Chapter 197
Vitale's pupils suddenly contracted.
In the next second, like an enraged beast, he charged at Jerry with such speed it was almost like teleportation.
His movement was so fast it stirred up a gust of wind.
He thrust out his right hand, grabbing the collar of Jerry's neatly pressed white coat with such force that he nearly lifted Jerry off his chair.
Jerry stumbled, his glasses sliding askew on his face.
"What are you trying to say?" Vitale's voice shot up, hoarse and wild, his eyes instantly filling with terrifying bloodshot veins.
It was the kind of rage and panic that comes from having the deepest, most painful wound touched, "what do you want to tell me? Heart? What heart? Explain yourself!"
His hand, clutching Jerry's collar, trembled violently. The veins on the back of his hand bulged, and the blood vessels on his forehead throbbed as if they might burst any second.
The temperature in the office seemed to drop below freezing, the air itself freezing in place.
Amboni was startled by this sudden outburst. He had never seen Vitale show such a terrifying expression toward Jerry, the doctor and family member he trusted most.
He quickly stepped forward, trying to grab Vitale's arm, "Vitale! Calm down! Let go of Jerry! Let him finish!"
But Vitale's arm was like iron, unmovable.
At that moment, he couldn't hear anything. His mind was consumed by a single word echoing endlessly, accompanied by a bloody image he never wanted to recall but haunted him every night.
His sister, Liliana, lying on a cold floor, her chest brutally cut open, the heart that should have been beating red and alive, gone.
Jerry, struggling to breathe under the tight grip, turned slightly pale, but there was no trace of fear on his face. He only looked at the nearly unhinged Vitale with eyes full of heavy sadness.
With difficulty, he raised a hand to adjust his glasses, then spoke clearly and slowly, word by word, "yes, Vitale, I suspect—just suspect—that the heart in Eva's chest, based on its biological markers, estimated age, and some extremely subtle genetic tissue traits, might highly match the sample data I have on record for Liliana."
He paused, giving Vitale a moment to process this shocking information, then added in a voice that carried a doctor's calm and cruel objectivity, "you know I can't actually take it out to do a precise DNA comparison. That would kill her. Besides, after a heart transplant, the recipient's cells gradually overwrite the donor's, and DNA testing itself can be unreliable and inconclusive."
"So, for now, this is just a strong suspicion based on non-invasive scans and bioinformatics analysis."
"Haven't you ever wondered, Vitale? Eva's cheerfulness after waking up, that almost childlike confusion in her logic, treating Isabella as a close friend, seeing you as a good person—beyond possible brain trauma and memory reconstruction, could it also be related to the heart beating in her chest?"
"There have always been cases in organ transplantation that current science can't fully explain. Recipients sometimes show traits, habits, or even memory fragments of the donor. Though it's often dismissed as nonsense, if that heart really came from Liliana..."
Jerry didn't continue.
But the unspoken implication was more chilling than any direct accusation.
Vitale's grip on his collar suddenly loosened.
It was as if all his strength had been drained. He staggered back a step, letting go of Jerry.
But his eyes grew even more chaotic, more pained, filled with intense inner conflict.
Liliana, his lively and cheerful sister.
Her heart, beating in another woman's chest?
And this woman was the killer who kidnapped Isabella, a tool of Marco and Barton, the bait he planned to use for revenge.
No wonder when Eva smiled at him earlier, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.
That wasn't Eva's smile. It was the sly, playful smile Liliana used to give him when she teased him or pulled off a prank.
This realization hit him like a mental tsunami, instantly shattering all his psychological defenses and carefully laid plans.
"If you're lying, Jerry..." Vitale's voice was so hoarse it sounded broken. He stared at Jerry with eyes full of extreme threat and a near-desperate need for confirmation. "If you dare deceive me about this for any reason, I'll personally rip out your tongue with the dullest knife, soak it in my finest wine, and watch it change color. I mean it."
