Chapter 3 - The Enemy Inside The Family
The sound of the hidden door opening was the loudest sound I had ever heard.
Not because it was loud.
But because we all knew what it meant.
Someone had found us.
The secret room beneath the Duca mansion was supposed to be forgotten.
A place hidden beneath layers of stone and time.
A place that even Lorenzo Duca, the owner of the mansion, had never known how to reach.
But somehow…
Someone knew.
And they were coming.
Emma held onto my hand.
Her small body pressed against my side as she looked toward the doorway.
She didn’t understand the danger.
She didn’t understand that the people above us had come to finish what they started.
All she knew was that everyone looked scared.
And whenever Emma saw someone scared, she tried to make them feel better.
That was who she was.
Even now.
Even here.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered.
I looked down.
“About what, baby?”
She looked at Lorenzo.
“He’s going to be okay.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Not me.
Not Lorenzo.
Not even the people approaching outside the room.
Because those words came from a child who had no reason to believe them.
Yet somehow…
They sounded like a promise.
Lorenzo looked away.
I noticed his expression.
The same man who could intimidate grown men with a single look was struggling with something much harder.
Hope.
He wasn’t used to it.
Hope was dangerous for people like him.
Because hope meant there was something left to lose.
The hidden door moved another inch.
Lorenzo immediately reached inside his jacket.
This time, I didn’t stop him.
Because I understood.
He wasn’t reaching for power.
He was reaching for survival.
But before he could pull anything out, he stopped.
His face tightened.
The injury was taking its toll.
His fingers trembled.
I saw it.
He tried to hide it.
But I saw it.
“You’re getting weaker,” I whispered.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding through the bandage.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You always argue with people who are trying to kill you?”
I almost laughed.
The fact that he could still make a joke in a moment like this was unbelievable.
“No.”
I looked toward the door.
“Only when they’re being stubborn.”
For the first time, a small smile appeared on his face.
It disappeared quickly.
But I saw it.
Then the door stopped moving.
Silence.
A terrifying silence.
Someone was standing outside.
Listening.
Lorenzo raised his hand, signaling us not to move.
The three of us froze.
A voice came from the other side.
“Lorenzo.”
My blood went cold.
The voice was familiar.
Calm.
Controlled.
The kind of voice that never needed to shout.
The same voice from the recording.
The same voice belonging to the woman who had already planned his funeral.
Lorenzo’s expression changed instantly.
He knew.
He knew exactly who was standing there.
“Come out,” the woman called.
Her tone was almost gentle.
“You know this game is over.”
Emma looked up at Lorenzo.
“Who is she?”
Nobody answered.
Because sometimes children asked the questions adults were afraid to say.
The door remained closed.
Then the woman spoke again.
“I know you’re hurt.”
A pause.
“I know the maid found you.”
My heart stopped.
She knew about me.
She knew about Emma.
Lorenzo looked at me.
His eyes hardened.
“She’s been watching.”
I nodded slowly.
The monitors.
The cameras.
The hidden room.
Everything suddenly made sense.
She wasn’t just planning his death.
She had been watching every move inside this mansion.
Including mine.
Including my daughter.
The woman continued.
“You were always too trusting of people you thought were loyal.”
Her voice became colder.
“That was your father’s mistake too.”
Lorenzo stepped closer to the door.
I grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“She killed my father?”
“I don’t know.”
“But she knows something.”
I looked at Emma.
Then back at him.
“Right now, staying alive matters more.”
For a few seconds, Lorenzo stared at me.
Then slowly…
He nodded.
The most powerful man in the city had just listened to a maid.
Not because of my position.
Not because he had to.
Because he trusted me.
That scared me more than anything.
The hidden door suddenly opened.
A shadow appeared.
But before anyone could enter, Lorenzo moved.
Not toward the person.
Toward the control panel.
His hand slammed onto a button.
The lights went out.
The room fell into darkness.
Someone shouted.
“What happened?”
A flashlight turned on.
I grabbed Emma and pulled her close.
Then I heard movement.
Fast.
Silent.
Lorenzo knew this mansion better than anyone.
Even injured, he moved like someone who had spent his whole life surviving.
A man cursed in the darkness.
Another shouted.
“Find him!”
Emma buried her face against me.
“Mama…”
“I’m here.”
“I’m scared.”
My heart broke.
Because Emma had been brave all night.
Braver than any adult.
And now she finally admitted she was afraid.
I hugged her tightly.
“You’re safe.”
But I didn’t know if that was true.
A loud crash echoed.
Then a body hit the floor.
The lights flickered back on.
Two armed men stood frozen near the entrance.
And Lorenzo stood behind them.
Weak.
Bleeding.
But still terrifying.
He held one man’s weapon in his hand.
His eyes were cold.
The mafia boss had returned.
“Who sent you?”
The men said nothing.
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“Answer me.”
Still nothing.
Then one of them smiled.
A strange, confident smile.
“You really think you know everything?”
Lorenzo stared.
The man laughed softly.
“You’re still trying to find the enemy outside.”
He looked around the room.
At the evidence.
At the secrets.
“You never understood.”
A pause.
“The person who betrayed you has been sitting at your dinner table for years.”
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
The man continued.
“She knows your habits.”
“She knows your weaknesses.”
“She knows exactly how you think.”
His smile widened.
“And the funniest part?”
Nobody moved.
“She was the one who told us where to look tonight.”
Lorenzo’s expression changed.
“Who?”
The man looked directly at him.
And whispered:
“The person you trusted most.”
Then he laughed.
A sharp, cruel sound.
Before anyone could react, he reached toward something hidden in his sleeve.
I saw it.
“Lorenzo!”
I shouted.
Everything happened at once.
Lorenzo moved.
The man fell.
The weapon hit the ground.
Emma screamed.
And I pulled her away.
For a few seconds, nobody breathed.
Then silence returned.
The attacker was unconscious.
Alive.
But the message remained.
Someone inside the family had betrayed Lorenzo.
Someone close.
Someone trusted.
Lorenzo slowly picked up the photograph from earlier.
The one showing the woman beside his father.
His fingers tightened around it.
“I need answers.”
I looked at him.
“You need to survive first.”
His eyes met mine.
Then he looked at Emma.
The little girl who had saved his life with a toy bandage.
The little girl who had walked into the darkness without fear.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Lorenzo whispered.
Emma frowned.
“But you needed help.”
His expression softened.
And for a moment, he wasn’t Lorenzo Duca.
He was just a man realizing someone cared whether he lived or died.
A sudden noise came from one of the monitors.
The screen flickered.
A live camera feed appeared.
The mansion hallway.
The woman was standing there.
Watching.
She looked directly into the camera.
As if she knew they were seeing her.
Then she smiled.
And spoke.
Not to the guards.
Not to anyone else.
To Lorenzo.
“I know you found the room.”
Everyone froze.
Her voice filled the hidden vault.
“But you’re too late.”
The screen changed.
Showing another room.
A room inside the mansion.
A room where someone was waiting.
Lorenzo stared.
Because he recognized the person on the screen.
His face became completely still.
“No…”
I looked at him.
“Who is that?”
His answer came quietly.
And the fear in his voice was worse than anything I had heard before.
“My brother.”
The screen went black.
And beneath the mansion where secrets had been buried for decades…
We finally discovered the truth.
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The enemy was not just inside the family.
The enemy was family.
