Chapter 5: The Betrayal Inside the Mansion
The message remained on the screen.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because every person in the room understood what it meant.
Someone inside the Moretti mansion had been hiding a secret.
Someone close enough to Vincent to protect him.
Someone close enough to betray him.
The words burned into his mind.
*Especially the person who has been protecting you for the last twenty years.*
Vincent stared at the screen.
His first instinct was anger.
His second was suspicion.
But his third—the one he trusted most—was calculation.
Fear made people careless.
Vincent Moretti had survived because he never allowed fear to make decisions for him.
He slowly turned away from the screen.
“Lock down the mansion.””
Marco immediately reached for his radio.
“Everyone stays inside. Nobody enters. Nobody leaves.””
The guards moved through the halls.
Doors locked.
Security shutters lowered.
The massive house that had always felt like a fortress suddenly felt like a cage.
Luna stood near the stairs, watching everything.
She looked smaller than before.
Not because she was afraid.
Because she was trying to understand.
“Is someone here?””
Vincent looked at her.
He softened his expression.
“I don’t know.””
That answer seemed to surprise her.
Again.
She had expected him to know.
Everyone expected Vincent Moretti to know.
But tonight, he had learned the most dangerous truth of his life.
He had spent twenty years surrounded by people who knew more than he did.
“Are you scared?”” Luna asked.
The question caught him off guard.
Vincent looked around the mansion.
At the guards.
The cameras.
The walls built to keep enemies out.
Then he looked at the little girl standing in the middle of it all.
“Yes.””
Marco glanced at him.
Bosses did not admit fear.
Not Vincent.
Not ever.
But Vincent continued.
“I’m scared because I don’t know who to trust.””
Luna nodded slowly.
“My mother said that was the worst kind of danger.””
Vincent looked at her.
“What did she say?””
“That sometimes the person holding the door open is the person letting the enemy in.””
A cold silence followed.
Because Vincent knew exactly who had been holding the door open.
The only person who had been there since the beginning.
The only person who knew every secret.
Every weakness.
Every wound.
“Bring him to me.””
Marco understood immediately.
“Boss?””
Vincent’s voice became colder.
“Bring Thomas.””
Marco hesitated.
The hesitation lasted less than a second.
But Vincent noticed.
“Problem?””
“No.””
Marco looked away.
“It’s just…”
“Just what?””
“Thomas has been loyal to you for twenty years.””
Vincent stared at him.
“That’s why I need to talk to him.””
Thomas Bellini arrived ten minutes later.
He did not come with guards.
He did not come angry.
He walked into the mansion carrying the same worn leather coat he had worn for years.
He looked older now.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
A slight limp from an injury he received protecting Vincent during a failed assassination attempt fifteen years earlier.
To everyone else, Thomas was family.
Not by blood.
By choice.
He was the man who stood beside Vincent when everyone else disappeared.
The man who helped build his empire.
The man who stayed when staying was dangerous.
Thomas entered the security room.
His eyes immediately found Luna.
Then Vincent.
Then the message on the screen.
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But Vincent saw it.
“You know something.””
Thomas looked at him.
“No.””
Vincent stepped closer.
“Don’t lie to me.””
Thomas sighed.
“I knew this day would come.””
The room became silent.
Marco’s hand moved toward his weapon.
Vincent raised his hand.
“Explain.””
Thomas looked at Luna.
“Not here.””
Vincent’s expression hardened.
“Everything happens here.””
Thomas looked at the little girl.
“Does she know?””
Vincent’s jaw tightened.
“Know what?””
Thomas closed his eyes.
For the first time in twenty years, Vincent saw something he never expected from Thomas.
Regret.
“Thomas.””
The older man looked back at him.
“Her mother called me the night she disappeared.””
The sentence changed the room.
Vincent stopped breathing.
“What?””
Thomas swallowed.
“I found Elena.””
A storm entered Vincent’s eyes.
“You found her?””
“Yes.””
“And you told me she was dead.””
Thomas looked down.
That was enough.
Vincent understood.
