Owned by the Ruthless Mafia King

Chapter 10: The Girl They Couldn't Find

Lia sat motionless in the study.

The photographs remained scattered across the desk.

Every image.

Every document.

Every piece of evidence seemed to point toward one impossible truth.

Someone had been watching her long before she met Adrian Volkov.

She looked down at the necklace in her trembling hands.

It had always been a part of her.

A gift from parents she could barely remember.

Or so she'd been told.

Now...

Even that memory felt like a lie.

"I need some air," she whispered.

Adrian studied her for a moment before nodding.

"Viktor."

His right-hand man appeared almost instantly.

"Take four men. No one gets within fifty feet of her."

Lia looked up sharply.

"I don't need an escort."

"You do."

"I'm not your prisoner anymore?"

Adrian's eyes met hers.

"You were never just my prisoner."

Before she could ask what he meant, he turned away.

"Go."

The estate gardens stretched farther than Lia had imagined.

Towering hedges surrounded winding stone paths.

A fountain stood at the center, its water sparkling beneath the afternoon sun.

It should have been peaceful.

Instead, guards watched every direction.

Every rooftop.

Every gate.

Lia sighed.

"So much for fresh air."

Maria appeared beside her carrying a basket of flowers.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Lia forced a smile.

"You like gardening?"

"It helps me think."

Maria began trimming a rose bush.

"You've been crying."

Lia quickly wiped her eyes.

"I'm fine."

"No."

Maria smiled gently.

"You've just learned that your past may not belong to you."

Lia looked away.

"I don't even know who I am anymore."

Maria stopped what she was doing.

"Sometimes..."

She carefully picked a white rose.

"...the people who raise us aren't the people who give us life."

Lia frowned.

"You knew?"

"I suspected."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Maria hesitated.

"Because some secrets protect people."

"And others destroy them."

Maria had no answer.

Inside the mansion...

Adrian stood before a wall-sized map covered with photographs and red strings connecting different locations.

Viktor entered carrying another file.

"Our contact finally called."

Adrian looked up.

"And?"

"The Ashford family wasn't wiped out."

Silence.

"What?"

"They staged their disappearance."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"No one knows."

Viktor placed an old newspaper on the desk.

"But this might explain it."

The headline read:

PROMINENT BUSINESS FAMILY VANISHES AFTER MAFIA MASSACRE

Adrian quickly scanned the article.

"The Volkov name..."

"It was mentioned."

His jaw tightened.

"My father investigated this."

"And then he was murdered two years later."

Adrian slowly looked toward the window.

"This wasn't random."

"No."

Viktor folded his arms.

"Someone erased an entire family."

"And failed to erase one child."

Neither man spoke.

The implication was obvious.

Lia.

That evening...

Lia wandered into the mansion's music room.

A grand piano stood near the windows.

Without thinking, she sat down.

Her fingers hovered above the keys.

"I haven't played in years."

She pressed a single note.

Then another.

Soon, a soft melody filled the room.

It was beautiful.

Melancholic.

Strangely familiar.

She closed her eyes.

Her fingers moved on their own.

Like muscle memory.

Like she'd played this song hundreds of times before.

Behind the doorway...

Adrian stood silently.

He hadn't intended to interrupt.

But something about the melody froze him in place.

Maria walked beside him.

"She's playing..."

Adrian nodded slowly.

"I know."

Maria looked at him in confusion.

"How?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he entered the room.

The music stopped immediately.

Lia looked embarrassed.

"I'm sorry."

"Why did you stop?"

"I thought you might not like it."

Adrian stared at the piano.

"My mother used to play that song."

Lia blinked.

"What?"

He walked closer.

"Where did you learn it?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never taken piano lessons."

He looked at her in disbelief.

"But..."

She glanced down at the keys.

"...my hands just knew what to do."

A heavy silence settled over the room.

Neither of them noticed Viktor rushing toward the doorway.

"Boss."

His voice was urgent.

Adrian turned.

"What happened?"

"Our men intercepted a transmission."

"And?"

"They finally identified the organization."

Lia stood.

"Who are they?"

Viktor's face turned pale.

"The Black Serpents."

The room fell silent.

Adrian's expression hardened instantly.

"I thought they were destroyed."

"So did everyone else."

Lia looked between them.

"Who are the Black Serpents?"

Adrian answered quietly.

"The most dangerous crime syndicate this country has ever known."

Her stomach tightened.

"And they want me?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

Before Adrian could answer, one of the estate guards burst through the door.

"Boss!"

Everyone turned.

"The foster home where Miss Knox grew up..."

The guard struggled to catch his breath.

"...it's been burned to the ground."

Lia felt the blood drain from her face.

"What?"

"There were survivors," the guard continued.

"But..."

His voice shook.

"...all of the records about your childhood are gone."

The room became eerily quiet.

Someone wasn't just hunting Lia anymore.

Someone was erasing every trace that she had ever existed.

And whatever truth lay hidden in her past...

They were willing to destroy everything to keep it buried.