Chapter 3 - THE ROOM THAT DIDN'T EXISTNo one spoke for several seconds.
Then Luca looked at the wall.
“What did you say?”
Nora pointed again.
“Uncle Adrian lives there.”
Elena rushed toward her.
“Nora, no.”
“But Mama said—”
“Enough.”
The fear in Elena's voice was unmistakable.
Luca noticed.
That frightened him more than Nora's words.
He turned to Matteo.
“Get the building plans.”
“Immediately.”
Twenty minutes later, the original architectural plans covered Luca's dining table.
He studied them.
The carriage house had been built forty years ago.
Two bedrooms.
One kitchen.
One bathroom.
No hidden rooms.
No basement.
No fourth wall.
But Matteo pointed to something.
“Here.”
A narrow vertical section appeared behind Elena's bedroom.
Luca frowned.
“That space isn't on the current plans.”
“It was sealed during the renovation.”
“When?”
“Eleven years ago.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
The year Harland officially became head of the household staff.
“Open it.”
The wall came apart after twenty minutes of careful work.
Behind it was a narrow steel door.
No handle.
Only a keypad.
Nora stood behind Luca.
“That's his door.”
Luca looked down.
“Whose?”
“Uncle Adrian's.”
He stared at the keypad.
Five digits appeared faintly around the edge.
A child's drawing had been scratched into the paint.
A crooked sun.
A house.
Three stick figures.
And a fourth figure crossed out.
Luca touched it.
His heartbeat accelerated.
The four figures were labeled.
MAMA.
NORA.
ADRIAN.
LUCA.
He looked at Elena.
“You knew this room existed.”
She shook her head.
“Not here.”
“What do you mean?”
“He told me it was somewhere on the property.”
“Who?”
“Adrian.”
Luca entered his father's birthday.
Wrong.
His own birthday.
Wrong.
Adrian's.
The keypad flashed red.
Then Nora spoke.
“Try the number on the bad shirt.”
Luca turned.
“What?”
“The number.”
“What number?”
Nora pointed toward the photograph.
On the corner was a laundry tag.
17-4-03.
Luca stared.
He entered 170403.
The lock clicked.
Everyone froze.
The steel door opened.
Cold air rolled out.
Inside was a room untouched by time.
A desk.
A lamp.
Boxes.
A wall covered with photographs.
Luca walked in.
There were photos of him.
His father.
Adrian.
Elena.
Nora.
Even Luca's mother.
Every major event of the Ferraro family had been documented.
Meticulously.
Secretly.
On the desk was a tape recorder.
Beside it, a note.
FOR LUCA. ONLY LUCA.
His fingers tightened around the paper.
He pressed play.
Static.
Then Adrian's voice.
Older.
Tired.
Terrified.
“Luca, if you're hearing this, I'm already gone.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“You will think I betrayed Father.”
A pause.
“I didn't.”
Another pause.
“I found something in the company books. Something that proves Father wasn't running the Ferraro empire alone.”
Luca leaned closer.
Adrian continued.
“There was a second family.”
The tape crackled.
“A group inside ours. They called themselves the Circle.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Harland is one of them.”
The room seemed to lose oxygen.
Elena covered her mouth.
Adrian's voice continued.
“They've been controlling contracts, political payments, police contacts, and disappearances for twenty years.”
Luca looked at the wall.
Then at the photographs.
“Father wanted to expose them.”
The recording crackled.
“They killed him.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“My father died of a heart attack.”
“No.”
Adrian's voice became a whisper.
“It wasn't natural.”
A sound came from the other side of the room.
Metal scraping.
Everyone turned.
One of the cabinets had moved.
Matteo drew his gun.
“Stay back.”
The cabinet swung open.
Behind it was another passage.
But on the wall was something else.
A message written in fresh red paint.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED AWAY.
Luca stepped closer.
A tiny sound came from the passage.
Footsteps.
Someone was running.
Matteo went after them.
Luca followed.
The tunnel stretched beneath the mansion.
At the far end was another door.
It slammed shut.
Matteo forced it open.
Empty.
Except for a phone lying on the floor.
The screen was lit.
A live video was playing.
The image showed the Ferraro mansion.
Nora was visible through one of the windows.
The person filming was somewhere outside.
A message appeared.
THE GIRL IS NEXT.
Luca grabbed the phone.
Another message arrived.
ASK ELENA WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAST FATHER WHO TRUSTED HER.
Luca turned.
Elena was standing at the tunnel entrance.
Her face was white.
“Luca…”
He walked toward her.
“What happened to Nora's father?”
Elena didn't answer.
Luca's voice hardened.
“I asked you a question.”
She started crying.
“I didn't kill Adrian.”
“Then where is he?”
Elena looked directly at him.
“I don't know.”
“Liar.”
“He was alive when I last saw him.”
“When?”
She hesitated.
“Three years ago.”
Luca's face went rigid.
“The same year Nora was born.”
Elena nodded.
“Then what happened?”
Elena whispered:
“He disappeared again.”
“Where?”
She looked toward the underground passage.
“He told me that if anything happened to him, I should never let you find him.”
Luca stared.
“Why?”
Elena's eyes filled with terror.
“Because Adrian wasn't hiding from Harland.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“He was hiding from you.”
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