Chapter 132: The Revelation

POV: DIMITRI

"Start talking."

Dr. Armani swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, tears still wet on his face.

"What....what do you want to know?"

"Everything." Dimitri pulled over a metal chair, sat down facing the doctor. "But let’s start with the medication you gave Isabella, The compound you gave her. The one she used at the Castellano Gala."

Dr. Armani’s face scrunched in confusion. "The gala? I don’t....I don’t understand what you’re asking."

"Don’t play stupid." Dimitri’s voice turned hard. "The aphrodisiac. Compound X-7. The drug that was used to dose someone’s drink at a charity event two weeks ago. You provided it to Isabella. I want to know when, how, and on whose orders."

"What?" Dr. Armani’s confusion looked genuine. "Signore, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never prescribed anything called Compound X-7. I’ve never heard of it."

Dimitri went very still.

"You’re lying."

"I’m not! I swear!" The doctor’s voice rose with panic. "I don’t know anything about an aphrodisiac or a gala or drugging anyone’s drink! That’s not....I would never...."

"You’ve been treating Isabella for years. You’ve been prescribing her medication. Don’t lie to me about what you’ve given her."

"I’m not lying about the medication! Yes, I’ve been treating Isabella! Yes, I prescribe her medicine! But not....not what you’re describing!" Dr. Armani was shaking now, his words tumbling out desperately. "Please, you have to believe me. I don’t know anything about a drug called Compound X-7. I’ve never provided Isabella with anything like that!"

Dimitri studied the man’s face.

Looking for deception. For tells. For any sign he was lying.

Found only terror and confusion.

"Then what have you been giving her?" Dimitri asked slowly.

"The....the medication. The monthly prescription. The one I was told to provide."

"What medication?"

"I don’t know what it’s called. I don’t....I don’t have a name for it. Just....just the medicine."

Dimitri’s blood ran cold.

This wasn’t the answer he’d expected.

Wasn’t the confession he’d come here for.

"Explain," he said quietly. "From the beginning. Every detail. And don’t leave anything out."

Dr. Armani took a shuddering breath.

"It started eight years ago. Isabella was fifteen. Her father brought her to my practice in Rome. Said she was experiencing severe anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia. He wanted me to treat her."

"And?"

"And I did. I prescribed standard medications at first. Alprazolam. Lorazepam. Normal therapeutic doses for a teenage girl with anxiety." Dr. Armani’s voice was shaking. "But a few months into treatment, I received a visit. From a man. He said he represented someone who had an interest in Isabella’s wellbeing. Someone who wanted to ensure she received the best possible care."

"Who was the man?"

"He never gave me his name. But he made it very clear that I was to follow his instructions precisely. He said I would continue to treat Isabella as normal, continue to document her anxiety and panic disorder in my records, continue to prescribe medication."

"But?"

"But the medication I actually gave her would come from him. From the person he represented." Dr. Armani’s voice dropped. "He would provide it to me monthly. Pre-packaged. Pre-measured. And I would give it to Isabella as her prescription, tell her it was for anxiety, and document it in her records as Alprazolam."

Dimitri’s hands clenched into fists. "Who was providing the medication?"

"I didn’t know. Not at first. The man never told me. He just gave me the medicine, gave me money, a lot of money and told me to keep doing what I was doing." Dr. Armani’s voice broke. "I should have refused. I should have reported it. But the money....God help me, the money was so much. And the man made it very clear what would happen if I didn’t cooperate."

"What would happen?"

"He said my family would be hurt. My wife. My children. He knew where they lived. Where they went to school. Everything." The doctor was crying again. "So I did what he asked. I took the money. I gave Isabella the medication. I documented everything as if it were legitimate treatment."

Dimitri stood, began to pace.

This wasn’t about the aphrodisiac.

This was something else entirely.

Something that had been happening for eight years.

Since Isabella was fifteen years old.

"When did you find out who was providing the medication?" Dimitri asked.

"Three years ago. The man who’d been my contact died. Heart attack. And then....then he came himself. Antonio Valentino." Dr. Armani looked up at Dimitri, his eyes red. "He told me he’d been the one behind everything from the beginning. That the medication was his creation. That I would continue providing it to Isabella, continue documenting it as anxiety medication, and continue keeping my mouth shut."

Dimitri felt something cold settle in his chest.

Antonio.

His father had been doing this.

For eight years.

Poisoning a teenage girl.

"What does the medication do?" Dimitri asked, his voice deadly quiet.

"It’s...it’s addictive. Highly addictive. Once Isabella started taking it, her body became dependent. If she stops....if she misses even a few doses...she experiences severe withdrawal. Tremors, nausea, anxiety that’s worse than anything she had before, panic attacks that leave her unable to function."

"So you’ve been getting her addicted. Deliberately."

"Yes." The word came out as a sob. "Yes. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing. On Antonio’s orders. For eight years."

"Why?" Dimitri moved closer. "Why would my father want Isabella addicted to some unknown substance?"

"I don’t know! He never told me! He just said it was necessary. That it served a purpose. That I didn’t need to understand, I just needed to obey." Dr. Armani’s voice was desperate. "Please, I’m telling you everything I know. I swear on my children’s lives, I don’t know why Antonio wanted this. I just....I just did what he told me to do."

Dimitri crouched in front of the chair, his eyes locked on the doctor’s.

"What’s in the medication? What are the components?"

"I don’t know."

"Don’t lie to me."

"I’m not lying! I don’t know what’s in it!" Dr. Armani was shaking violently now. "Antonio provides it to me already prepared. Pre-packaged in pharmaceutical bottles with no labels. No ingredient lists. No chemical breakdowns. Just pills in a bottle. I don’t know what they’re made of. I don’t know how they work. I just know what they do to Isabella."

"Which is?"

"They make her dependent. They control her moods. They keep her anxious, unstable, easier to manipulate." The doctor’s voice dropped to a whisper. "They make her need the medication more than anything else. More than food. More than sleep. More than her own wellbeing. She’s an addict, Signore. A pharmaceutical addict. And your father made her that way deliberately."

Dimitri stood, turned away, trying to process.

This changed everything.

He’d come here thinking the doctor had provided the aphrodisiac.

Thinking he’d get proof that Isabella had drugged Eve using medication from this man.

Instead, he’d discovered something completely different.

Something worse.

Antonio had been poisoning Isabella since she was fifteen years old.

Had made her dependent on an unknown substance.

Had kept her under his control for nearly a decade.

But why?

What purpose did it serve?