Chapter 9: The Woman in the Recording
The floor split directly beneath the desk.
A narrow section of polished wood lifted, revealing a dark shaft beneath it.
Luca stepped backward.
Adrian grabbed his shoulder.
“Don't go near it.””
“What is that?””
“A way out.””
“For whom?””
Adrian's eyes met his.
“Dad.””
A metallic click sounded inside the wall.
Then the study lights came back on.
The hidden opening had vanished.
The floor was whole again.
Luca stared at it.
“He built this house like a prison.””
Adrian shook his head.
“No.””
He looked toward their father's portrait.
“He built it like a maze.””
Victoria was crying quietly.
Luca turned toward her.
“You knew about my mother?””
She hesitated.
“Yes.””
“How much?””
“Not everything.””
“Did you know she was alive?””
Victoria looked down.
“I suspected.””
“That isn't what I asked.””
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
Luca stared at her.
“For how long?””
“Three years.””
He laughed bitterly.
“Three years.””
“I was trying to find her.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because every time I got close, someone disappeared.””
Adrian stepped in.
“She was telling the truth about that.””
Luca looked at him.
“You trusted her?””
“No.””
Adrian glanced at Victoria.
“But she eventually stopped working for Dad.””
Victoria whispered, “I couldn't keep doing it.””
Luca looked at her bruised bracelet.
“And Elena?””
Victoria lowered her eyes.
“I didn't hurt her.””
Elena stepped forward.
“You did.””
Victoria shook her head.
“I grabbed you. I threatened you. I was cruel.””
Her voice broke.
“But I didn't give the order to lock you downstairs.””
“Who did?””
Victoria looked at Everett's portrait.
“Your father.””
Luca stared at the painting.
Then something clicked.
The recording.
His mother's words.
*Your father will tell you I abandoned you.*
Luca walked toward the portrait.
He studied it.
Then the frame.
Then the wall behind it.
Adrian immediately understood.
“Luca.””
He pulled the portrait away.
A small camera was hidden behind it.
Luca ripped it from the wall.
Someone had been watching the study.
Adrian looked at the lens.
“He's still here.””
Luca found a switch beneath the camera.
A red light blinked.
He pressed it.
The wall opened.
Behind it was another room.
Not a passage.
A surveillance room.
Monitors covered every wall.
The mansion.
The basement.
The dining room.
Elena's quarters.
Luca's bedroom.
Victoria's bedroom.
Every screen showed a different part of their lives.
Luca stared in horror.
“How long?””
Adrian walked to the central monitor.
“Years.””
Then one screen flickered.
A live feed appeared.
A woman sat in a dark room.
Luca stepped closer.
“Mom?””
The woman lifted her head.
Her eyes met the camera.
“Luca.””
He couldn't move.
Adrian whispered, “We found her.””
Luca rushed toward the monitor.
“Where are you?””
His mother's lips trembled.
“Don't trust the house.””
“What does that mean?””
“Your father built the mansion over the original property.””
“Where are you?””
“Beneath it.””
Luca's eyes widened.
Adrian looked at him.
“The basement.””
His mother shook her head.
“Not the basement.””
She leaned toward the camera.
“The room beneath the basement.””
Victoria covered her mouth.
Luca asked, “Who is with you?””
His mother looked frightened.
“I can't tell you.””
“Why?””
“Because he is listening.””
Luca looked at the surveillance monitors.
Every screen went black.
Then one came back.
It showed Everett standing in the dining room.
He was speaking to the guests.
Calmly.
As if nothing had happened.
Luca's phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
*COME TO THE CELLAR ALONE.*
Another message arrived.
*BRING VICTORIA.*
Then another.
*LEAVE ADRIAN BEHIND.*
Luca showed Adrian.
Adrian shook his head.
“It's him.””
Victoria stepped closer.
“What does he want?””
Luca looked at her.
“I don't know.””
His mother suddenly appeared on the monitor again.
Her face was terrified.
“Luca, don't come here.””
“Mom?””
She shook her head desperately.
“He wants you to open the final door.””
“What final door?””
She looked directly into the camera.
“The door your father could never open.””
A sound came through the speaker.
Three knocks.
Luca froze.
His mother whispered:
“Only you can open it.””
The screen went black.
Then every lock in the study clicked simultaneously.
The door opened.
Everett stood outside.
He looked at Luca.
Then Victoria.
Then Adrian.
“It's time,” he said.
Adrian moved in front of Luca.
Everett smiled.
“No, Adrian.””
He lifted his hand.
Behind him, a dozen security men appeared in the hallway.
Everett's smile widened.
“It's time for Luca to learn who his real family is.””
Luca looked at his father.
Then at Adrian.
Then at the dark screen where his mother's face had disappeared.
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And for the first time that night, he realized the greatest secret wasn't why his father had hidden his mother.
It was why his mother had been hidden from *him*.
