“Didn’t you say your parents were the Locatelli’s people?” I asked, puzzled. Her story was completely different from what she had told me when I asked her.
“Oh, you mean my foster parents. Yes, they were the Locatelli’s people, but they weren’t my real parents.” Mariana took a deep breath and looked at me. “My real parents were from the Belleza family, the ones killed by the Locatelli. I was just a child at the time, and they spared me. Can you believe it? Those animals have hearts and didn’t kill a child like me. That was their biggest mistake.”
My throat went dry at her words. I couldn’t believe that the cheerful Mariana, whom I had considered a friend, was now revealed as a traitor. She was the reason our enemies knew about our movements. She was the one providing information to Nicolas!
“They took care of me, made me believe that my real parents were evil and deserved to die. They brainwashed me. I was probably under their spell for years. Meeting Nicolas Belleza was my wake-up call, Ma’am. I remembered how terrible and monstrous the Locatelli family was. I remembered how they killed my own parents in front of an innocent child like me.”
So, what Mariana had told me earlier was a lie. The parents she mentioned were her foster parents, not her biological ones. How long had she been deceiving me?
“Don’t you find it strange, Ma’am Millie? When the explosion occurred, among all your guards, I was the only one who survived. Besides a few scratches, I had no gunshot wounds. That’s because I was an accomplice of the enemy. I acted as if I saved you and let myself get injured to make you believe in my loyalty.”
She walked towards the common bathroom, keeping the gun trained on me before kicking the door open.
“You were looking for Alicia, weren’t you? There they are. Now that Sir Gio is absent, they think they can catch the people who abducted you before and those responsible for what happened to Dario. The security inside the house has decreased. They don’t know the real threat is already inside the household, and they trust me.”
Before I could react, Mariana quickly approached me. She tied my hands behind my back and pointed the gun at my temple.
“You thought you could escape from here?” I asked her. “There are guards outside-”
“And if I point the gun at you in front of them, do you think they won’t be scared? We’ll see. Sir Gio isn’t here now, and if he finds out, you won’t be here either. And do you think I’m alone here? We have many people inside this house.”
She pulled me outside. I stumbled because I wanted to know where she was taking me and what her plan was.
We exited the house and were heading towards the garage when someone spoke behind us.
“Showing your true colors in broad daylight, hmm? You’re brave, Mariana.”
I felt Mariana pause when she heard that voice. I was equally surprised to see him here. I thought they had left to search for Nicolas.
Mariana and I turned together to see where the voice came from. In the distance, I saw Gio sitting in a chair. His men were emerging, surrounding us. They had a few men dragging what seemed to be Mariana’s accomplices, who were tied up.
“Enjoying your little game as the traitor?” Gio stood up. He put on his leather gloves and picked up a gun. “I was wondering why you chose to betray me. Among everyone here, you’re one of those who know what I do to traitors.”
Mariana tightened her grip on me. I closed my eyes tightly, feeling the pain.
“If you think you’re going to leave this place alive, you should reconsider why you chose to betray me, knowing very well how much I hate traitors.”
Mariana tensed her jaw and pushed me away quickly, opening the car door. However, she didn’t expect to find someone inside.
Mariana was shot by someone inside the car. The impact of the shot on her shoulder made her fall to the ground.
I stared at the man slowly emerging from the car. My eyes widened when I recognized the familiar face.
“Hello, Mariana. I’m back from the dead. Did you miss your partner?”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head, and I couldn’t help but shout his name. “Dario!”
“Now, now. What will you do, Mariana? Die at my hands or be killed by me. Oh, it’s the same. In other words, I won’t spare your life. I’ll make you regret that you chose to double-cross me. I’ll make you remember why they call me a f*****g heartless,” Gio said, his eyes sending chills down my spine. It seemed like you’d prefer to cross over to the other side rather than face him.
~***~
Dario swiftly retrieved the gun from Mariana, despite her injury, and her grip on Mariana remained firm. He forced her to the ground and promptly tied her hands. He also frisked her for any other weapons.
“All clear, Sir,” Dario said before concealing his firearm.
Gio walked towards us but halted when he received a call. I could only make out a few words from his conversation.
“Don’t let him escape.”
“How did you find out I was the traitor among you?” Mariana asked while lying on the ground.
Gio paused in his phone call and looked at Mariana. “Do you think I’m so foolish as to not notice something was amiss with the explosion at Millie’s conference? Since that day, I knew there was a traitor among us. My departure from the country was confidential and known to only a select few: you, Bailey, Ivan, and my cousins, as well as Millie. I’m certain my cousin wouldn’t betray the family. Ivan and Bailey were deceased, so how could they betray me? That leaves only one person to blame: you.”
My eyes widened at Gio’s revelation. I had never considered Mariana to be a traitor. She had been nothing but kind to me, and that’s probably why she managed to deceive me completely.
“Since that day, I’ve been closely monitoring your every move and everyone you’ve interacted with. Did you think I wouldn’t notice when you escaped from the hospital? Did you think you could outsmart me for the Belleza, your accomplice?”
Mariana remained silent and tried to resist, but Dario pressed her down.
“You provided information to Nicolas Belleza about Gio’s arrival in Italy and Millie’s being left alone at the house. You were also present at the scene when you shot Sienna and me, weren’t you?” Dario spoke up, and my eyes widened once again.
“It’s a shame you believed our act and rushed to leave because the Locatelli’s men arrived to check if we were still alive or not,” Gio said, taunting us. I stood frozen, struggling to process everything he was saying.”Jokes on you, huh? You thought you had everything planned and could outsmart me, but it turns out you were the ones being played. You thought I didn’t know what you were going to do with Millie on that day and that you would use Sienna for it,” Gio continued.
“How did you find out?!” Mariana exclaimed.
“I know everything, and thanks to him,” Gio replied.
A man appeared before us, slowly approaching a familiar figure. He wore a sardonic smile, resembling Gio, Elliott, and Dario. I hadn’t fully comprehended everything I had just learned, and now I was even more perplexed by what he was doing here.