The recorder clicked softly as Daniel pressed play again. A slight static buzzed before Adeline's voice returned, raw and low, like a secret being whispered through time.
"I hope you'll forgive me, even now," her voice said, carrying the weight of memories and guilt. "When you hear this, I know the truths I reveal might shatter what you thought you knew. But they must be known. They deserve to be."
Daniel leaned forward, his elbow on his knee, brows furrowed with focus. Rose clutched a pillow tightly against her chest, her breathing shallow as the truth unraveled like a dark ribbon.
"We weren't just three children in the Elfo house. We were four."
Rose's head snapped up. Four?
"Yes, Katherine," Adeline continued. "Mother gave birth to four of us. The firstborn was a boy. His name was Jeffrey. He was my elder brother… and yours."
Daniel and Rose exchanged a shocked glance, the weight of those words pressing down on them.
"A war broke out between the Elfo family and the Lomj house," Adeline said. "Not business war. Blood war. Before you were born, Katherine, I was only a teenager, barely understanding the depth of what surrounded us. That war dragged on for a year, and when the dust wouldn't settle, both sides agreed to a truce. But the price for peace was blood—one child from each family, sacrificed for harmony."
Rose's lips parted, but no words came out.
"Jeffrey… he wasn't strong. Even I, younger and a girl, had more fight in me. Father chose him to be sent to the Lomj house. And they sent us their daughter. I still remember her face—cold, defiant. But she was gone by the next morning."
Daniel's jaw clenched. "He traded his son," he muttered under his breath.
"I never saw Jeffrey again," Adeline confessed. "I don't even know if he survived."
Her voice turned more bitter, more reflective.
"Father refused to marry you off to the Moreau family for years. But when the Elfo company bled money and the banks circled like vultures, he finally bowed his head and gave you away. He made it sound noble. Strategic. But it was desperation. He gave you away, Katherine, and sent me out of the country on a 'mission' just so I wouldn't stop it."
Rose felt like her chest had tightened with every word. Her father had torn their lives apart, all for power. Control. Survival.
Adeline's voice grew darker.
"And I'm no saint either. I've taken lives. Too many to count. Men, women—some whose crimes I never knew. Just a name. Just a bullet. I was an assassin. Trained under Father's own troops. Because yes… our father was no simple businessman. He was a Don."
Daniel's eyes widened. "She's not lying."
"He ruled a structured world, a system built in blood and obedience. Let me break it down for you…"
And then, almost like a lecture from the grave, Adeline detailed the structure of the Mafia world their family had lived in—no, was still tied to.
The Inner Circle
"The Consigliere—the brain beside the Don. Smart, discreet. Handles the family's public face, the politics, the clean-ups."
"The Underboss—second in command. When the Don isn't present, he commands. And his word is law."
"The Capos—generals. Each controls their own territory, crew, and income. They run things their way, but they answer to the top."
Rose's heart beat faster. It sounded like a military operation. But worse—because this army didn't follow laws. They made them.
The Main Troops
"The Soldiers, also called 'made men'—they're loyal. Blood-oath level loyal. They do the hits, enforce rules, move the goods."
"Associates—not official, but they work with us. Street guys, outsiders, people who want in. If they prove themselves, they rise."
Adeline paused in the recording. The silence rang loud.
"I was never meant to be just an assassin. I was trained to be part of something else."
Special Units
"The Shadows. They don't answer to Capos. Not even the Underboss. Only the Don. Ghost-like assassins. Silent. Deadly."
Rose could feel a chill crawl down her spine.
"Then we had The Vault—keepers of the darkest secrets. Documents. Footage. Blackmail. Hidden accounts. They guard the truth with their lives."
She exhaled slowly.
"And there were The Sirens. Yes—women. Trained to seduce, spy, poison. We weren't just pretty faces. We were daggers with lipstick."
Daniel blinked, stunned by the depth of this hidden world.
"And finally… The Vultures. The cleaners. The ones who come after the chaos. Burn evidence. Disappear bodies. Erase timelines."
Adeline's voice quieted.
"You grew up in the illusion of luxury, but you were always inside a cage made of blood and shadows."
Personal Staff
"The maids. The drivers. The cooks. Most of them weren't hired. They were planted. Many were trained to kill if necessary."
"And don't underestimate the new age—every family has a Tech Ghost now. A hacker. A phantom in the system who keeps the digital world clean of our sins."
Informants & Inside Men
"Cops. Judges. Politicians. Journalists. Paid. Planted. Threatened. Whatever it took to keep the family safe."
And then her tone shifted.
"I didn't want you to know this life, Katherine. I tried to pull you away. But now? It will pull your children in, you're standing at the edge."
The recording ended with a soft click.
Silence filled the room like thick smoke. Rose couldn't speak. Couldn't move. She looked at Daniel. He looked at her.
Their blood wasn't just royal. It was stained. Bound. Hunted.
And the worst part?
They still didn't know the full story.