The Mafia's Truce.

Eighteen years ago

(Eighteen Years Ago)

Nadia's mother gripped the blue-sealed envelope from the dining table with terror, and the urgency in her eyes told twelve-year-old Nadia everything was wrong.

Nadia could feel her mother’s hands trembling as she grabbed her, trying to flee.

But it was too late.

The door burst open, and men flooded inside. Nadia’s mother shoved her into the closet. "Hide, Nadia. Don’t make a sound."

The closet door closed, and Nadia pressed her face against the slats, her heart pounding in her tiny chest.

Through a small c***k, she could see everything, her mother’s desperate attempts to delay the men, her pleas for mercy. But her words fell on deaf ears.

"Where’s your husband?" one demanded, his voice low and menacing.

“I swear, I don't know, he has not been home for months,” she pleaded.

One of the men raised his gun and fired. The sound was deafening. Nadia watched, she pressed her hands over her mouth as her mother crumpled to the floor. Her eyes flicked to the man’s hand, where the same dove tattoo stared back at her.

"I want him to know we were here," the man had said before leaving.

Nadia emerged from the closet, her legs shaky and her heart shattered. She dropped to her knees beside her mother, sobbing uncontrollably. She dialled her father’s number, her hands trembling, but it only rang and rang.

He was nowhere to be found. They had come for him, but he had vanished, leaving them behind to face the nightmare alone.

She quickly picked up the envelope and slid out the letter in it. She was dumbfounded to see the scribbled words on it. “You've been found.”

Her father never returned home that night, she was alone with her mother's dead body. She had no one to turn to, no neighbours to hear her cries, no means to alert the police.

(Present Time)

Bella ransacked Nadia's office. Papers flew, drawers were pulled open, files scattered, and yet the one thing she needed, the diary, remained hidden. Her fingers trembled as she rifled through the last pile, fighting the urge to scream in frustration.

Come on, Nadia. Where is it?

Finally, beneath a stack of medical records, she found it. Nadia’s diary. Relief flooded her body as her fingers wrapped around the worn leather cover.

She took it home and began reading it.

Bella sat frozen on her couch, Nadia’s diary laid open on her lap. Her eyes flicked over the inked words, each one carving a deeper pit in her stomach. “They have been looking for my father and when they couldn't find him, my mother paid the price.”

Flipping to the next page, Bella swallowed hard as her gaze caught the next line. “I picked up the letter from the envelope and saw the scribbled words on it: You've been found.”

Bella shot up from the couch, her pulse quickening. She pulled out the envelope from her bag, her hands shook as she slid the letter out.

There it was. The same words, staring back at her in black ink. You've been found.

“Oh my God… they’re going to kill her,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

She fell back onto the couch, her eyes wide and unblinking, the letter still clenched in her hand. Her pulse roared in her ears. She had to do something. But what? How could she possibly help Nadia? She reached for the diary again, flipping through the pages with shaky hands, desperate for some kind of answer.

Bella’s fingers stilled on the page. A lump formed in her throat as she read on: He came for me the next day, pulled me away from my mother’s death and the only life I had known. He told me I would be safe, but he lied, I hate him. My mother is dead because of him.

Bella turned the page, her brow furrowing as she saw something that made her blood run cold. My father… she paused, rereading the words to make sure she understood. My father is Alexander Valtor.

She stopped, her mind racing. Alexander Valtor? The name echoed in her head like a gunshot. Everyone knew Valtor Enterprises—his empire spanned continents, and his name was synonymous with power and wealth. She looked at the diary again, feeling like she had just uncovered something dangerous.

Nadia’s father was a billionaire. And more than that, he was tied to the mafia. She turned the pages more slowly now, each revelation darker than the last. Valtor had built his empire on the ruins of his past life, rebranding his company after his old mafia boss, Derek Vale, passed away. He had climbed his way to the top of the criminal world and covered his tracks with business success.

Bella’s fingers tightened around the edges of the diary. She knew what she had to do. If anyone could save Nadia, it was her father.

She tossed the diary aside and went to her computer, searching for the contact information of Valtor Enterprises. Chicago. That was where he had to be. She found the number, her breath quickening with every second that passed.

She dialled. The ringing felt like a countdown in her ear. Please, please pick it up.

Finally, a voice answered, “Valtor Enterprises, how may I assist you?”

Bella could barely get the words out. “I need to speak with Alexander Valtor. It’s about his daughter, Nadia. She’s in danger!”

There was a pause, She heard the faint sound of papers rustling on the other end.

“Hold for a moment, ma’am,” the voice said, professional yet cautious.

Bella held her breath, her grip on the phone tightening. The seconds dragged by, each one heavier than the last. When the line clicked back to life, a new voice spoke, colder and more authoritative.

“This is Anthony, Mr. Valtor’s assistant. What is this about?”

Bella’s voice cracked as she repeated her plea. “They’ve kidn*pped Nadia. I don’t know where she is, she’s in real danger. You have to help.”

There was silence on the other end. Bella’s heart raced,