Chapter 7: Victoria’s Confession
Chapter 7: Victoria’s Confession
The message appeared on every screen inside the Rossi mansion at exactly 2:13 a.m.
No warning.
No explanation.
Just five words that froze everyone who saw them.
I KNOW WHO DID IT.
Leo Rossi stood in the security room, staring at the monitor.
The message was not a threat.
It was worse.
It was a confession waiting to be heard.
Mateo stood beside him, reviewing the security logs.
“Her phone disappeared twenty minutes ago.”
Leo looked at him.
“Victoria?”
Mateo nodded.
“She left the estate through the east gate.”
“Without anyone seeing her?”
“That’s the problem.”
Mateo turned the screen.
“The cameras were disabled.”
Leo’s expression darkened.
Again.
The same pattern.
Someone was always one step ahead.
“Find her.”
Leo’s voice was calm.
Too calm.
Mateo knew that tone.
It meant Leo was no longer trying to understand the situation.
He was preparing for war.
Victoria Kensington had always believed she understood Leo Rossi.
She believed his weakness was his anger.
His pride.
His need to control everything around him.
But she had been wrong.
Leo’s greatest weakness was not his temper.
It was his love for his daughter.
And now Victoria had threatened the one thing he could never replace.
She knew it.
She had seen it in his eyes.
The moment he discovered Lily was locked in the cellar.
The moment he realized Beatrice had nearly died trying to save her.
That was not the face of a criminal boss.
That was the face of a father.
And Victoria knew she had crossed a line.
Three hours later, Mateo found her.
An abandoned warehouse near the river.
The same area where Isabella’s investigation had begun.
Leo arrived alone.
Mateo followed several steps behind.
Victoria stood near a broken window, looking out at the dark water.
She did not turn around.
“I knew you would come.”
Leo stopped.
“You knew?”
She smiled sadly.
“I know you better than you think.”
“No.”
Leo’s voice was cold.
“You knew the version of me you wanted to manipulate.”
Victoria finally turned.
For the first time, she looked tired.
Not powerful.
Not elegant.
Just scared.
“I didn’t hurt Lily.”
Leo said nothing.
“You need to believe that.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the truth.”
Leo walked closer.
“Then tell me your truth.”
Victoria looked away.
“I was paid to watch your family.”
The silence that followed felt heavy.
“By who?”
She hesitated.
Leo noticed.
“Victoria.”
Her eyes filled with fear.
“You don’t understand what you’re dealing with.”
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t.”
She whispered:
“The person behind this has been planning it for years.”
Seven years earlier.
Victoria had been younger.
More ambitious.
More reckless.
She wanted power.
She wanted status.
She wanted to be part of the Rossi world.
That was when someone approached her.
Someone who knew her weaknesses.
Someone who offered her everything she wanted.
Money.
Influence.
A place beside Leo.
All she had to do was gather information.
At first, she told herself it was harmless.
She was only watching.
Listening.
Reporting.
But then Isabella discovered the truth.
And everything changed.
“Isabella knew about me,” Victoria admitted.
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
“She knew you were spying?”
Victoria nodded.
“She confronted me.”
“What happened?”
Victoria swallowed.
“She told me she could forgive me.”
Leo looked surprised.
“She forgave you?”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“That was the worst part.”
“She didn’t hate me.”
“She just looked disappointed.”
Leo stared at her.
“Who hired you?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I never saw his face.”
Mateo stepped forward.
“You expect us to believe that?”
Victoria looked at him.
“I know how it sounds.”
“Because it sounds like another lie.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“This man doesn’t work like normal people.”
“He doesn’t threaten you.”
“He doesn’t force you.”
“He makes you think you’re choosing.”
Leo remained silent.
Because that sounded familiar.
The Falcon.
Victoria reached into her coat.
Mateo immediately moved.
But Leo raised his hand.
“Wait.”
She pulled out a small envelope.
“I took this from the archive room before I left.”
Leo’s expression changed.
“You stole from me?”
“I was trying to protect it.”
“That’s not how this looks.”
Victoria handed him the envelope.
“Inside is the last thing Isabella left behind.”
Leo opened it.
Inside was a letter.
His wife’s handwriting.
The moment he saw it, the world stopped.
Leo,
If you are reading this, then I was right.
Someone close to us has betrayed everything we built.
I wanted to tell you. I tried.
But I knew you would destroy everyone before you found the truth.
Please listen carefully.
The person responsible is not someone who hates us.
That is what makes them dangerous.
They believe they are protecting this family.
They believe they are doing the right thing.
And they will never stop.
Leo’s hands tightened around the paper.
The letter continued.
But the final sentence made his blood run cold.
The person you trust most is the person you should fear.
Leo looked up.
Victoria was watching him.
“You know who it is?”
He didn’t answer.
Because suddenly, several faces appeared in his mind.
People he had trusted.
People who had stood beside him.
People who knew every secret.
Every weakness.
Every move.
Then Mateo’s phone rang.
He answered.
A few seconds later, his expression changed.
Leo immediately noticed.
“What?”
Mateo looked at him.
“It’s Lily.”
Leo froze.
“What happened?”
“She’s gone.”
The world went silent.
“What do you mean gone?”
Mateo swallowed.
“The security footage shows someone entered her room.”
Leo grabbed his coat.
“Who?”
Mateo looked at the screen.
The camera image showed a figure walking into Lily’s bedroom.
A person Leo recognized.
Someone impossible.
Someone who should have been protecting her.
Mateo whispered:
“Leo…”
“It was Beatrice.”
For the first time in years…
Leo Rossi did not know what to believe.
The woman who saved his daughter.
The woman Isabella trusted.
May you like
The woman he had started to see as family.
Was now the person standing in the middle of the biggest mystery of his life.
