Chapter 8 - The Enemy Inside the Family
Victor Hale stared at the message.
Victor was not alone.
Four words.
But they changed everything.
For fifteen years, Victor had been the man everyone trusted.
The advisor.
The protector.
The person who stood beside the Viscari family when everything collapsed.
And now Matteo Viscari was looking at him like he was seeing a stranger.
“Who else?”
Matteo’s voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
Victor did not answer.
That was enough.
Clara watched the silence between them.
She had learned something about powerful people.
They rarely revealed the truth with words.
They revealed it when they avoided them.
“Victor,” Clara said.
He looked at her.
“Who else was involved?”
Victor looked back at Matteo.
“I need you to understand something.”
Matteo’s expression did not change.
“That is not an answer.”
“I made mistakes.”
The room became colder.
Clara noticed Matteo’s hand tighten.
Not because Victor admitted guilt.
Because Victor admitted something worse.
Regret.
“You knew,” Matteo said.
Victor lowered his eyes.
“I knew Leo was in danger.”
The words landed heavily.
Matteo stepped forward.
“You knew?”
Victor looked at him.
“Yes.”
“And you let him die?”
“No.”
Victor’s voice became sharper.
“I tried to stop it.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Leo made me promise.”
Matteo laughed bitterly.
“My brother was dying, and you protected a promise instead of protecting him.”
Victor accepted the accusation.
Because he knew he deserved it.
“Leo believed you would go after everyone.”
Matteo froze.
“What?”
Victor took a breath.
“He knew you.”
A pause.
“He knew if you discovered the truth too early, you would destroy yourself trying to punish everyone responsible.”
Clara looked at Matteo.
Because that sounded exactly like him.
Matteo had spent nine years turning grief into control.
Turning pain into power.
Leo had known that.
Victor continued.
“He wanted proof first.”
“Proof of what?”
Victor looked at the torn letter.
“The person behind everything.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
“You keep saying person.”
Victor remained silent.
Clara noticed.
“Because you know who it is.”
Victor looked at her.
“No.”
She studied his face.
“But you know who it isn’t.”
Another silence.
That was the answer.
Matteo walked back to his desk.
“Start from the beginning.”
Victor hesitated.
Then sat down.
For the first time, he looked older.
Not like a powerful executive.
Like a man carrying something heavy for too long.
“Three weeks before Leo died, he discovered unusual financial movements.”
Matteo listened.
“Money was being moved through several companies connected to Viscari Holdings.”
“By who?”
“We didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know?”
Victor looked at him.
“That was the problem.”
He opened the folder.
“Someone covered every trace.”
Clara looked through the documents.
“These transfers happened at night.”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
“Using executive access.”
“Yes.”
Matteo looked at him.
“Mine?”
Victor didn’t answer.
Clara understood.
Someone had been using Matteo’s authority long before the fake orders.
This wasn’t a recent attack.
It was a plan.
A long one.
“Leo found the pattern,” Victor said.
“He realized someone was slowly weakening the company.”
Matteo looked at the documents.
“Why?”
Victor looked at him.
“To make you lose control.”
The answer was simple.
And terrifying.
“Why would anyone want that?”
“Because Matteo Viscari was untouchable.”
Victor paused.
“You had money. Power. Loyalty.”
His voice lowered.
“The only way to destroy you was to make you destroy yourself.”
Clara felt the weight of those words.
The fake orders.
The cruelty.
The isolation.
Everything had one purpose.
To turn Matteo into someone nobody could trust.
Someone everyone feared.
Someone alone.
Then Matteo noticed something.
A name appeared repeatedly in the documents.
Not as an employee.
Not as an executive.
As a consultant.
“Adrian Moretti.”
Victor looked down.
“Yes.”
Clara looked between them.
“The man in the photograph.”
Matteo nodded.
“He was Leo’s closest friend.”
Victor corrected him.
“He was Leo’s closest friend because Leo believed he was.”
Matteo looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Victor hesitated.
“Leo discovered Adrian had access to information he should not have.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because he wasn’t sure.”
Clara looked at the photograph.
“So Leo suspected Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“But the message said Victor was not alone.”
Victor nodded.
“Because Adrian was not the only one.”
The room went silent again.
Matteo looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Nine years of unanswered questions were finally becoming answers.
But every answer created another wound.
“Where is Adrian now?”
Victor looked away.
“That’s complicated.”
“Find him.”
“I tried.”
Matteo’s eyes hardened.
“You tried?”
Victor nodded.
“He disappeared after Leo died.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
“Did you believe he was guilty?”
Victor was quiet.
Then answered.
“No.”
Matteo stared.
“Why?”
“Because Leo didn’t.”
That stopped him.
Victor opened another file.
Inside was a note.
A short handwritten message.
Leo’s handwriting.
Matteo read it.
Adrian is hiding something. But he is not the one who wants me dead.
Clara looked at Victor.
“Then who?”
Victor did not answer.
Instead, he looked at Matteo.
And for the first time, he seemed genuinely afraid.
“Matteo…”
“What?”
“You need to leave this building.”
Matteo frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if they know you found this…”
A sound interrupted him.
The lights flickered.
Everyone stopped.
Clara immediately looked toward the door.
The security system on the wall turned red.
An alarm.
Not a fire alarm.
A security breach.
Matteo reached for his phone.
No signal.
Victor stood quickly.
“They’re here.”
Clara looked at him.
“Who?”
Victor didn’t answer.
The office lights went out.
Darkness filled the room.
Then the sound came.
A single elevator arriving.
Slowly.
The doors opened.
Someone stepped out.
Matteo moved toward the entrance.
Clara followed.
A man stood in the hallway.
Older.
Calm.
Holding a folder.
Nobody spoke.
Because Matteo recognized him immediately.
After nine years.
The person everyone believed disappeared.
The person Leo trusted.
The person connected to the entire mystery.
Adrian Moretti.
He looked at Matteo.
Then at the photograph on the desk.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“I know who killed Leo.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“Who?”
Adrian looked past him.
At Victor.
Then back at Matteo.
“The person who has been protecting you from the truth.”
The hallway became silent.
Because everyone understood.
May you like
The enemy was not the person who attacked from outside.
It was the person who had been standing closest to Matteo all along.
