The Enemy Within
771 Words
Trust was a dangerous thing.
Especially when it was given to someone like Alessandro De Luca.
A man who had spent years surrounded by lies.
A man whose family name was built on power.
A man who had secrets of his own.
But now I understood something I hadn't before.
The truth was not always hidden by the person who caused the damage.
Sometimes it was hidden by the person trying to protect you from it.
And that made everything more complicated.
---
I found Marco in the library.
He looked up the moment I entered.
"You know."
It wasn't a question.
I stopped.
"Know what?"
"That Alessandro wasn't the person who hurt your mother."
The fact that he said it so calmly bothered me.
"How long have you known?"
Marco closed the book in his hands.
"Sixteen years."
My anger rose.
"Everyone knew except me."
"Elena—"
"No."
I shook my head.
"I am tired of being the last person to know anything about my own life."
Marco didn't argue.
Because he knew I was right.
"What happened that night?"
He looked toward the window.
"The same thing that always happens in this family."
"What?"
"Someone powerful decides they are allowed to choose another person's fate."
I crossed my arms.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"No."
A pause.
"Because I don't have the full answer."
That surprised me.
"You don't?"
"No one does."
"Not even Alessandro?"
Marco's expression changed.
"Especially not Alessandro."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means he has spent sixteen years looking for answers."
---
Marco walked toward an old cabinet.
He opened it and took out a small box.
"This belonged to Sofia."
My heart stopped.
"Why do you have it?"
"Because Alessandro asked me to protect it."
I opened the box.
Inside were documents.
Old photographs.
And a small key.
"What is this?"
"We don't know."
"You kept something for sixteen years and never opened it?"
Marco shook his head.
"Sofia asked Alessandro not to open it unless Elena was ready."
I stared at the key.
"Ready for what?"
Marco looked at me.
"To know everything."
---
That evening, I found Alessandro in his office.
He was looking at old documents.
I placed the key on his desk.
His entire body went still.
"Where did you get that?"
"Marco."
A silence.
"What is it?"
His eyes remained on the key.
"The last thing Sofia gave me."
"You have had it all this time?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you give it to me?"
His voice was quiet.
"Because I was afraid."
I didn't expect that answer.
"Of what?"
"That the truth inside would destroy the last good memory you have of your mother."
I looked at him.
"Alessandro, my entire life has been built on missing pieces."
A pause.
"I would rather have a painful truth than a beautiful lie."
Something changed in his expression.
Because those words sounded familiar.
Almost like something Sofia would have said.
He picked up the key.
"Then we open it."
---
The key opened a small hidden compartment inside the old box.
Inside was a flash drive.
And one photograph.
I picked it up.
My blood ran cold.
It was my mother.
Standing beside three people.
Alessandro.
Adrian.
And a man I had never seen before.
But Alessandro recognized him immediately.
His face changed.
"Who is he?"
He didn't answer.
"Alessandro."
His voice was barely audible.
"My father."
I stared at the photograph.
"But your father wasn't supposed to be involved."
"He wasn't supposed to be there."
"What does that mean?"
Alessandro took the picture from my hand.
His eyes stayed on the image.
"It means Sofia wasn't running from my family."
A pause.
"She was running from someone inside it."
The room became silent.
Then the computer screen turned on.
The flash drive had activated itself.
A video appeared.
A woman sat in front of the camera.
My mother.
Older than the photographs.
Tired.
But alive.
My breath disappeared.
"Elena..."
Her voice came through the speakers.
"If you are seeing this, then something happened to me."
I couldn't move.
"I need you to listen carefully."
My mother's eyes filled with sadness.
"Do not trust anyone who tells you they know the whole truth."
She paused.
"Because they don't."
Then she looked directly into the camera.
"Not even Alessandro."
My heart sank.
I looked at him.
His face had gone completely pale.
And then my mother's final words played.
"The person who betrayed me is closer than you think."
The screen went black.
No one spoke.
Because suddenly we understood.
The enemy wasn't outside the family.
It was inside.
- Writer
