Chapter 6: The Enemy Inside the Family
Chapter 6: The Enemy Inside the Family
The words echoed inside Leo Rossi’s mind.
The person who betrayed Isabella was someone inside your family.
For seven years, Leo had searched for the person responsible for his wife’s death.
He had hunted enemies.
Destroyed organizations.
Forced criminals to disappear.
But all this time…
The person he was looking for had been standing closer than he ever imagined.
Someone who knew his habits.
Someone who knew his security.
Someone who knew his family.
Someone who knew Isabella.
Leo stood in his office long after midnight, staring at the city lights through the glass window.
Behind him, Beatrice sat quietly.
She looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Because telling the truth meant reopening wounds she had spent years trying to bury.
“Who?” Leo finally asked.
Beatrice looked down.
“I don’t know.”
His expression changed.
“You just said someone inside my family betrayed her.”
“Yes.”
“Then who?”
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Isabella never told me the name.”
Leo turned around.
“Why?”
“Because she was afraid the person would find out she knew.”
Mateo crossed his arms.
“So Isabella trusted you with the evidence, but not the identity?”
Beatrice nodded.
“She said knowing the name would put me in more danger.”
Leo walked toward the desk.
“Then what did she tell you?”
Beatrice closed her eyes.
She remembered that night.
The last time she saw Isabella alive.
Seven years earlier…
The rain had been heavy.
The kind of rain that made the city disappear behind a wall of water.
Beatrice had been finishing her shift when Isabella arrived unexpectedly.
No security.
No driver.
No explanation.
Just fear.
“Beatrice,” Isabella had said.
“Something is wrong.”
Beatrice remembered the way Isabella held herself.
A woman trying desperately not to break.
“What happened?”
Isabella placed a small envelope on the table.
“If anything happens to me, you cannot give this to Leo immediately.”
Beatrice had been confused.
“Why?”
“Because if I’m right…”
Isabella looked toward the window.
“…the person responsible will already know Leo’s next move.”
Those words stayed with Beatrice forever.
“What am I supposed to do with it?”
Isabella had reached for her hand.
“Wait until someone who truly protects Lily finds it.”
Beatrice had frowned.
“Who?”
Isabella looked at her.
“You’ll know.”
Present day.
Leo listened carefully.
“Someone who truly protects Lily.”
His eyes moved toward the hallway.
Toward the room where his daughter slept.
“And you thought that person was me?”
Beatrice shook her head.
“No.”
The answer surprised him.
“Then who?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I thought it was impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Isabella was talking about someone who would choose Lily over everything else.”
She looked at him.
“And I didn’t think someone like that existed in your world.”
The words hurt.
Because they were true.
Leo had spent years building a world where loyalty was earned through fear.
Not love.
The next morning, Leo made a decision.
A dangerous one.
He called everyone.
The Rossi inner circle.
Family members.
Business partners.
People who had been with him for decades.
If there was a traitor…
He wanted them all in one room.
The Rossi mansion dining room had never felt colder.
Everyone sat around the long table.
Leo stood at the head.
Victoria was there.
Her father, Richard Kensington, was there.
Leo’s uncle, Antonio Rossi.
Several senior members of his organization.
People who had known him since he was young.
Mateo stood beside him.
Beatrice stayed near the doorway.
She did not want to be there.
She hated attention.
But Leo insisted.
“You’re part of this family now.”
The words shocked everyone.
Especially Beatrice.
Nobody had ever called her that before.
Leo placed a folder on the table.
“My wife was investigating a betrayal before she died.”
The room became silent.
Several people exchanged looks.
Leo noticed.
“All of you knew Isabella.”
No one spoke.
“All of you had access to my company.”
Still nothing.
“And one of you helped destroy my family.”
Antonio Rossi immediately stood.
“You’re accusing us?”
Leo looked at him.
“I’m asking questions.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“Sit down.”
The command was calm.
But everyone listened.
Antonio slowly sat.
Leo continued.
“Seven years ago, someone leaked information about Isabella’s investigation.”
He looked around the room.
“That person knew where she was going.”
“They knew what she discovered.”
“They knew how to make it look like an accident.”
Victoria shifted slightly.
Mateo noticed.
But Leo kept talking.
“Now someone has returned.”
He placed another photograph on the table.
The image of the mysterious man.
“The same person who attacked Lily.”
The room reacted.
Not everyone.
But enough.
Leo saw fear.
Recognition.
Guilt.
Something.
Then the mansion alarms suddenly activated.
Everyone froze.
A guard rushed into the room.
“Mr. Rossi!”
Leo turned.
“What happened?”
The guard looked nervous.
“There’s been a security breach.”
“Where?”
The guard hesitated.
“In the archive room.”
Leo’s expression changed.
The archive room.
The place where Isabella’s personal belongings were stored.
The place nobody entered.
Except family.
Leo moved quickly.
The archive room door was open.
Inside, everything had been searched.
Drawers pulled out.
Documents scattered.
Old photographs destroyed.
But one thing was missing.
The box containing Isabella’s private files.
Leo stared at the empty shelf.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
A piece of paper.
He picked it up.
A handwritten note.
Only one sentence.
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO FIND HER.
Leo’s face hardened.
“Who had access to this room?”
The guard looked uncomfortable.
“Only family members and authorized staff.”
Leo turned slowly.
Everyone behind him became a suspect.
Including the people he had trusted his entire life.
That evening, Beatrice found Leo alone.
He was sitting in Isabella’s old office.
“She was right,” Beatrice said softly.
Leo looked up.
“About what?”
“She knew someone close to you would betray you.”
Leo looked at the empty room.
“I spent my life protecting my family.”
A pause.
“And I never saw the danger inside it.”
Beatrice stepped closer.
“Leo.”
He looked at her.
“You saved Lily.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice was gentle.
“Lily saved you too.”
He frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Before Lily, you only knew how to fight.”
She looked toward the hallway.
“But now you have something worth fighting for.”
Later that night, Mateo uncovered something disturbing.
A hidden file.
A secret account.
Money transfers made seven years earlier.
The payments came from someone inside the Rossi organization.
And the final transfer went to an anonymous account.
The recipient name was hidden.
But one detail was visible.
The initials.
V.K.
Mateo stared at the screen.
Victoria Kensington.
But before Leo could confront her…
Victoria disappeared.
And she left behind one message.
A message that changed everything.
May you like
I DIDN’T KILL ISABELLA.
I KNOW WHO DID.
