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As soon as he dropped the bomb of Adele being his wife, she entered inside the room with a malicious glint in her eyes and a sinister smile.

To say that I was shocked, would be an utter understatement. My mind had stopped working. It seemed like everything I knew was an illusion, a mirage. Nothing seemed to be familiar.

So many secrets, so many lies. And my life was caught in all that, even before my meeting with Ermanno.

I didn't even knew what to believe and what not to. I couldn't comprehend between truth and deceit anymore.

Albert was Luca Martinez!

He used me to get to Ermanno!

The man whom I thought could not even hurt a fly, killed his own grandfather!

And Adele? Who was the childhood best friend of Ermanno, turned out to be the wife of his biggest rival!

She was married to Luca Martinez?! She was Adele Martinez?

They played us all that time?!

I looked at Ermanno to find him glaring at both of them, his face devoid of any emotion.

As soon as Adele stood next to Luca, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to himself.

Why on earth was Ermanno not speaking anything? Was he too much shocked by their marriage, and couldn't comprehend it?

I asked them bewildered, "You both are married?"

Luca smirked at me, "Yes! We both are married."

Adele continued, "We are married for two years, darling. We hid it from everyone so that it won't hinder our mission."

I asked them, even after I knew the answer, "What mission?"

"Ofcourse, the title!" she scoffed.

I asked him confused, "So what about everything you told me about you loving Ermanno and him confessing his love for you and his proposal for marriage?"

Adele replied in a duh tone, "Obviously it was a trap to make you leave the mansion. And you, my sweet, innocent Lia, fell for it."

So that meant Ermanno didn’t had any feelings for her? We could still be married? I still had a chance with him? I felt like I got a new life, as tears of happiness formed in my eyes.

But for that to happen, we needed to make alive out of there!

Luca contributed in her speech, "It was impossible to kidnap you from inside the mansion, because of the tight security, my beloved cousin had put around you to protect you. I wanted you out and that was where my wifey came into the picture."

"Oh! It was so easy to fool her. It was so hilarious to see her heart broken expression. As if someone had snatched her favorite toy from her. And then you know the rest," Adele spoke amused.

My mind was reeling with so many revelations. It was too much to comprehend. And it did not help that Ermanno was sitting silently with an emotionless expressions.

Luca turned his attention on him and smirked, "What happened dear brother? Too shocked at the surprise that cat got your tongue?"

Adele chuckled at it and spoke, "I think he is afraid of facing the same fate as his beloved nonno. Afterall death can shut the mouth of many valours."

Scoffing, Ermanno smirked at them confidently and spoke, "Are you so sure that you have won?"

I looked at him confused, but his gaze was towards them. What did he mean by that?

Adele scoffed, "What is there to doubt in it? It is clear that we have won."

Ermanno replied, "But I didn't show you any of my cards yet."

I looked at him in hope. Was there a way that we could be saved? All his attention was solely focused on them and I craved for his magnetic orbs to clash with mine.

Adele asked, with panic clear in her voice, "What do you mean?"

He replied, "Do you think that it is so easy to fool Ermanno D'Amelio, dear friend? Atleast you should have cut some slack. You knew me since childhood to know that I don't accept defeat."

Adele was clearly frightened by his words while Luca was looking at him suspiciously, fury clear on his face.

Ermanno disclosed, "I knew it since a long time that you both were married. Nothing could escape my notice. You thought you were using my Rosa as a bait for me?" he scoffed and continued, "No, I was using you as a bait to lure your husband, Luca Martinez. I knew that you were lying to me about her escaping with her boyfriend. But I pretended to follow your plan, because I knew it would help me reach her and it would be safe for her."

He continued, "If I had revealed then, that I was aware of your ugly intentions, I knew that he would have harmed her. And I couldn't let it happen at any cost. Also, it led me to him easily, which I was trying to do since so long."

She asked astonished, "So you knew everything from the start?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Yeah! I had also known that Albert was none other than Luca."

He knew that?!

Why didn't he tell me anything before?

Adele asked wide eyed, "How?"

I guess it was their time to get the shocks of their life!

Ermanno smirked, "When you had oh so conveniently send the pictures of Luca as Albert with Rosa to nonno, I had taken a look at them. I noticed the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, which was hard to miss and is in California. And after coming to Italy she hasn't stepped outside even the gates of mansion, ofcourse except for the one time she went with me to the hospital where you had planned a secret attack. So, it didn't take a genius to put two and two together."

Peeking at his expensive wrist watch, he spoke, "It has been about an hour since you have brought me here. My men must be reaching here anytime. You can’t do anything now. Your plan has been flopped."

"What?!" Adele cried in shock.

I, on the other hand, was too shocked at everything that was revealed to me. Was I the only one who had no clue about anything? Everything was too much to take in. And that too in one day!

"What happened dear brother? Too shocked at the surprise that cat got your tongue?" Ermanno mocked them.

But Luca stood there silently, throwing glares at Ermanno constantly, but it did not affect him in any way.

And what surprised me next was, that he stood up from the chair.

What?!

How did he free himself from the restraints?

"How did you open the bounds?" Adele yelled, completely astonished.

Ermanno shrugged in response, "A few tricks up my sleeve, to deal with the likes of you."

After a long silence from his side, Luca spoke, "Do you think that I would let you win so easily? I have worked all my life to defeat you, not to loose in the end. I won't let you win at any cost!"

Saying that, he took out his revolver from the back of his waistband and aimed it directly at me.

He looked at Ermanno and spoke, "I know that she is your biggest strength as well as your weakness. And her death would destroy you. And I want nothing more than that.”

Ermanno glared at him. “Don’t you dare! I would tear you from your limbs, if you put as much as a scratch on her,” he roared.

Luca smirked, “You should know that you should not give anyone leverage over you, dear cousin. It is your greatest downfall.”

After that, he removed the safety of his gun and I closed my eyes in anticipation.

A loud boom of the gunshot rang throughout the room.

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