Chapter 5 - The Enemy Hidden Among Them
“He found us.”
Antonio Moretti’s words stayed in the air.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Elena looked at him.
Then at the blood on his sleeve.
Then at Sofia.
Her mother looked terrified.
Not confused.
Not surprised.
Terrified.
And Elena realized something.
Whatever was happening was bigger than a missing mother.
Bigger than a secret.
Bigger than Antonio Moretti.
“Who found us?” Elena asked.
Antonio closed the office door behind him.
“Everyone needs to leave.”
Sofia immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Antonio looked at her.
“Sofia.”
“You know what happens if we run.”
Elena stared between them.
“Can someone please stop talking like I’m not standing here?”
Neither answered.
That made her angry.
More than anything else.
Because her entire life, people had made decisions around her.
For her.
Without her.
And somehow, even after finding out her mother was alive, she was still the last person allowed to know the truth.
Antonio looked at Elena.
“You need to listen to me.”
“No.”
His expression changed.
“No?”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“I spent twelve years thinking my mother abandoned me.”
Sofia lowered her eyes.
“I spent twelve years thinking nobody cared enough to tell me the truth.”
Her voice shook.
“But now I find out everyone had answers.”
She pointed toward the door.
“Someone is hunting us.”
Then toward Antonio.
“You know who.”
Then toward Sofia.
“You know why.”
Her eyes moved toward Luciano’s empty place in the hallway.
“And he knows more than both of you.”
Antonio remained silent.
Elena laughed bitterly.
“Exactly.”
She wiped her tears.
“That silence.”
She looked at him.
“That’s the reason I don’t trust you.”
Antonio accepted the words.
Maybe because he knew she was right.
A loud noise came from downstairs.
A crash.
Then another.
The lights flickered.
Sofia immediately grabbed Elena’s arm.
“Come with me.”
Elena looked at her mother’s hand.
A hand she had imagined holding thousands of times.
But now it felt unfamiliar.
“You don’t get to disappear again.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“I won’t.”
“Everyone says that.”
Before Sofia could answer, Antonio moved toward the office door.
“Both of you stay here.”
Elena looked at him.
“You really don’t learn.”
Antonio stopped.
“What?”
“You keep trying to protect people by keeping them away from the truth.”
The words hit him.
Because they were exactly what Sofia had accused him of.
Antonio looked at Elena for a long moment.
Then he slowly nodded.
“You’re right.”
That surprised her.
“I am?”
“Yes.”
The answer was unexpected.
Antonio took a breath.
“So I’ll tell you the truth.”
The hallway went silent.
“Sofia didn’t disappear because she was running from me.”
Elena waited.
“She disappeared because she discovered someone inside my organization was planning something.”
“What?”
“A betrayal.”
“Against you?”
Antonio looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Why would my mother care?”
“Because she discovered innocent people were being hurt.”
Sofia looked down.
“She wanted to expose them.”
Antonio continued.
“And I wanted to stop her.”
Elena frowned.
“You wanted to stop her?”
“Because I knew what would happen if she continued.”
“You were protecting her?”
“I was trying to.”
Sofia looked at him.
“You were too late.”
Antonio didn’t respond.
That silence answered everything.
Elena noticed.
The regret.
The guilt.
The pain.
For the first time, she understood something.
Antonio Moretti wasn’t haunted by what he had done.
He was haunted by what he failed to do.
A sudden sound interrupted them.
A phone ringing.
Everyone froze.
It came from the hallway.
Antonio slowly looked toward the sound.
His face changed.
“No.”
“What?” Elena asked.
Antonio walked toward the corner table.
A phone was lying there.
A phone that hadn’t been there before.
He picked it up carefully.
The screen was already open.
One message.
A video file.
Antonio stared at it.
Sofia immediately became pale.
“Don’t open it.”
Antonio looked at her.
“You know what it is?”
She nodded.
“I know.”
Elena stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Nobody answered.
Antonio pressed play.
The screen showed a dark room.
Then a voice.
A woman’s voice.
Elena’s blood ran cold.
Because she knew that voice.
Her own mother.
“Sofia Hart.”
Antonio looked at Elena.
The video continued.
“If you are watching this…”
Sofia covered her mouth.
“…then I failed.”
Elena felt her heart break.
The recording showed Sofia years younger.
Tired.
Afraid.
But alive.
“I need you to understand something.”
Her mother looked directly into the camera.
“Antonio Moretti is not the person you should fear.”
Elena looked at Antonio.
His expression remained frozen.
The video continued.
“The person who destroyed our lives is someone who has been beside us for years.”
A pause.
Then Sofia said:
“Someone we trusted.”
The screen went black.
Only one sentence appeared.
DON’T TRUST THE MAN WHO SAVED YOU.
Nobody spoke.
Elena slowly looked at Antonio.
The message felt like a knife.
Because Antonio was the man who had protected her.
The man who had searched for her mother.
The man who had shown her the truth.
But now there was a question.
What if he wasn’t the hero?
What if he was only better at hiding?
Antonio looked away.
“Elena.”
She stepped back.
“Don’t.”
His eyes showed pain.
“You need to understand.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t understand anything.”
Sofia moved closer.
“Elena, listen to me.”
But Elena couldn’t.
Too many secrets.
Too many lies.
Too many people telling her what to believe.
Then Antonio’s phone rang.
He answered immediately.
“Speak.”
The person on the other end said something.
Antonio’s face changed.
“What?”
A pause.
“No.”
Another pause.
Then his voice became colder.
“Keep him alive.”
Elena noticed.
“He?”
Antonio ended the call.
“Who was that?”
He didn’t answer.
“Antonio.”
His eyes moved toward the hallway.
“The person who sent the video…”
He stopped.
“And the person who attacked downstairs…”
Sofia whispered:
“Who?”
Antonio looked at Elena.
For the first time since she met him, he looked afraid.
“It’s someone who knows you.”
The words made her stomach drop.
“Who?”
Antonio didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said:
“Someone who has been watching you since you were a child.”
Elena felt the room spin.
“No.”
Antonio walked toward the office window.
Outside, a black car stopped near the restaurant.
The driver’s door opened.
A man stepped out.
Antonio saw him.
And all the color disappeared from his face.
Because he knew exactly who it was.
The man walked toward the entrance.
Slowly.
Confidently.
Like he owned the building.
May you like
Antonio whispered:
“Your father.”
