CHAPTER 148: CHAPTER-148. (ABSOLUTELY NOTHING).

My father’s silence was enough. It was the kind of silence that did not just fill the room; it suffocated it.

You could feel it sinking into the air, heavy, sharp, making every breath hurt a little.

Matteo didn’t move. He just stared at him, still holding the gun loosely in one hand, the other resting lazily against his thigh.

But even that small, casual gesture carried a threat sharp enough to make my heart stutter.

My father stood frozen. He was a man who had once terrified half the business world, now unable to even meet Matteo’s eyes.

He had ruled people with words, with power, with money, but now, he could not even manage to speak.

"Thought so. You don’t even have the courage to defend your own lie." Matteo said finally, his voice calm...too calm.

No one spoke. The only sound was the faint hum of the chandelier above us and my mother’s shaky breathing.

Then Matteo lowered the gun slowly, placing it on the table beside him. The metallic thud echoed like a verdict.

I should have felt relief, but somehow, that small gesture felt more dangerous than the gun being aimed.

Matteo’s expression didn’t soften, and in that small moment, something in me snapped.

I couldn’t stand it anymore. The way Matteo towered with power. The way my father trembled like prey. The way everyone seemed to lose their humanity in front of him.

Before I could think, my body moved on its own.

I stepped forward, right between Matteo and my father.

The sudden movement made the guards tense instantly, their hands twitching toward their weapons. I could hear the rustle of fabric, the click of safety triggers being readied.

But Matteo didn’t move. The barrel of the gun was now pointed straight at my chest.

For a split second, my heart stopped. The sound of blood rushing through my ears drowned everything else, but I didn’t flinch.

I looked at him, straight into his eyes. The same eyes that could command entire syndicates, the same eyes that made grown men beg. And for once, I refused to look away.

Something flickered in his expression for a brief moment. It was almost invisible, but it was there. I could see it. It was something which

He lowered the gun as the words came out in his low, yet firm voice. "Handle it then."

That was all he said. Just three words, but I understood exactly what he meant.

He was giving me control. I swallowed hard; my throat was dry, but I managed to give him a small, curt nod.

Then I turned ready to face the people who had once been my family, but I did not even get to take a breath before the sound of a sharp crack echoed in the air.

For a second, I did not realize what had just happened.

My cheek stung. My head jerked sideways from the force. That’s when the realization hit me.

Matilda, my own mother, had slapped me.

The world went completely still for a heartbeat. Even the guards stiffened in disbelief.

I turned my head slowly, tasting the metallic tang of blood on my lip. My eyes met hers, burning with something wild and ugly.

"This is all because of you! Do you hear me, Elena? Only you!" she screamed, her voice shrill and shaking.

Her face twisted with rage as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Why do you always have to ruin everything for this family? Every time! Every time you come back into our lives, chaos follows!"

Her words hit harder than the slap.

I stood there, frozen, while she kept going, her emotions spilling like venom she had been holding for years.

"Do you think your father did this for fun? Do you think we wanted this? We had peace, Elena! We had stability! And then you...you had to come back and stir it all up again!"

I could hear her voice crack, but there was no softness in it. Only hatred.

The guards took a step forward instinctively, maybe out of reflex, maybe out of duty, but Matteo raised his hand slightly without even looking.

"Stay," he said quietly, and that one word was enough.

They froze immediately, staring down at the floor.

Matilda’s anger grew with every breath. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her eyes red. "I told your father you would bring us nothing but shame! That girl doesn’t belong here, but he didn’t listen!"

She took a step toward me, her finger pointing accusingly. "Look at what’s happened now! Look at the mess! Our name, our respect, all dragged through the dirt because of you!"

I did not move. I could not.

Because deep down, something in me had already cracked.

I wanted to scream back. I wanted to tell her how many nights I had spent crying alone, how many times I had begged silently just to be seen, to be loved...by my own family, but my voice would not come.

Instead, she kept going, her words becoming sharper, crueler with each word, "It would have been better if you had never come back. It would have been better for all of us," she spat out.

Her voice shook as she said the next words, the ones that made every part of me freeze.

"You should have just stayed gone. Or maybe... maybe you should have run away again. With that secretary of Davis!"

My breath hitched.

That name just opened up an unhealed wound.

She said it so casually as if mentioning it was nothing, as if she had not just ripped open something I had spent months trying to seal shut.

The air left my lungs. For a long moment, I could not even see straight. Everything blurred.

Gregory’s mouth fell open. "Mom...!"

But I cut him off before he could defend me. My voice came out soft, broken, trembling, "I did not run away, mother."

Everyone went silent.

My mother blinked at me, her expression unreadable.

"I didn’t run away," I repeated, my voice gaining a bit of strength this time. "Josh kidnapped me."

The room fell utterly still. Every sound, every breath, every shuffle disappeared.

I could feel all their eyes on me.

I forced myself to continue, even though my throat felt like it was closing, "He kept me locked for months. He... he tortured me. Starved me. Beat me. Every time I tried to escape, he..."

My voice broke.

I pressed a trembling hand to my chest, trying to breathe, "I barely made it out alive."

Matilda’s lips parted, but she did not say anything. Her face stayed blank... almost unreadable.

And for one moment, that one foolish, naive moment, I thought maybe she would finally understand.

Maybe she would cry.

Maybe she would rush to me. Maybe she would have held me and said she was sorry, but she didn’t.

Instead, I heard her murmur under her breath, so quiet that it almost did not reach my ears.

"Then he should have never let you escape." Her words sliced through me like a knife.

For a second, I thought I misheard.

But Matteo’s expression, the subtle tightening of his jaw, confirmed I had not.

My breath caught in my throat. So, did my chest burn.

That one sentence destroyed whatever fragile hope I had left. The way she spoke was so casual, as if she were telling about the weather.

Every piece of warmth I had ever held for her, every memory, every desperate little wish that someday she would see me as her daughter... it all turned to ashes.

I just stared at her, tears spilling silently down my cheeks.

"I see," I whispered out.

Matilda did not respond. She just looked away, her face set in cold detachment.

Something shifted inside me, a deep, slow realization that hurt more than any slap ever could.

I wasn’t her daughter. Not anymore. Maybe not ever.

Matteo watched it all quietly. His face did not change, but I could see something flickering in his eyes, something like pity, maybe anger.

He finally spoke, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade, "Enough."

Matilda jumped slightly at the sound of his voice.

He stepped forward slowly, his presence once again commanding the room. "You have said enough, Mrs. Kingsley."

His tone was polite, almost too polite, but it carried danger.

He turned his gaze toward me for a moment. I met his eyes, and for the first time, I did not feel fear. I just felt... empty.

Matteo looked back at Kamal.

"You will sign those documents tonight. And you will ensure every asset that belongs to her is restored immediately."

Kamal nodded weakly, too broken to argue.

Matteo did not look at him again. He turned to leave, but before he walked past me, he stopped.

For a moment, he just looked at me with those intense eyes of his. He did not say a word.

Then, in a voice so low only I could hear, he murmured, "Now you understand why I took you here."

And with that, he walked out.

The sound of his footsteps faded slowly down the corridor, leaving behind nothing but the echo of truth and heartbreak.

I stood there, surrounded by the wreckage of people I once called my own...my mother, my father, my brother, and I felt something I never thought I would feel again.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing because when your last thread of hope burns out... all that’s left is silence.