The room was silent, yet the air trembled with a thick tension as Daniel clicked play once more. The soft hiss of static gave way to Adeline's voice, again raw and confessional, echoing from the tiny speakers as if reaching out from the grave itself.
"Sometimes I regret what I had done..."
Rose clenched the edge of the bed, her knuckles bone-white. Daniel's thumb hovered near the pause button, but he didn't press it. He couldn't. Neither of them could.
"I remember that day when I heard you had been married off. I got into my assassin attire and wanted to head straight to the Moreau mansion to kill that dick of a man..."
"Wait—what?" Rose whispered, her voice cracking.
Daniel's lips parted, but no sound came out. Assassin? What the hell?
"...but father knew me too well... so he stationed assassins around the house as well. Because only a trained assassin can fight a trained assassin..."
Rose leaned back slowly, hand pressed to her mouth as if to keep the rising nausea from escaping. Her heart slammed in her chest like a battering ram. The woman in the recording—their aunt—was no ordinary woman. She was a trained killer. Groomed in blood and vengeance under the same roof their mother grew up in.
"So I was caught and locked up in the dungeon of the house... until I was brought out one morning, dressed into a wedding attire and then the next thing, I was found in the family's ballroom... and there my wedding was hosted."
"Oh my God," Rose muttered.
Daniel blinked, lost in a daze. The Elfo House. The secrets. The wars. It all sounded like something from an underground novel—but it was real. Their reality.
"The sudden pain and hatred I felt towards father... I tried to give myself excuses for his actions but I couldn't find anything at all. And then I was married off to the Beldom house—that perverted man..."
Daniel's jaw twitched. He remembered hearing the name Beldom before… a man rumored to control strings in the underworld. No wonder their mother never spoke much of her family.
"...I tried killing Jim several times, but I always got caught up. I was pained that father had done such a thing to you, Kathy. I had to wait for three years before I was allowed to leave the mansion. And then the first thing I did... was kill the old man of the Moreau house."
Rose gasped, covering her mouth again. Daniel simply froze.
"I won't lie to you, but I loved the look on Dominic Moreau's face when he heard of his father's death. My next plan was to kill him too, but then I heard you were about to give birth to your second child. I relaxed. Why would I take away the father of your children?"
There was a pause, a rustle in the recording. Then Adeline's voice returned—warmer now.
---
[Second Recording: After Vincent's Dedication]
"This is another recording, after Vincent's dedication. You've got two lovely boys, Kathy. I'm so happy for you."
Her tone was soft, gentle even. A stark contrast to the venom in the previous message.
"I didn't expect you to be smiling ear to ear... It seems like Dominic is treating you very fine. I'm kind of doubting now if I should give you this recording. After seeing you so happy... maybe my revenge wasn't needed anymore."
Rose felt the sting behind her eyes as her heart tried to catch up with the waves of emotion pounding her senses.
"All I wish for you, Kathy, is the best. A lovely, happy family. My younger sister has given birth to two boys... and here I am, trying to fight off having a child with this old hag of a man."
Adeline laughed lightly in the recording, a tired, bitter laugh.
"I loved the smile on your face as you held that boy. And now... now I wish to have a child of mine. I love you, Katherine. Regardless of everything, I want you to know that everything I did... everything Mother did... it was all for you."
Rose swallowed hard.
"Father and elder brother... they were pests in this family. Poison. And I pray your children enjoy the happy home we never had. Love you, Katherine. This is your beloved elder sister—Adeline. Or as you used to call me... Addie."
Click.
The recording ended.
But the room was still heavy with Adeline's presence.
Neither of them spoke for a long time.
"I—" Daniel finally said, but his voice broke. "I didn't know we were born into a damn mafia bloodline."
Rose slowly turned to him, face pale as snow. "We're mafia kids, Danny. We're the sons and daughters of assassins and warlords..."
"And we didn't even know," he finished, breathless.
There was fear in their eyes now. Not just for what they'd discovered, but for what it meant. Who else knew? Were they being watched? Had they inherited more than just blood and names?
Rose's mind was already racing. What if the Shadows, the Sirens, or even the Vultures were still active? Still watching?
And somewhere deep in the shadows... the ghosts of their family's past were starting to stir.