The mansion's halls were quiet at midnight, the stillness so profound that Alina could hear the tick of the grandfather clock in the foyer. She sat in the study with the VHS tape lying inert on the table in front of her, the images etched into her mind. The voice from the tape still echoed in her ears:
"You've been separated. For your own good."
She had no idea who the woman was in the footage, nor who had filmed it. But what was clear—undeniably clear—was that she hadn't been alone as a child. She had a sister. A twin.
Selena.
The name carried the weight of a thousand questions and not enough answers.
Leonard leaned against the doorframe, his tie loosened, watching her. "You haven't slept."
"I can't," she murmured, her fingers tracing the corner of the tape. "That woman on the screen… she knew me. She knew us."
"I've assigned people to dig into any surviving records from the orphanages in Milan. And the adoption agency your last foster family used."
"Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me, Alina. I'm your husband."
That word still felt strange sometimes, but tonight, it felt solid. Comforting.
She looked up at him. "What if she hates me, Leonard? What if she thinks I abandoned her?"
"She was a child. Just like you. You both were victims."
Alina sighed and stood. "I need to find her. I need to."
"You will. We will."
Three days later, a breakthrough arrived.
Matthew burst into Leonard's office mid-afternoon, his laptop in hand.
"I found her."
Leonard and Alina stood at once. Matthew set the laptop on the desk and played a security camera clip dated six months earlier from Geneva. A woman with auburn-streaked dark hair exited a hospital, dressed in black, her arms wrapped around a man who appeared to be bleeding from the abdomen. She looked identical to Alina, except colder. Harsher. She didn't glance at the cameras once.
"That's her," Alina whispered.
"Her alias checks out: Selena Voss. Real name: likely Selena Rossi. She's been operating with a mercenary group tied to cybercrime, corporate blackmail, and high-level data smuggling. But here's what's interesting—" Matthew clicked to the next frame—"the man with her was a whistleblower. Former MI6. Vanished after testifying against a global banking conspiracy."
Leonard narrowed his eyes. "She's not just surviving. She's fighting something."
"Or for someone," Alina added softly.
"She left him at a private clinic in Geneva and disappeared again," Matthew said. "No digital trace since. But I did find something else. Two weeks ago, a request for information on Alina Hart was made from an encrypted server located… in the outskirts of Zurich."
Alina's pulse raced. "That's where she is."
"She's looking for you, Alina. The message you got—the envelope, the photo—it was bait."
"To make me look."
Matthew nodded grimly. "And you did."
By the next morning, Leonard's private jet was prepped. Alina insisted on coming along, despite Leonard's objections.
"Alina, if this goes wrong—"
"She's my sister, Leonard. I won't let someone else fight this for me."
Leonard exhaled slowly, then gave a single nod. "We do this together. No secrets."
Alina hesitated before replying, "No more secrets."
The flight to Zurich was quiet, tension thick as fog. Alina stared out the window, watching the clouds drift beneath them. In her hands, she clutched a photo she hadn't seen in years—two girls at a park, playing on a carousel. She had rediscovered it in an old keepsake box the night before.
In the photo, her hand was tightly clutching another girl's. They wore matching red shoes. The kind given by the orphanage on Christmas. A detail she'd forgotten.
Until now.
When the plane landed, a black car awaited them at the airstrip. Leonard's Zurich contact—an ex-intelligence operative named Rafe—was already in the back seat, briefing them on the drive.
"She rented a cottage in a secluded alpine village called Bernal. Off-grid. No surveillance. Locals say she rarely comes to town. But they've seen her walk the forest trails at night."
"Armed?" Leonard asked.
"Always."
Rafe handed Alina a dossier. "But here's the interesting part. She's been asking about a man named Armand Voss. You recognize the name?"
Alina shook her head.
Leonard, however, froze.
"I do. He used to work with my father. Disappeared years ago. He was rumored to have started a covert operation—testing human memory erasure tech for high-level government contractors."
Alina's heart dropped. "You think Selena and I were part of that?"
"I think someone went to great lengths to make you forget."
The car dropped them at a discreet location outside Bernal. Rafe led them through dense woods, the alpine air cold and quiet. No sound but the crunch of leaves beneath their feet and the occasional distant call of birds.
Then, ahead, a cottage—stone walls, ivy-covered roof, chimney still smoking.
"Stay here," Alina said firmly.
Leonard stepped forward. "Alina—"
"She's my sister."
He searched her eyes, then nodded.
Alina approached the door slowly, every step a battle between fear and hope. She raised her hand, knocked once.
Silence.
Then the door creaked open. Standing there, dressed in a black sweater and jeans, was her mirror.
Selena.
Older-looking, perhaps, by only a few months. Her face was harder, lips pressed into a line, eyes wary. But there was no mistaking the resemblance.
"You came," Selena said quietly.
Alina swallowed. "I had to."
A long pause.
"Come in."
The inside of the cottage was sparse—fireplace, wooden shelves lined with old books, a kettle simmering on the stove. There were maps pinned to one wall, and news clippings in several languages.
Selena poured two cups of tea and sat opposite Alina on the worn couch.
"I always thought you'd forget me," she said. "They tried to make you."
Alina stared. "Who are 'they'?"
Selena handed her a photo—one of the woman from the VHS. "Her name was Dr. Elara Voss. She was our guardian. Also our handler. She ran a behavioral conditioning program for children orphaned by political incidents."
"I don't remember her."
"You weren't supposed to."
Alina shook her head, overwhelmed. "Why reach out now?"
"Because you're being watched again. And this time, they'll come for your daughter too."
Alina froze. "Lily?"
Selena nodded. "She's a perfect candidate. Smart. Observant. Emotional memory recall off the charts. They'll see her as the next evolution."
Alina's voice was low and trembling. "Then help me stop them."
Selena's expression softened for the first time. "That's why I brought you here."
The door opened behind them. Leonard stepped in, gun at his side.
Selena raised an eyebrow. "Your husband's protective."
Alina stood. "He's also why I survived."
For a moment, the tension held. Then Selena looked between them and said, "Then we all better survive. Together."