The second.
That single word followed Luca and Isabella long after they left the clinic.
It was the second time they had chosen each other.
But what did that mean?
How could two people choose each other before they even understood who they were?
The questions haunted them.
The journey back to the estate was quieter than usual.
Not because they had nothing to say.
Because they had too much.
Every truth they uncovered seemed to create a new version of their reality.
Luca sat beside Isabella, staring through the window.
For once, he wasn't trying to solve everything.
He was remembering.
The recording.
The voices.
His mother.
The little pieces of a childhood memory buried beneath years of pain.
A small girl.
A frightened boy.
A promise.
He closed his eyes.
And for the first time in years, the memory became clearer.
A hallway.
The smell of medicine.
His mother kneeling in front of him.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Luca, you have to be brave."
A young version of himself had looked at her, confused.
"Are you leaving?"
Her face had broken.
"No."
But even as a child, he knew something was wrong.
Adults always said things were fine when they weren't.
Then another voice appeared.
A little girl.
Isabella.
She had been holding his hand.
"Don't worry."
He remembered looking at her.
"You're scared too."
She nodded.
"But we can be scared together."
The memory disappeared.
Luca opened his eyes.
His heart was beating faster.
Because now he remembered.
Not everything.
But enough.
Isabella noticed.
"What happened?"
He looked at her.
"I remember you."
Her breath caught.
"What?"
"That night."
The words came slowly.
"The clinic."
She turned toward him.
"What do you remember?"
Luca looked down.
"You were crying."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"You were trying not to."
Isabella stared at him.
"That sounds like me."
"Yes."
A quiet moment passed.
"You told me something."
"What?"
He looked at her.
"You said we would find each other again."
Her expression changed.
Because deep inside, something about those words felt familiar.
Not like a new idea.
Like a forgotten truth.
"I said that?"
"Yes."
A pause.
"And you were right."
The words stayed between them.
Because maybe that was the strangest part of everything.
Someone had tried to control their story.
Someone had separated them.
Someone had buried their memories.
But somehow, years later, they still found each other.
Not because they were forced.
Because something between them survived.
When they returned to the estate, Luca immediately went back through the files.
But this time, he wasn't searching for enemies.
He was searching for memories.
Anything connected to that night.
Anything that could explain what happened.
Isabella joined him.
They worked side by side.
The same way they had started.
Only now, they were no longer strangers.
Hours passed.
Then Isabella found something.
A small notebook hidden inside the files.
Not official documents.
Not records.
Something personal.
She opened it carefully.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
"Luca."
He looked up.
"What?"
"I think this is from someone who knew us."
He walked closer.
The first page contained only one sentence.
Some bonds cannot be erased.
They continued reading.
The notebook belonged to a woman who had worked at the clinic.
A woman who had witnessed everything.
She wrote about Luca and Isabella.
About their families.
About the danger surrounding them.
But one part caught their attention.
They were never meant to be separated forever. Only long enough for the danger to pass.
Isabella looked at Luca.
"Long enough?"
Luca frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The next page answered.
The plan was simple. Hide the truth until they were old enough to choose their own path. Keep them away from the people who wanted to use them.
A cold feeling moved through Isabella.
"So someone planned for us to meet again."
"Yes."
"But why?"
Luca turned the page.
And the answer waited.
Because Luca Moretti and Isabella were the only two people who could expose what happened.
Silence.
Their families had not brought them together for power.
Not for money.
Not for influence.
For truth.
But then Isabella noticed something else.
A name.
A name mentioned repeatedly.
The person behind everything.
The person their parents feared.
The person who had controlled everything from the shadows.
She looked at Luca.
"I know who they were afraid of."
His expression changed.
"Who?"
She pointed at the page.
And when Luca saw the name, the blood drained from his face.
Because it wasn't a stranger.
It wasn't an enemy from outside.
It was someone connected to him.
Someone who had been part of his life.
Someone he trusted.
"No."
The word escaped him.
Isabella looked at him.
"Luca?"
He shook his head.
"That's impossible."
But the evidence was there.
The records.
The messages.
The timeline.
Everything pointed toward the same person.
The person who had been beside him all these years.
The person who knew his weaknesses.
The person who knew Isabella.
The person who had access to every secret they uncovered.
Their enemy had never been hiding in the darkness.
Their enemy had been standing in the light.
Later that night, Luca found Isabella sitting alone.
The weight of everything had finally caught up with her.
"You're scared."
She looked up.
"Yes."
He sat beside her.
"So am I."
She smiled sadly.
"You keep saying that now."
"Because it's true."
A pause.
"Before you, I thought fear was something to hide."
"And now?"
"Now I think pretending not to be afraid is what makes people weak."
She looked at him.
"That's a very different Luca from the one I met."
A faint smile appeared.
"You changed me."
The honesty made her quiet.
Because Luca Moretti was not someone who gave pieces of himself easily.
But Isabella had them.
The real ones.
The hidden ones.
The ones nobody else saw.
Their 90-day journey had become something neither of them expected.
It began as a challenge.
A discovery.
A way to explore what existed between two people.
But now it was something much deeper.
A promise.
A choice.
A reminder that even when the world around them was built on lies, there was one thing they could control.
Who they chose.
And Luca had already chosen.
Her.
The next morning, they would confront the person whose name appeared in the files.
The person who had been protecting a secret for years.
The person who knew the truth about the night everything changed.
But before they could leave, Isabella received a message.
One sentence.
One warning.
Ask Luca what really happened the night he found you at the clinic.
She looked at him.
And for the first time, a new fear appeared.
Because what if the truth they were chasing…
Was not only hidden from them?
What if Luca had forgotten something too?