Betrayal Unveiled

After finishing my business with Enzo, I cleaned the remaining blood from my hands and changed my clothes. The rest was simply doing my boring daily activities.

Unlike my two older brothers, who were free to have fun out there, I was confined inside the house for a full 24 hours. Unless there was an important party that required my presence, only then would Papa allow me to leave the house.

It seemed that he had almost gone crazy after Mama ran away and left him more than a decade ago. So what he was doing now was building a golden cage for me and letting me rot inside it until I grew old.

Not only that, Papa had become crueler toward every woman he encountered. Even in this house, there was only one female servant, Maria, who was allowed to work and serve me.

The rest were men. The same went for the housekeepers and the cooks.

When I was little, I often whined and asked to play in the garden or go to the mall like I saw on television, but Papa always firmly refused.

Instead, Papa bought me lots of toys and beautiful clothes. After I grew up, those toys were replaced with rare and expensive jewelry.

The last time, Papa bought me a luxurious bulletproof car. Ironically, I would never be able to take that car anywhere. I even went to school through homeschooling.

“Maria, I’m going to the library for a while.”

There was no response, so I turned around and looked for her around the room. It seemed she had gone downstairs carrying my dirty, bloodstained clothes so they could be washed immediately.

All right, no problem. Maria knew where to look if I was not in my room. There was no place that would allow me to sneak out of the mansion, as everything was tightly guarded by Papa’s trusted guards.

I hummed softly as I walked down the marble stairs toward the ground floor. It was quiet. I wondered where everyone who was usually seen around here had gone.

It was just as deserted as the library, which was almost never entered by anyone except me, Maria, the servant assigned to clean it, and… Enzo.

This library occupied a special room with bookshelves towering all the way to the ceiling. There was a ladder provided to reach the books on the highest shelves.

As far as I remembered, there were thousands of books here, and I had read almost all of them. Various kinds of books were available, suited to my hobby of reading.

I stopped at the very last shelf, observing the titles one by one, looking for the history book I had given to Maria yesterday.

That book was the only way for Enzo and me to communicate secretly without anyone else knowing, especially Papa.

Papa did not allow me to have a cellphone or laptop.

I grimaced as I remembered Papa’s hard slap against my cheek when I whined and asked for a cellphone. He cursed at me and then locked me inside my room all day and all night.

The next day, Papa opened the door, bringing flowers and a set of ruby jewelry.

Of course, I accepted the jewelry. Everything Papa gave me would become my main capital after I managed to leave this place.

“Where is the book?” I had gone back and forth reading the titles on the spines of the books but could not find the one I was looking for. “Did Maria forget to put it back here?”

Impossible. I had known Maria for many years, almost as well as I knew myself.

The girl was not someone who easily forgot things. She always finished her work completely.

Unless… she had deliberately not put the book here, but instead handed it to someone else.

Papa!

No, no way. It was impossible for Maria to hand the book to Papa without a clear reason. Especially since I had carefully hidden the letter so it would not be easily discovered.

Or had I already found out?

My forehead became wet with sweat as I imagined that possibility. If Papa had indeed found out, then Enzo’s life was in great danger.

I had to meet him immediately before it was too late. However, I had not even managed to leave the library when I heard the door open forcefully.

Papa stepped inside, one hand holding the book I knew very well. “Why are you leaving in such a hurry, my beloved daughter?”

Papa said it in a cold voice, making me tremble unconsciously. I stepped back, then another step, until my back hit the wall.

“Papa.”

“Yes, my dear daughter, is there something you want to say?”

My lips moved, but no sound came out. I, who loved acting whenever I was with Enzo, now did not know what kind of expression to put on.

Everything felt pointless because Papa waved the message I had written with my own hand right in front of my eyes.

“Do you recognize this handwriting?” Papa asked in a growling voice.

I remained motionless, my head feeling empty. The only thing I could think about right now was Enzo’s life being in danger.

He had to leave this mansion as quickly as possible. But how could I tell Enzo?

“Answer me!”

His hand swung extremely fast, so I could not dodge. My ear immediately rang from the force of his slap.

“For twelve years you have been playing with me. For twelve years I have been raising a snake inside my own house.” Papa hissed with hatred. Every word felt like a sting of poison that made me increasingly helpless.

He yanked my hair until I screamed in pain. Papa dragged me mercilessly out of the library, without caring about my pleas to be released.

“Shameful lovers!”

Papa pushed me forward until I stumbled and fell. However, I no longer felt the pain because what I was feeling now was overwhelming fear.

Enzo was kneeling in front of me with his face covered in blood. His cheek had a deep slash stretching across it to the left side.

“Selena, run…”