​​A Dangerous Masquerade

I never intended to kill Enzo. What happened earlier was just an act that I played with him so that people would think we were enemies who were willing to kill each other.

My hands felt trembling after gripping the rather heavy weapon. My adrenaline surged, and I was almost hysterical when I saw blood dripping from Enzo’s ear.

Even a single drop of blood felt very heartbreaking. If it were not for the act we had agreed upon, I would have hugged him and apologized to him over and over again.

In the end, I had to control myself with all my strength so I would not scream like a madwoman at seeing my lover injured because of my own actions.

“Miss Selena.” Maria called from outside, knocking on the door repeatedly because I did not immediately tell her to come in.

Her hoarse voice brought me back to my senses. I got up, letting Maria enter while slightly raising my head so I would still look arrogant.

“Who told you to bring tea?” I asked in an annoyed voice.

“It is not good for your beauty to force yourself to sleep while angry, Miss,” she said calmly. “Or would you prefer me to bring you some warm milk?”

“I’m already twenty years old, Maria. I want a stronger drink, not a childish drink like this.”

“Don will go berserk if he finds out you’re drunk.”

I snorted, telling her to put the tray on the table. She moved obediently without arguing at all.

Maria was only two years older than me, but her appearance made her look ten years older. She almost never smiled, and her face always looked expressionless.

In this house, which was more like a wolf’s den, everyone was always tense. No one dared to make a mistake, because one mistake meant losing one life.

Papa did not hesitate to kill anyone who made a serious mistake, whether it was intentional or not.

I sighed. Even my status as Don Moretti’s beloved daughter was not as good as it sounded. The gloomy thought made me feel pressured, so I picked up the tea with an irritated feeling.

“Miss, weren’t you too cruel to Mr. Enzo earlier?”

My cup shook hard as I looked at Maria with an annoyed gaze. “Since when have you dared to reprimand me?”

“I-I’m sorry, Miss. But I just don’t want to see you reprimanded by Don Moretti for continuously bothering Mr. Enzo.”

I snorted. “It’s none of your business. Don’t interfere in my affairs unless I tell you to.”

“I understand.” Maria bowed obediently.

I quickly finished the tea, then walked toward the bed, where I had thrown the family history book that I had taken from the library downstairs yesterday.

As a daughter of mixed Italian and English blood, my knowledge of the family background was not very extensive.

This was all because Mama, who was English by blood, ran away after giving birth to me. I did not blame her because she surely could not bear to stay any longer with my cruel papa.

It was just that I regretted a little that she left without first giving me more information about her family or the Moretti family.

“Ah, here it is,” I said after finding the thick book lying under the pillow.

When Maria was not looking, I took a blank sheet of paper and wrote a message, “Enzo, is your ear all right? Let me know immediately after receiving this message.”

I slipped the paper into one of the pages of the book, then handed it to Maria. “Put it back in its original place, and remember, don’t enter my room again unless you are called.”

“Yes, Miss.”

She immediately took the tray and hurried out of the room. I stared at her back, then shook my head.

Even with the maid who always accompanied me, I could not show her too much goodwill. Papa did not like seeing me getting too close to anyone other than the core members.

“Poor Enzo,” I said, remembering him again.

He came to this house when he was eight years old. Papa, who was known for his cruelty, clearly did not immediately trust Enzo when he swore loyalty to our family.

After all, he was the son of Valentino, Papa’s biggest rival in supplying heavy weapons. However, Enzo kept convincing Papa that he was truly fed up with his birth family.

Papa deliberately ordered the trainer to train Enzo cruelly in order to prove the truth of his words. Besides, Papa would not lose anything if Enzo died during training.

Enzo’s already weak body became even thinner because he often skipped dinner, so I could not bear to see him like that.

That night, I came bringing a lot of food because I felt sorry after hearing him groaning from hunger.

However, who would have thought that Enzo could not eat too much. He vomited all night until a doctor had to be called to treat him.

From that day onward, I was also thought to hate Enzo very much. A troublesome misunderstanding, but on the other hand, it was quite beneficial.

The genius Enzo took advantage of all those misunderstandings. He spread rumors that I hated him very much, so everyone believed that he had never had a close relationship with anyone in this house. Except Papa.

Perhaps outside my room, the servants would think we were sworn enemies who prayed for each other’s deaths.

However, in truth, in this world full of cunning people, Enzo was the only person who possessed my heart.

And I was the only reason why he had not burned this entire mansion to ashes yet.

I must have already fallen asleep because I did not hear the sound of footsteps entering my room. The window was wide open, causing the curtains to move in the wind.

My heart pounded hard as soon as I realized that someone had managed to sneak into my room. My hand quickly moved to search for the pistol I usually hid under my pillow.

Empty!

“Is this what you’re looking for?” The intruder showed off the weapon in his hand.