Facing this bloody and terrifying threat, Jerry didn't flinch. Instead, the corners of his mouth twitched into a smile of understanding.
"Of course, Vitale, I understand. But please believe me, I have no reason or need to lie about this."
"I want Liliana to somehow keep existing even more than you do."
Vitale didn't say another word.
He stood there, his chest heaving violently, his mind a complete mess.
All kinds of emotions twisted around his heart like a noose, making it almost impossible to breathe.
He needed to think calmly.
Vitale suddenly pulled out his phone.
His fingers trembled from the intense emotions, but he still managed to dial Victor's number with precision.
Just moments ago, after leaving Eva's room, he had already instructed Victor to use every resource available to dig deeper into the real relationship between Marco and Eva.
Rumors on the street claimed Eva was Marco's mistress, but earlier, in the midst of the chaos, Jerry had quietly mentioned that initial checks showed Eva was still a virgin.
The call was quickly answered. Victor's voice came through, slightly out of breath as if he'd just finished another conversation, "Vitale, I was just about to call you. I've found some unusual stuff about Eva and Marco's relationship."
"Speak," Vitale's voice was hoarse and tense.
"According to info we got from a former peripheral member of Thorn of Justice who went off the grid years ago, combined with fragments of old records," Victor spoke quickly, clearly having just received the information, "Eva isn't Marco's kept woman."
"She was picked up by Marco a few years back during the biggest mafia upheaval and purge in Eldoria."
"At that time, your father had just passed away. The Luca family was unstable internally, and external enemies took advantage to stir up trouble, causing multiple horrifying massacres and attacks. The entire Eldoria underworld, and even some civilian areas, were thrown into bloody chaos."
Victor's voice carried the weight of memory, "Eva's whole family was supposedly part of a radical anti-mafia activist group. But during that sweeping chaos, their small group got caught in a larger conspiracy and conflict. Her entire family was killed. Only Eva, who reportedly had a severe heart condition and was hidden away, survived by sheer luck, though she was gravely injured and barely alive."
"It was Marco who found her. He took her away, got her treatment. Rumor has it, Eva's heart was failing badly at the time, almost beyond saving."
"But somehow, Marco got hold of a matching heart, performed a transplant surgery, and saved her life. Since then, Eva has stayed by Marco's side."
"As for Barton and his crew, we're still searching. They're hiding deep, and we don't have an exact location yet."
Vitale held the phone, listening quietly.
The information Victor uncovered, combined with Jerry's findings and Eva's strange behavior after waking up, faintly formed a chilling chain of clues.
Marco!
Behind all of this was that despicable man!
He didn't just betray and kill Vitale's family, didn't just take Liliana's heart, but might have used that heart to create Eva—a twisted, loyal tool for revenge.
A massive hatred, almost burning his soul to ashes, roared and churned in Vitale's chest.
"Got it," Vitale finally forced out the words, his voice dry and rough like sandpaper, "keep an eye on Eva. Watch her closely, but don't let her notice, and don't harm her. I'm heading back for now."
He needed space.
He needed to be alone to process this earth-shattering information.
And he needed to figure out how to face Isabella.
He hung up the phone, didn't spare Jerry or Amboni another glance, pulled the door open, and strode out.
His back was stiff, his steps carrying an almost desperate urgency to escape.
Amboni hurried after him, jogging to catch up in the hallway. He asked in a low voice, "Vitale! Wait! Looking like this, how are you going to tell Isabella?"
Vitale stopped abruptly and turned around.
Under the dim light of the hallway, half of his face was hidden in shadow, the other half outlined by the cold glow of an emergency light, revealing sharp, pained features.
His eyes were incredibly complex, holding a trace of confusion.
"How to tell her?"
"Tell her Eva is still alive but has lost her memory and sees us as good people? Or tell her that inside Eva's body, the heart beating might be my sister Liliana's?"
Vitale forced a smile, uglier than crying, full of bitter irony, "Amboni, which part do you think I should start with?"