I never expected the truth to sting this bad.
After André admitted what he did with Colonel—the betrayal, the secret mafia alliance—I walked straight out the door. No screaming. No crying. Just this gut-punching silence between us as I left. For weeks, I ignored him. Not a word. Not even a look. We still shared the same space, but the air between us felt colder than death.
Hoppe became my only reason to hold it together.
But the more I held him in my arms, the more guilt chewed at my chest. I fought for this child. Risked my life for him. And yet… the people I trusted the most had built their entire foundation on lies.
One sleepless night, my decision snapped into place.
If André wouldn’t be honest with Frias, I would.
I snuck into his study and found his phone left carelessly on the desk. I copied his tone, the way he texted, and messaged Frias to meet at the city park—just to talk. I didn’t know what I was walking into, only that it felt like the right thing to do. Maybe the only thing.
To my surprise, Frias was already there when I arrived, pacing by the fountain. When he saw me, his face twisted in confusion—then anger.
“So this is why André’s been gone for weeks?” he snapped. “Hiding out here with you?”
“Please, just listen.”
He turned to walk away, but I grabbed his arm and begged him to stay. Just five minutes. That was all I asked.
And somehow, he gave it.
I told him everything. About Kyora. About the mafia prince she was supposed to marry. I laid out the files I’d dug up—illicit transactions, offshore accounts, coded emails. His hands trembled as he flipped through them, then fell completely still.
He looked at me, eyes glossy.
“I looked up to her,” he whispered. “She was my entire world. And now I find out she was tangled in something like this?”
I didn’t know what came over me. I just… hugged him. He stood frozen at first, then slowly returned the embrace. A kid, broken in ways no one saw.
That’s when he revealed something else—something I didn’t expect.
“André had me tested,” Frias said, voice low. “DNA. I’m not even his son.”
My heart cracked. For him. For André. For all the twisted layers of this web.
“You’re not alone,” I told him. “We’ll figure this out. Together.”
So we agreed. Our secret meetings would stay just that—secret.
Months slipped by. I pretended everything was fine for Hoppe’s sake. Even André, though he seemed suspicious of my sudden calm, didn’t push too hard. I forgave Frias in silence—for my ruined wedding, for dragging me through hell. He was still Kyora’s son. Still a part of me.
Then, one night, I opened an old forgotten email account—and there it was.
A message.
It said only this: “I know the truth. Meet me.”
I didn’t hesitate. I replied instantly. Days later, the sender responded with a location—an abandoned train depot just outside town. Sketchy, but I had nothing left to lose.
She was already waiting when I arrived.
A woman in her mid-fifties. Faded scarf. Worn hands. But sharp, watchful eyes.
“I’m Sereia,” she said. “I was Colonel’s nanny once. I raised him. And I know what he’s hiding.”
I wanted to ask a million things at once. But I didn’t get the chance.
A car screeched to a stop nearby.
“André?” I gasped as he rushed over. “What the hell—?”
“I installed a tracker on your phone,” he admitted, breathless. “For your safety.”
Of course he did.
His gaze shifted to Sereia. Recognition flared in his eyes. “Are you safe? Has he threatened you again?”
“I don’t have much time left,” she said, her voice raspy. “The Colonel—he knows I’ve started talking. He’s been watching me. And he won’t stop.”
She turned her tired eyes to me.
“You deserve to know the truth.”
I nodded, barely breathing.
“André,” she added, looking directly at him, “your son—Frias—is also a child of the Mafia Prince.”
The ground dropped under me.
“What… what do you mean?”
But before she could explain, a gunshot rang through the night.
Blood splattered across the gravel. Sereia's body jolted and collapsed at our feet.
“No!” I screamed, falling beside her. “No, no, no!”
André yanked me back, his gun already drawn, eyes scanning the dark around us.
But whoever fired was already gone.
Gone, just like the truth we were finally about to uncover.
