Chapter 3 - The Photograph From Tomorrow
Roman ordered everyone to remain inside the dining room.
Matteo drew his weapon.
Two guards moved toward the hallway, while another locked the mansion's main entrance.
Sophia stood beside Roman, staring at the security guard.
"Show me the photograph."
"Not until the room is secured," Roman replied.
"That's my father."
"And someone just entered our home without triggering the perimeter alarms."
"Roman—"
"Someone knows you're here. That's what matters."
He turned to Matteo.
"Get the camera footage."
Matteo nodded and disappeared down the hallway.
Roman took Sophia upstairs himself.
Their bedroom door was open.
Nothing appeared disturbed. Her jewelry remained in its case. Roman's watch collection was untouched. Even the expensive painting above the fireplace hung perfectly straight.
But on the bed lay a photograph.
Sophia approached slowly.
It was an old picture of Daniel Bellini, taken outside a courthouse.
He was holding a newspaper.
The date printed across its front page was October 31, 2026.
Today's date.
Sophia stared.
"This is impossible."
Roman examined the photograph.
"Maybe someone created it."
"No."
She touched her father's face.
"Look at his hands."
A thin gold ring was visible on his right hand.
Sophia recognized it immediately.
Her father had given that ring to her on her twenty-first birthday. She had buried it with him.
Except now she remembered something.
The ring had disappeared from her jewelry box six months earlier.
"Someone took this from my father's belongings," she whispered.
Roman turned the photograph over.
There were six handwritten words on the back.
ASK THE BOY WHAT HIS MOTHER DID.
Roman's expression hardened.
"What boy?"
Sophia shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then a voice came from the doorway.
"I do."
Matteo stood there, his face unusually pale.
Roman turned.
"What did you find?"
"Someone accessed the old security archive. The footage from the night Daniel disappeared was deleted, but there was another recording."
"Where?"
"Antonio's private office."
Roman's father had kept a separate surveillance system in the mansion. Even Roman had never been allowed to access it.
Matteo hesitated.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The recording was uploaded from inside this house."
Roman looked at Sophia.
She looked back at him.
Neither spoke.
They returned downstairs and entered the private security room. Matteo connected the recording to the large monitor.
The footage was grainy.
A date appeared in the corner.
Five years earlier.
The camera showed a corridor outside Antonio Duca's study.
A young boy entered.
He appeared to be about ten years old.
Sophia leaned closer.
"Who is that?"
Roman's face lost its color.
"That's Adrian."
His nephew.
Matteo's son.
Adrian had been twelve when the footage was recorded. He now lived at the estate with his father, attending a private school outside Boston.
The boy in the recording stood outside the study for several seconds.
Then the door opened.
Isabella appeared.
She looked down at him.
Even through the poor footage, Sophia could see the fear in the boy's expression.
Isabella took his hand and led him inside.
Twenty minutes later, she emerged alone.
The recording continued.
Adrian came out carrying a small black bag.
He looked directly at the camera.
Then he placed one finger against his lips.
Sophia whispered, "He saw something."
Roman rewound the footage.
"Get my nephew."
Matteo didn't move.
"Roman, Adrian isn't here."
"Where is he?"
"School."
"Call him."
Matteo pulled out his phone.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then someone answered.
But it wasn't Adrian.
A man's voice spoke.
"Mr. Duca, your nephew is safe."
Roman's eyes narrowed.
"Who is this?"
"Someone who knows what your mother did."
"Put the boy on the phone."
A brief silence followed.
Then came the sound of a child crying.
Matteo stepped forward.
"Adrian?"
The voice returned.
"You have one hour to bring Sophia Bellini to the old warehouse on Pier 19. Come alone."
Roman's jaw tightened.
"If you touch that boy—"
"Ask your wife what she promised his mother."
The call ended.
Sophia slowly turned toward Roman.
"What did he mean?"
Roman didn't answer.
Matteo stared at her.
"What did you promise my son's mother?"
Sophia looked confused.
"Your son's mother is your late wife."
Matteo's face changed.
"My wife isn't dead."
The room went silent.
Sophia stared at him.
"What?"
Matteo looked at Roman.
"Tell her."
Roman closed his eyes.
For the first time that night, he looked afraid.
May you like
Because the woman everyone believed had died five years earlier was not dead.
And Sophia had been the last person to see her alive.
