Chapter 4 - The Locked RoomWe returned to the estate.
Mia was safe.
Mrs. Bell had locked herself and the child inside the kitchen pantry when the security alarm went off.
I had never been so grateful for an old woman's instincts.
Mia ran into my arms.
“Daddy!”
The word surprised both of us.
She looked up.
“Can I call you that?”
I swallowed.
“If you want.”
She hugged me.
I held her carefully.
“You scared me.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't apologize.”
She rested her head against my chest.
“I knew you'd come.”
I looked at Marco.
He had heard her.
Neither of us spoke.
That night, I moved Mia into the safest room in the house.
Two guards outside.
Two cameras inside.
No unlocked windows.
No servants without clearance.
But when I checked on her at 2 a.m., she was awake.
“Can't sleep?”
She shook her head.
“Mr. Rabbit is scared.”
I sat beside her.
“Of what?”
“Daddy.”
“Daniel?”
She nodded.
“Does he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Has he ever?”
She hesitated.
“Sometimes he talks funny.”
“What does he say?”
“That Mommy took something.”
“What?”
Mia looked at me.
“Something from the house.”
I frowned.
“What house?”
She pointed toward the hallway.
“Your house.”
My pulse quickened.
“What did your mother take?”
“I don't know.”
Then she said:
“It's behind the angry man.”
I stared.
“What angry man?”
She pointed toward the painting above her bed.
My grandfather.
Lorenzo Moretti.
His portrait.
I stood.
“Mia.”
She nodded.
“He's angry.”
I looked at the painting.
Nothing unusual.
Then I noticed the frame.
It was slightly crooked.
I removed it.
Behind it was a small metal door.
I called Marco.
He arrived within seconds.
We opened it.
Inside was a narrow passage.
At the end stood a locked room.
I had lived in the house for years.
I had never known it existed.
The key wasn't difficult to find.
It was taped beneath the portrait.
Inside the room were boxes.
Old photographs.
Documents.
And a small wooden chest.
I opened it.
There was a flash drive.
A photograph of my father.
And a letter addressed to me.
Adrian,
If you ever find this, then the people I feared have returned.
Your mother was right.
The only way to protect the family is to expose the truth.
The letter explained everything.
My father had discovered a secret organization operating inside several legitimate businesses.
They called themselves The Circle.
They controlled politicians.
Banks.
Security companies.
Even criminal organizations.
Daniel had worked for them.
Then he betrayed them.
My father tried to stop them.
That was why he died.
But the most shocking part was the final page.
A list of names.
Executives.
Judges.
Police officials.
And one name I recognized immediately.
Victor Moretti.
My uncle.
My father's younger brother.
The man who had been advising me since I inherited the company.
The man who had told me for eight years that my father had died of natural causes.
The man who had insisted Elena was “just staff.”
I felt sick.
Marco looked at me.
“Boss?”
I handed him the paper.
His face hardened.
“Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Do you want him brought here?”
“No.”
I looked at the flash drive.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if Victor is part of The Circle, he knows we have the evidence.”
I looked toward the hallway.
“And if he knows that, he'll come for Mia.”
A sound came from behind us.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
I turned.
Mia stood in the doorway.
She looked frightened.
“Daddy?”
I walked toward her.
“What is it?”
She pointed behind me.
At the wooden chest.
Then whispered:
“That's where Mommy put the picture.”
“What picture?”
“The one with the man who hurt Grandpa.”
I opened the chest again.
There was a photograph I hadn't noticed.
Five men stood around a table.
My father was one.
Daniel was another.
Victor was standing beside them.
And the fifth man was someone I knew better than anyone.
My own father.
But in the corner of the photograph, partially hidden by darkness, stood another figure.
A woman.
My mother.
And she was holding a baby.
Mia.
The photograph had been taken three years after the official date of my mother's death.
My entire understanding of my family shattered in one second.
My mother had not died five years ago.
May you like
She had been alive.
And she had been hiding Mia.
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