CHAPTER 6 : The Traitor Within

The library fell into a suffocating silence.

No one spoke.

The unconscious guard's words lingered in the air.

Someone from inside.

Elena looked from Adrian to Sophia.

Neither of them appeared shocked.

They looked... disappointed.

Adrian rubbed a hand across his jaw.

"Call Dr. Bianchi."

Sophia nodded.

"And keep him under guard when he wakes up."

"You think he'll remember more?"

"He recognized someone."

Adrian glanced at the injured guard.

"If his memory returns, he becomes a target."

Sophia immediately spoke into her earpiece.

Within moments, two security officers entered and carefully carried the injured man out of the archive.

The room felt strangely empty after they left.

Books lay scattered across the floor.

Cabinets stood open.

Drawers had been ripped from antique desks.

Someone had searched every corner.

Not in panic.

With purpose.

Elena slowly walked toward the large oak cabinet.

"So this ledger..."

Adrian looked at the empty drawer.

"It contained names."

"The victims?"

He nodded.

"And the people responsible."

She frowned.

"If that's true, why wasn't it given to the police?"

A faint smile touched Adrian's lips.

It wasn't amusement.

It was resignation.

"Because some of those names belong to the police."

The answer chilled her.

"The government?"

"Some officials."

"The courts?"

"Some judges."

She stared at him.

"You're saying they're everywhere."

"I'm saying power attracts corruption."

He crouched and picked up a torn photograph from the floor.

Half of it had been burned.

The remaining half showed three people standing beside an old stone fountain.

One was Adrian's father.

The second was a woman Elena didn't recognize.

The third had been burned away completely.

"They took this too," Adrian murmured.

"They already have the ledger."

"I know."

"But they still searched the room."

Sophia answered before Adrian could.

"They were looking for something else."

Elena turned.

"What?"

"We don't know."

Adrian slipped the damaged photograph into his jacket.

"Which is exactly what worries me."

A loud rumble of thunder shook the windows.

The emergency lights flickered again.

Power still hadn't been restored.

Sophia checked her watch.

"The backup generators should've restarted by now."

"They would've."

Adrian's expression hardened.

"Unless someone disabled them."

Sophia looked toward the hallway.

"I'll check."

"No."

He stopped her.

"If there's a traitor inside this house, nobody moves alone."

She nodded once.

"Agreed."

Elena folded her arms.

"So what now?"

Adrian looked around the ruined archive.

"Now we find out who betrayed us."

...

An hour later, every employee of the estate had gathered inside the grand ballroom.

Housekeepers.

Gardeners.

Chefs.

Drivers.

Security officers.

Personal assistants.

Nearly sixty people stood in uneasy silence.

Some looked frightened.

Others looked offended.

Elena remained near the back beside Maria.

The elderly housekeeper quietly clasped her hands together.

"I've worked here thirty-two years."

She sounded heartbroken.

"I never imagined seeing this."

Elena studied the faces around the room.

Some avoided eye contact.

Others whispered nervously.

One man stood perfectly still.

A young security officer.

He didn't look anxious.

He looked... calculating.

Adrian stepped onto the small platform at the front of the ballroom.

His voice carried effortlessly across the room.

"Someone inside this estate betrayed my family."

No one moved.

"I don't know who."

Silence.

"I don't know why."

Still nothing.

"But I will."

His calm tone was far more intimidating than shouting.

"No one leaves this estate until the investigation is complete."

A murmur swept through the room.

One of the cooks raised a trembling hand.

"Sir... my daughter is expecting me tonight."

"You'll speak to her."

Another employee stepped forward.

"My wife is in hospital."

"You'll have transportation under escort."

No anger.

No threats.

Only certainty.

Adrian wasn't punishing innocent people.

He was protecting them.

Elena noticed something else.

No one argued.

They trusted him.

That realization unsettled her more than she expected.

A ruthless mafia heir wasn't supposed to inspire loyalty.

Fear, perhaps.

Not loyalty.

Sophia began distributing access cards.

"Until further notice, movement inside the estate is restricted."

The young security officer Elena had noticed earlier shifted his weight.

Just once.

It was subtle.

Barely noticeable.

But Adrian saw it.

"So did Elena.

Their eyes met for the briefest moment.

Adrian gave almost an invisible nod.

He had noticed the same thing.

The officer's name tag read...

Marco.

"Marco," Adrian said calmly.

The young man looked up.

"Yes, sir?"

"You've been with us eighteen months."

"Yes, sir."

"You were assigned to the west gate tonight."

"I was."

"So why were you in the east wing when the power failed?"

The ballroom became deathly quiet.

Marco blinked.

"I... I wasn't."

Sophia looked at her tablet.

"Actually..."

She frowned.

"Your access card opened the east corridor door at 8:17 p.m."

Marco's face lost all color.

"There must be a mistake."

Adrian stepped down from the platform.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

He stopped less than two feet from the young guard.

"There are only two possibilities."

Marco swallowed.

"The system is wrong..."

"Or you're lying."

A bead of sweat rolled down Marco's temple.

Then...

He smiled.

It was the same cold smile Elena had seen on the surveillance footage outside the cathedral.

Her heart slammed against her ribs.

She pointed at him.

"That's him."

The entire ballroom turned toward Marco.

His smile widened.

"Oh..."

he said softly.

"I was hoping you'd recognize me."

The ballroom fell into absolute silence.

Marco's smile never faltered.

Elena felt her pulse hammering in her ears.

It was him.

She would never forget that face.

