Page 108 of All The Pretty Little Lies

"What happened next?" I ask, my voice sounding strange and distant to my own ears.

Natasha's eyes meet mine, filled with a mixture of guilt and desperation. "We lied," she whispers. "All of us. The doctor, the nurses, your uncle...me. We agreed to keep it a secret. To pretend the transfer had been successful."

I feel my knees weaken, and I grip the edge of the metal table to steady myself. The cold steel grounds me, reminding me of where I am, of the gravity of this moment.

"Nine months," Natasha continues, her words coming faster now, as if a dam has broken. "Nine months of living a lie. Of feeling my baby grow inside me, knowing I'd never be able to keep them. He’d bring his wife to visit me. She’d touch my belly, beaming with happiness about the life growing inside of me. All the while, I was dying inside knowing it wasn’t their baby. It was mine."

I close my eyes, overwhelmed by the flood of emotions coursing through me. Anger, pity, confusion, they swirl together in a dizzying cocktail.

"The day she was born," Natasha's voice breaks, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. "God, Vesper, she was so beautiful. So perfect. I held her for just a moment before they took her away. Before I had to hand her over to your uncle and pretend she wasn't mine."

The basement suddenly feels too small, the air too thick. I struggle to breathe, my mind racing with the implications of this revelation. The cousin I've known my whole life, the heir to our family's empire, is actually Natasha's child. A child born of deception and desperation.

"Why?" I manage to choke out. "Why are you telling me this now?"

Natasha's eyes lock onto mine, filled with a fierce, desperate love. "Because she's in danger, Vesper.”

I feel the world tilt beneath my feet, Natasha's words echoing in my head like a deafening bell. "What do you mean, she's in danger?" I demand, my voice barely above a whisper.

Natasha's eyes dart nervously to Alex, still lurking in the shadows, before returning to me. "Your uncle," she says, her voice trembling, "he made a deal. A terrible, unthinkable deal."

My heart pounds in my chest as I lean closer, desperate to hear every word. "What kind of deal?" I ask, though a part of me already knows the answer, a cold dread seeping into my bones.

"He..." Natasha swallows hard, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "He brokered a deal to trade you for Bianca."

The words hit me like a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs. I stumble back, gripping the edge of the metal table to keep from falling. "What?" I gasp, my mind reeling.

Natasha nods, her face a mask of anguish. "Dmitri," she whispers, "he wanted Bianca. He's always wanted her. But her father...he was the second son. Victor would never have allowed it."

The pieces start to fall into place, a horrifying picture forming in my mind. "So, they made me disappear," I breathe, the truth of it settling over me like a suffocating blanket.

"Without you," Natasha continues, her words coming faster now, "Mario could make his move. And he did. God help me, Vesper, he did."

The basement swims before my eyes, the harsh fluorescent lights blurring into a hazy glow. I can hear Alex moving behind me, but his presence feels distant, unreal.

"Bianca," I whisper, thinking of the girl I've known my entire life, the cousin I've loved and protected. "She's not...she's not a Rossi at all?"

Natasha shakes her head, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. "No," she says softly. "She's not. The alliance. It's all a farce, Vesper. A lie built on lies."

I close my eyes, overwhelmed by the flood of emotions coursing through me. Anger, betrayal, confusion, they swirl together in a dizzying cocktail. Everything I thought I knew, everything I believed about my family, my place in the world – it's all crumbling around me.

"There's more," Natasha says, her voice barely audible over the pounding of blood in my ears.

I look up at her, not sure I can bear to hear anything else. But I nod, silently urging her to continue.

Natasha's words hang in the air, heavy and suffocating. I feel my world tilting on its axis, reality warping around me as the full implications of her confession sink in. But there's more, I can see it in her eyes, a final, terrible truth waiting to be unleashed.

"Victor," Natasha whispers, her voice barely audible over the hum of medical equipment, "he had a condition for the alliance. For Bianca."

I feel my breath catch in my throat, a cold dread seeping into my bones. "What condition?" I ask, though a part of me already knows the answer, a horrifying suspicion taking root in the darkest corners of my mind.

Natasha's eyes meet mine, filled with a mixture of guilt and desperation. "An heir," she says, the words falling from her lips like poison. "A male heir to continue the Petrov and Rossi bloodline."

The basement seems to spin around me, the harsh fluorescent lights blurring into a nauseating kaleidoscope. I grip the edge of the metal table, my knuckles turning white as I struggle to process this new information.

"But Bianca," I start, my voice sounding strange and distant to my own ears, "she's not...she's not even a Rossi. How could she..."

And then it hits me, a realization so profound, so earth-shattering, that for a moment I forget how to breathe. The room goes silent, the constant beep of monitors fading away as my mind races to connect the dots.

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