His voice dropped.
“Why?””
Nobody answered.
The silence was worse than any confession.
Vincent grabbed the edge of the table.
“Why?””
Thomas finally spoke.
“Because she begged me.””
The anger on Vincent’s face froze.
“What?””
“Elena was alive. Luna was alive. But they were being hunted.””
Vincent stared.
“By who?””
Thomas looked at the screen.
“The same people who are hunting her now.””
Vincent stepped closer.
“You expect me to believe Elena asked you to destroy me?””
“No.””
Thomas’s voice broke slightly.
“She asked me to save you.””
Vincent laughed.
A bitter sound.
“You saved me?””
Thomas looked at him.
“Yes.””
“From what?””
Thomas looked at Luna.
“From becoming the reason she died.””
The room went silent.
Luna looked confused.
Vincent looked furious.
“Choose your words carefully.””
“I am.””
Thomas took a deep breath.
“Vincent, you were already becoming exactly what they wanted.””
“What does that mean?””
“You were angry. Reckless. Destroying everyone who stood against you.””
Vincent’s eyes darkened.
“That was my choice.””
“No.””
Thomas shook his head.
“It was their plan.””
Vincent said nothing.
Because part of him hated that Thomas’s words made sense.
Twenty years ago, after losing Elena and Luna, Vincent had become ruthless.
He built an empire out of pain.
He destroyed enemies before they could hurt him.
He became the monster people feared.
But now he wondered.
Was that what someone wanted?
Did they take his daughter and create the man they needed him to become?
Thomas continued.
“Elena knew if you found out Luna was alive too soon, you would go after everyone involved.””
“And?””
“And they would kill Luna.””
Vincent looked at him.
“You let me suffer for twenty years.””
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt more.
“I hated myself every day for it.””
Luna quietly stepped forward.
“My mother trusted you?””
Thomas looked at her.
His eyes softened.
“Yes.””
“Then why did you lie?””
Thomas looked like the question hurt him more than Vincent’s anger.
“Because your mother asked me to.””
Luna looked down.
“Did she cry?””
Thomas froze.
“What?””
“When she left.””
Nobody spoke.
Luna touched the key around her neck.
“My mom always cried when she was scared.””
Thomas looked away.
“Yes.””
His voice became quiet.
“She cried.””
Vincent closed his eyes.
For twenty years, he imagined Elena leaving him.
He imagined she had chosen another life.
He imagined she forgot him.
But she hadn’t.
She was afraid.
She was protecting their daughter.
And she had trusted Thomas.
Vincent opened his eyes.
“Where is she?””
Thomas looked at him.
“I don’t know.””
“Try again.””
“I don’t know.””
Vincent moved closer.
“Twenty years, Thomas.””
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“Twenty years I buried my child.””
Thomas didn’t defend himself.
“I know.””
“And you knew.””
“Yes.””
The pain in those two words was unbearable.
Before Vincent could answer, every screen in the room suddenly turned on.
Everyone turned.
A live video appeared.
The image was blurry.
Dark.
But Vincent recognized the face immediately.
Elena.
She was sitting in a chair.
Her hands were tied.
Her face was bruised.
But she was alive.
Luna gasped.
“Mom.””
Vincent stepped toward the screen.
“Elena.””
A man’s voice came from behind the camera.
“Hello, Vincent.””
Vincent froze.
The voice was familiar.
Not Damian.
Not Elias.
Someone else.
Someone closer.
The camera moved.
And the man stepped into view.
Vincent felt the world collapse.
Because the person standing behind Elena was the last person he expected.
The person who had been beside him for twenty years.
The person who had protected him.
The person who had sworn loyalty until death.
Thomas.
But Thomas was still standing beside him.
Confusion spread through the room.
Vincent slowly turned toward the real Thomas.
Then back at the screen.
The man on the video smiled.
“Now you understand.””
Vincent’s face went cold.
Because there were two Thomases.
One beside him.
One holding Elena captive.
May you like
And the man on the screen whispered:
“Your biggest mistake was believing you only had one traitor.””