Three nights ago, he had stood beneath the broken streetlamp outside her apartment, watching her with the same unsettling smile.

Sophia instinctively reached for the pistol concealed beneath her jacket.

Every security officer in the room tightened their grip on their weapons.

Adrian, however, remained perfectly still.

His expression betrayed nothing.

"Step away from him," he said calmly.

The employees scattered, leaving Marco standing alone in the center of the ballroom.

He looked almost amused.

"I have to admit," Marco said, "I expected it would take you longer."

"You've underestimated my wife."

Marco laughed softly.

"So it seems."

Elena frowned.

"My wife."

It was the first time Adrian had called her that without hesitation.

The words should have felt strange.

Instead, they gave her an unexpected sense of safety.

Marco slipped one hand into his pocket.

A dozen weapons were instantly pointed at him.

"Easy," he said with a grin.

"If I wanted anyone here dead, this conversation would've ended already."

Sophia's voice was sharp.

"Hands where I can see them."

Marco slowly raised both hands.

"Happy?"

Adrian studied him carefully.

"You aren't here to kill us."

"No."

"You're here to send a message."

Marco's smile widened.

"Now we're getting somewhere."

Adrian took another step forward.

"Who sent you?"

"The same people who sent the sniper."

"The Serpent Circle?"

Marco didn't answer.

His silence was answer enough.

Adrian folded his arms.

"You stole the ledger."

"I did."

"What else did you take?"

Marco tilted his head.

"You're asking the wrong question."

"And what should I be asking?"

He looked directly at Elena.

"What was inside the envelope?"

Elena instinctively clutched the letter hidden inside her jacket.

She hadn't opened it.

Not yet.

She suddenly understood why.

Marco wasn't after the ledger.

He wanted her mother's letter.

Adrian noticed the movement.

His eyes met hers for the briefest second.

Don't let him see it.

She understood immediately.

Marco laughed.

"There it is."

His gaze remained fixed on Elena.

"So he really gave it to you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You will."

His confidence sent a chill through the room.

Adrian's voice hardened.

"You've made one mistake."

Marco raised an eyebrow.

"Only one?"

"You came here alone."

A slow clap echoed through the ballroom.

Marco applauded once.

Twice.

Three times.

"You still think this is about numbers."

He looked around the room.

"I've never been alone."

Several employees glanced nervously at one another.

Sophia's face turned pale.

"What did you do?"

Marco smiled.

"I planted doubt."

He turned slowly, addressing everyone in the ballroom.

"Look around."

No one moved.

"You've all worked together for years."

Silence.

"And now..."

He shrugged.

"Every one of you is wondering who the second traitor might be."

The realization spread through the room like wildfire.

Housekeepers looked suspiciously at chefs.

Drivers eyed security officers.

Friends who had trusted one another for years suddenly stepped apart.

Marco hadn't just betrayed the estate.

He had poisoned it.

Adrian's voice cut through the growing whispers.

"Enough."

The room instantly fell quiet again.

He looked at every employee one by one.

"Anyone who has served this family faithfully has nothing to fear."

Then he turned back to Marco.

"You won't divide this house."

Marco smiled again.

"We'll see."

Without warning, every light in the ballroom went out.

Darkness swallowed everything.

A woman screamed.

Someone shouted.

A gunshot echoed through the room.

Then another.

The emergency lights flickered back on.

It had taken less than three seconds.

Marco was gone.

A shattered window overlooked the rain-soaked gardens.

Cold wind rushed into the ballroom.

Sophia sprinted toward the broken glass.

"Perimeter teams!"

Her voice echoed through the estate.

"Seal every exit!"

Security officers flooded outside.

Adrian remained beside Elena.

"You all right?"

She nodded, still shaken.

"I think so."

Max suddenly ran into the ballroom, barking wildly.

The golden retriever wasn't looking toward the broken window.

He was barking at one of the servants.

An elderly groundskeeper named Victor.

Everyone turned.

Victor slowly raised his hands.

"I didn't do anything."

Max continued growling.

Low.

Relentless.

Adrian watched the dog carefully.

Max had never been wrong before.

Victor took a nervous step backward.

"I swear..."

His sentence ended abruptly.

He collapsed onto the marble floor.

A tiny dart protruded from the side of his neck.

Sophia rushed forward.

"Doctor!"

Dr. Bianchi knelt beside Victor only seconds later.

He checked for a pulse.

His face became grim.

"He's dead."

Elena covered her mouth.

"What happened?"

The doctor carefully removed the dart.

His expression darkened.

"Poison."

Sophia looked toward the shattered window.

"He was silenced."

Adrian stared at Victor's lifeless body.

"He knew something."

The doctor examined the dart more closely.

Then his eyes widened.

"There are initials engraved on the metal."

"What initials?" Adrian asked.

The doctor held the dart beneath the light.

Two elegant letters had been etched into the steel.

E.R.

Elena's heart nearly stopped.

Those were her initials.

Every pair of eyes in the ballroom slowly turned toward her.

A whisper spread through the room.

Someone wanted it to look as though Elena Rossi had ordered Victor's death.

Adrian stepped in front of her without hesitation.

His voice rang through the ballroom with absolute authority.

"My wife is under my protection."

He swept his gaze across the room.

"And anyone who accuses her without proof answers to me."

Outside, thunder rolled across the night sky.

Hidden somewhere beyond the estate walls, Marco watched the mansion through a pair of binoculars.

He smiled to himself.

Phase One was complete.

Now they would begin to distrust one another.

And when trust died...

The Moretti family would fall from within.