Chapter 13-The Sister Who Brought The Monster To Me
I think the most painful betrayals are not the ones that surprise you.
They are the ones that make every memory you loved suddenly feel fake.
Because after someone betrays you…
you don't just lose them.
You lose every moment you shared with them.
Every conversation.
Every smile.
Every time you believed they were protecting you.
You start asking yourself the same question over and over.
Was any of it real?
I stared at Isabella.
My sister.
The person I spent fifteen years grieving.
The person I thought was the only piece of my old life I had left.
The person who walked back into my world and made me believe I wasn't alone.
And now she was standing in front of me admitting she brought Nolan into my life.
The man who destroyed me.
The man who watched me trust him.
The man who knew exactly how to break me.
“You introduced him to me.”
My voice sounded empty.
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“Elena…”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Answer the question.”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
The word hurt more than I expected.
Because some part of me still hoped she would deny it.
Still hoped there was another explanation.
Another misunderstanding.
Another lie that would make this easier.
But there wasn't.
“Why?”
The question came out quietly.
Not angry.
Not yet.
Just broken.
“Why would you do that?”
Isabella closed her eyes.
“Because I thought I was saving you.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“Everyone says that.”
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
My voice became stronger.
“You don't understand what it feels like to have your entire life controlled by people who claim they love you.”
The room went silent.
Isabella looked like I had hit her.
Good.
For once, I wanted someone else to feel the weight of what they had done.
“You knew Nolan was dangerous.”
She didn't answer.
“You knew who his family was.”
Silence.
“You knew he was using me.”
Her silence became the answer.
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
Isabella looked at Dante.
Then at Adrian.
Then back at me.
“Because I thought Nolan could keep you alive.”
I stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does when you know the truth.”
“Then tell me.”
She hesitated.
And I hated that hesitation.
Because it meant there was still more.
More secrets.
More things everyone knew except me.
“After the night our family died…”
She swallowed.
“I found out someone was searching for you.”
“Who?”
“The Belladonna council.”
A chill moved through me.
“The people my parents fought?”
She nodded.
“They knew you survived.”
“Then why didn't they find me?”
Isabella looked away.
“Because I made a deal.”
My heart stopped.
“With who?”
“Nolan's father.”
The silence that followed felt endless.
Dante's expression became darker.
“You made a deal with the Vescaris?”
Isabella looked at him.
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“You don't understand.”
Dante stepped forward.
“No.”
His voice was cold.
“I understand perfectly.”
A pause.
“You sacrificed Elena's freedom because you were afraid.”
Isabella flinched.
Because he was right.
I watched the two of them.
Two people who claimed they wanted to protect me.
Two people who made decisions without me.
Two people who forgot one important thing.
I was still alive.
And I had a voice.
“What was the deal?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Isabella whispered:
“Nolan would watch you.”
My stomach turned.
“Watch me?”
“Yes.”
“To do what?”
Her eyes filled with regret.
“To make sure you never remembered.”
I felt cold.
“Remembered what?”
She looked at me.
“The night your family died.”
The room became silent.
Because everyone knew.
Everyone except me.
Dante looked at Isabella.
“What happened that night?”
Isabella's hands shook.
“I wasn't supposed to survive.”
A pause.
“None of us were.”
She walked toward the table and picked up an old photograph.
“The attack wasn't just an assassination.”
She looked at me.
“It was a test.”
“A test?”
“Yes.”
My heart raced.
“For what?”
Isabella looked at the photograph.
“For you.”
I froze.
“No.”
“Yes.”
She took a breath.
“Your father knew the council wanted his empire.”
“He knew they would come.”
“Then why didn't he run?”
Because he believed he could protect us.
But he was wrong.
I looked at the picture.
My father.
My mother.
Me.
A family that had been destroyed before I even understood why.
“What happened?”
Isabella's voice became softer.
“Your father had discovered something.”
“What?”
“That the Belladonna bloodline wasn't just symbolic.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian answered.
“The Belladonna heir carries access.”
I looked at him.
“Access to what?”
“The original archive.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“What archive?”
Adrian looked at him.
“The one your father and mine spent decades searching for.”
My confusion grew.
“What is inside it?”
Adrian's expression became serious.
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“The true owners of Chicago's power.”
Silence.
I understood then.
This was never about money.
Never about territory.
Never about revenge.
It was about control.
Who had the right to decide the future.
My blood.
My name.
My existence.
All of it was connected.
Then Dante's phone rang.
He answered immediately.
“What?”
A pause.
His face changed.
“What do you mean missing?”
My heartbeat increased.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“The archive.”
I froze.
“What?”
“The Belladonna archive from your father's collection.”
He tightened his grip on the phone.
“It's gone.”
“How?”
His eyes moved toward Isabella.
Then Adrian.
Then me.
“Someone accessed it tonight.”
A cold feeling entered my chest.
“Who?”
Dante didn't answer.
Because the answer appeared on the security screen behind him.
A live camera image.
A woman walking through the archive room.
A woman everyone recognized.
My mother.
Lucia De Luca.
Alive.
Holding the missing files.
My breath stopped.
“She took them.”
Dante stared at the screen.
“No.”
His voice became quiet.
“She didn't steal them.”
“Then what?”
He looked at me.
“She was retrieving them.”
The screen changed.
A final message appeared.
Written by Lucia.
ELENA, I KNOW YOU ARE WATCHING.
My entire body froze.
Another line appeared.
I DIDN'T ABANDON YOU.
A pause.
Then:
I HID YOU FROM YOUR FATHER.
My heart stopped.
My father.
The man I spent fifteen years mourning.
The man everyone called a victim.
The man who might have been the reason my mother hid me.
The final message appeared.
IF DANTE TELLS YOU HE LOVES YOU, RUN.
Everyone went silent.
Dante stared at the screen.
I looked at him.
And for the first time…
a small piece of doubt entered my heart.
Because my mother was alive.
She had the truth.
And she was warning me about the one person I had started trusting.
Dante Moretti.
The man who saved me.
May you like
The man who protected me.
The man who might be hiding the biggest secret of all.
