Chapter 9 - THE TRUTH HIDDEN IN MY PAST
“I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
My voice was steady.
But inside, everything was falling apart.
Alessio stared at me.
Victoria stood beside Leo like she had already won.
“You really don’t remember?”
Victoria asked.
I looked at her.
“Remember what?”
She smiled.
“That night.”
A cold feeling moved through my body.
“What night?”
“The night your life changed.”
Alessio looked confused.
“Enough games.”
Victoria laughed.
“Games?”
She looked at him.
“You built an empire by hiding the truth, Alessio.”
Her eyes returned to me.
“And she is the only person who can destroy it.”
I hated that she knew exactly how to create fear.
Because she wasn’t attacking with weapons.
She was attacking with questions.
Alessio stepped forward.
“Tell me what you know.”
Victoria ignored him.
She reached into her pocket.
And pulled out a small object.
A blue bead.
The same kind.
My heart stopped.
“She was there when it happened.”
I stared at the bead.
“No.”
Victoria smiled.
“Yes.”
Alessio looked at me.
“Explain.”
I shook my head.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t?”
I swallowed.
“Because I don’t remember.”
Silence.
The truth was something I had buried for years.
A night I never talked about.
A fire.
A scream.
A child.
And a promise I made to someone who never came home.
Victoria stepped closer.
“You were not hired by accident.”
My blood ran cold.
“What do you mean?”
She whispered:
“You were brought here because someone knew you would recognize the person who tried to kill Leo.”
Alessio looked at me.
“Who?”
I closed my eyes.
Because suddenly I remembered.
A face.
A voice.
A name.
A person I thought was gone forever.
“The person who did this…”
I opened my eyes.
“He was inside this house before.”
Alessio stepped closer.
“Who?”
I looked at him.
And said the name that changed everything.
“Your brother.”
The room went silent.
Because Alessio Romano’s younger brother…
had been dead for seven years.
May you like
Or at least…
that was what everyone believed.
