.” Sonia said, appearing behind the Italian.
“No, this can’t be true. I loved my father, and his memory is all I have left. If you took his fortune, and this is your way of revenge, to see me suffer…”
“No, my daughter, we’re telling you the truth. Vinizzio is your real father.”
“No, that’s not true. Get out of here, both of you.” She shouted, pushing them out.
Vinizzio was frozen by his daughter’s reaction.
“You need to give her time; it will take her a while to process it.” Sonia said.
He looked at her with deep disdain, turned his back on her, and retreated to his study.
Sonia was left thinking; she had to improve her relationship with her daughter if she wanted to succeed with that man.
At his home, Carlo was reading a report. His men had detected movement in his worst enemy’s hangar. Some women had arrived on his private plane. He picked up the phone to make a call.
“Soon.”
“I need you to immediately investigate who the women were that arrived. The report they gave me is not enough.”
“Right away, boss.”
He kept a close watch on his enemy. Infiltrated people provided him with information on every move. Ever since the death of his brothers, he had become obsessed. He hadn’t been able to finish him off because he was always heavily guarded, and besides, he had half of the police on his payroll, and the other half was with him. It could be said that the power they held was similar. They were two rivals destroying each other.
In Dubai, Aisha was determined; she would go to Italy to rescue her sister.
“Ahmed, I’ve decided to go to Italy. I need to find my sister.”
“There’s no way I’ll allow you to risk yourself. Zafir has already left with several men, and we’ll wait for the investigation results. If necessary, I’ll go there, but I won’t let you risk yourself. If Carlo finds you, I don’t even want to think about what he’d do; you’re my whole life.”
“That night they made love slowly, enjoying their bodies and the sensations awakened with each caress. Later, when Ahmed appeared to be asleep, Aisha got up to take a contraceptive pill. Unbeknownst to her, the Arab man watched her; he had replaced the pills with placebos, hoping that soon he could give her what he desired so much – beautiful children. He hoped she wouldn’t realize what he had done, as contraceptive pills weren’t always effective; he would tell her that when the time came.
Meanwhile, at the corporate office in New York, Ibrahim still thought about Jamil. He had chosen to live in a lie rather than fight for their love. He had learned that his wife was pregnant, imagining the frustration she felt when fulfilling her duties as a husband. He was sure that Jamil was not attracted to women.
At the corporate office, several girls had tried to seduce Ibrahim, including an instance where he found one of the executive assistants naked on his desk. The girls sought him out because he was Arab, but he believed it might be some kind of fetish or trend among American women. He had experienced similar advances from Latina women, which made him flee from such situations. He could already imagine what his brother, Ahmed, must have gone through, especially with his assistant, who constantly inquired about Ahmed and even begged to be invited to Dubai and stay in the palace.
Vinizzio was focused, trying to find a way to get closer to his daughter. He sat at his desk holding a photograph of his daughter Alessia, who was always smiling. It was hard for him to ignore the striking resemblance between Alessia and Caroline. However, there was one difference: Caroline didn’t smile. He wondered what had happened between his daughter and Sonia to cause such a change.
Caroline, in her room, repeatedly looked at the paternity test results. She couldn’t believe it was true; if it were, that meant she wasn’t Aisha’s sister, and she couldn’t bear that thought as Aisha was all she had left. Determined to talk to Vinizzio, she left her room and encountered the housekeeper.
“Can I help you, miss?” the housekeeper asked, observing Caroline closely. Others had mentioned that this girl looked just like the former miss, and if she hadn’t seen the body, she would have sworn it was the same person.
“I’m looking for Mr. Vinizzio,” Caroline said with a trembling voice.
“He is in his office; follow me,” the housekeeper replied. The halls of the mansion felt endless to Caroline.
“It’s a huge mansion,” she remarked.
“Yes, it has been passed down through many generations. Only a De Vincenzo can inherit the property.”
“That’s why Mr. Vinizzio is happy to have you as his daughter; he can no longer have children, and you are the only one.”
Caroline decided not to respond to that remark. The housekeeper stopped in front of large wooden doors with De Vincenzo family crests engraved on them.
“Let me inform the sir that you want to see him,” she requested, entering the room. A few seconds later, she returned. “Mr. Vinizzio says you can come in.”
Caroline entered nervously and noticed that it wasn’t just a room; it was more like an office. She was shocked to see a portrait of a girl on the wall in front of the large desk. If she hadn’t known she never posed for a portrait, she would have thought it was herself.
Sitting behind the desk was Vinizzio, observing her, which made her even more nervous.
“Who is that girl?” she asked anxiously.
“That girl was your sister, Alessia,” Vinizzio replied.
Caroline couldn’t help but notice the use of the past tense, but she chose not to ask further questions.”Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.