Chapter 8: The Hidden Room
Camille couldn't move.
Her mother's voice echoed through the stairwell again.
“Camille?””
Victor grabbed the railing.
“No.””
Adrian looked at him.
“You recognize it.””
Victor's eyes were fixed on the darkness.
“She can't be here.””
Camille turned toward him.
“You said she was dead.””
“I believed she was.””
“You just said that's impossible.””
Victor looked at his daughter.
“I don't know what's happening.””
Adrian took the first step down.
Camille followed.
Victor stayed behind.
“Camille, don't.””
She turned.
“Are you coming?””
Victor hesitated.
Then he followed.
Monica remained at the top of the stairs.
“Should I call the police?””
Adrian looked back.
“Not yet.””
Monica nodded nervously.
The three descended.
The bright luxury store disappeared behind them.
Below, the air was colder.
The walls were unfinished concrete.
Old pipes ran along the ceiling.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Camille inserted the brass key.
It turned.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a room preserved in time.
Old filing cabinets.
Dusty ledgers.
A wooden desk.
And dozens of cardboard boxes marked with company dates.
Camille stepped inside.
“My God.””
Victor stared at the room.
“I haven't been here since 2002.””
Adrian looked at him.
“You came back.””
“Once.””
“Why?””
Victor didn't answer.
Camille moved toward the desk.
There was a photograph sitting on top.
Her mother.
Older.
Alive.
Camille picked it up.
Her hands shook.
The photograph was dated three years after the supposed death.
She turned toward Victor.
“You knew.””
Victor shook his head.
“I didn't.””
“Then why is she here?””
“I don't know.””
Adrian opened a filing cabinet.
“Look.””
Inside were medical records.
Travel documents.
Bank statements.
Everything belonged to Camille's mother.
Camille grabbed one.
The last recorded transaction was from six months earlier.
Her breathing stopped.
“She was alive.””
Adrian nodded.
“Someone kept her identity active.””
Victor stared at the paperwork.
“Bell.””
Adrian shook his head.
“No.””
He pointed to the account.
“This wasn't Bell.””
“Then who?””
Adrian read the name.
His face went still.
Camille noticed.
“What?””
He turned the document around.
The account holder was listed as a trust.
*The Camille Victorian Foundation.*
Camille frowned.
“That’s my name.””
Victor looked confused.
“I never created that.””
Adrian turned another page.
“You didn't.””
He pointed at the trustee section.
Camille read it.
Then looked at Adrian.
“You're the trustee.””
Adrian nodded.
“What?””
“Your mother appointed me.””
“Why?””
“Because she knew your father would eventually lose control.””
Victor stepped forward.
“She trusted you more than me?””
“She trusted me with you.””
Victor's expression hardened.
“Don't rewrite history.””
Adrian looked at him.
“I don't have to.””
Camille suddenly noticed another envelope.
It had her name written across the front.
Not printed.
Handwritten.
She picked it up.
The paper was old.
“Camille.””
She recognized the handwriting immediately.
Her mother.
She looked at Adrian.
“Did you know this was here?””
“No.””
Victor whispered, “Don't open it.””
Camille looked at him.
“Why?””
Victor's face was filled with fear.
“Because if she left that letter…”
“What?””
Victor shook his head.
“You'll know why she disappeared.””
Camille tore open the envelope.
Inside was one sheet of paper.
She read.
Then stopped.
Her eyes moved back to the first line.
She read it again.
Adrian watched her face.
“What does it say?””
Camille couldn't speak.
She handed him the letter.
Adrian read it.
His expression changed.
Victor stepped closer.
“What?””
Adrian slowly lowered the page.
“She knew.””
Victor whispered, “Knew what?””
Adrian looked at him.
“She knew you would try to sell the company.””
Victor's face collapsed.
Camille looked at the letter again.
“She wrote that you would eventually betray Adrian.””
Victor said nothing.
“She wrote that Bell would help you.””
Still nothing.
“And she wrote…”
Camille's voice cracked.
“She wrote that I was never supposed to inherit the company.””
Victor looked up.
Adrian continued reading.
“There was another heir.””
Camille stared at him.
“Who?””
Adrian reached the final paragraph.
His eyes stopped.
Victor stepped closer.
“Adrian.””
Adrian didn't answer.
“Who?””
He looked at Camille.
“Your mother had another child.””
Camille's lips parted.
“What?””
Victor whispered, “No.””
Camille turned toward him.
“Another child?””
Victor backed away.
“She was pregnant before she disappeared.””
Camille's voice shook.
“You knew?””
Victor couldn't answer.
Adrian folded the letter.
“Your mother gave birth.””
Camille stared at him.
“Where is my sibling?””
Adrian looked toward a second filing cabinet.
There was a file sitting on top.
A newborn medical record.
Camille walked toward it.
The name was blacked out.
But beneath the redacted section was one visible line.
*Biological father: Adrian—*
Victor suddenly lunged for the file.
Adrian caught his wrist.
“Don't.””
Victor struggled.
“You don't understand!””
Camille stared at both men.
“My father isn't Adrian.””
“No,” Victor said desperately.
Adrian released his wrist.
Victor looked at Camille.
“I'm your father.””
Camille's eyes filled with tears.
“Then whose child is my sibling?””
Victor said nothing.
A noise came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was walking toward the archive.
Adrian immediately stepped between Camille and the door.
The footsteps stopped.
A man's voice came from the darkness.
“Mr. Adrian.””
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
The voice continued.
“You've spent twenty-four years looking for the wrong person.””
Camille grabbed Adrian's arm.
“Who is that?””
The man stepped into the doorway.
It was Richard Bell.
He smiled.
May you like
And held up a second folder.
“I think you're finally ready to meet the real heir.””
