Chapter 1 - THE CHILD BEHIND THE LOCKED DOOR
"# THE MAFIA BOSS FOUND HIS SON SLEEPING IN THE MAID'S ARMS—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SCREAMED, “GET HIM AWAY FROM HER!”
“GET HIM AWAY FROM THAT MAID!” THE MAFIA BOSS'S FIANCÉE SCREAMED WHEN SHE FOUND HIS EIGHT-YEAR-OLD SON ASLEEP IN A HOUSEKEEPER'S ARMS. SHE GRABBED THE FRIGHTENED CHILD AND TRIED TO DRAG HIM AWAY, BUT HIS FATHER WALKED IN AND STOPPED HER. THEN THE MAID REVEALED A FOLDER OF DRAWINGS THE LITTLE BOY HAD BEEN HIDING—INCLUDING ONE THAT SHOWED SOMETHING TERRIFYING ABOUT HIS LOCKED BEDROOM.
“Please don't make me go back.”
Eight-year-old Noah Moretti whispered those words in his sleep.
Lily Bennett tightened her arms around him.
The twenty-six-year-old maid sat in a small armchair inside her bedroom at the Moretti mansion.
It was nearly two in the morning.
Noah had appeared at her door twenty minutes earlier, barefoot and trembling.
His pajamas were damp with sweat.
“I had the dream again,” he'd whispered.
Lily had knelt beside him.
“Would you like me to sit with you until you feel better?”
He nodded.
But when she suggested returning to his bedroom, he began crying.
“Please, Lily. Not there.”
So she wrapped him in a blanket and held him until his breathing slowed.
Now he was finally asleep.
Then the bedroom door flew open.
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?”
Vanessa Sterling stood in the doorway.
Dominic Moretti's fiancée wore a crimson silk robe.
Her face twisted with anger.
Lily immediately stood, carefully supporting the sleeping boy.
“Mrs. Sterling, Noah had a nightmare.”
Vanessa marched toward them.
“GET HIM AWAY FROM HER!”
Noah woke with a frightened gasp.
“Vanessa?”
She grabbed his wrist.
“Come with me!”
The boy cried out.
“No! Please!”
Lily instinctively moved between them.
“Ma'am, you're frightening him.”
Vanessa spun toward her.
“DON'T TELL ME HOW TO HANDLE MY FUTURE STEPSON!”
She pulled Noah again.
The little boy clung desperately to Lily's uniform.
“Lily! Don't let her!”
Vanessa raised her voice.
“LET GO OF THAT WOMAN!”
A deep voice thundered from the hallway.
“VANESSA!”
Dominic Moretti stood at the doorway.
Thirty-nine years old, tall and broad-shouldered, he had returned unexpectedly from a late business meeting.
His eyes moved from Vanessa's hand gripping Noah's wrist to the tears on his son's face.
His expression changed.
“LET HIM GO.”
Vanessa froze.
“Dominic! Thank God you're here!”
She released Noah.
The boy immediately hid behind Lily.
Vanessa pointed at the maid.
“She brought your son into her bedroom! She's turning him against me!”
Dominic ignored her.
He knelt in front of Noah.
“Hey, buddy.”
Noah lowered his eyes.
“Daddy…”
“Come here.”
The boy hesitated.
Then rushed into his father's arms.
Dominic held him tightly.
“What's wrong?”
Noah buried his face against his shoulder.
“I had a bad dream.”
Dominic kissed his hair.
“Why didn't you come to my room?”
Noah whispered:
“Because Vanessa said I wasn't allowed.”
Dominic went still.
He slowly looked up.
“What?”
Vanessa forced a laugh.
“Dominic, don't be ridiculous. I simply told him not to disturb you while you're working.”
Dominic looked back at Noah.
“Buddy, you can always come to me.”
The little boy nodded.
But his hands continued trembling.
Dominic noticed.
He turned toward Lily.
“What happened tonight?”
The maid spoke carefully.
“Noah knocked on my door around one-thirty. He was crying.”
Vanessa interrupted.
“And instead of taking him back to bed, she kept him here!”
Lily remained calm.
“He was afraid to return to his room, ma'am.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Of course he was! She's encouraging this behavior!”
Dominic stood, still holding Noah.
“Vanessa. Stop shouting.”
His fiancée folded her arms.
“You're seriously taking a servant's side?”
Dominic looked at his son.
“I'M TAKING THE SIDE OF AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CHILD WHO IS TERRIFIED.”
Vanessa fell silent.
Lily quietly stepped toward the dresser.
“Mr. Moretti, there's something you should see.”
Vanessa's expression changed.
“What?”
Lily opened a drawer.
Inside was a thin blue folder.
Vanessa immediately stepped forward.
“DON'T TOUCH THAT!”
Dominic looked at her.
“Why?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Because it's private!”
Lily calmly lifted the folder.
“These belong to Noah, sir.”
Dominic frowned.
“What are they?”
“His drawings.”
Noah suddenly tightened his arms around his father's neck.
“Lily…”
She looked at him gently.
“It's okay, sweetheart.”
Dominic noticed the fear in his son's eyes.
He sat on the edge of the bed.
“Buddy, did you draw these?”
Noah nodded.
“Can Daddy look?”
The boy hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Will Vanessa get mad?”
Dominic's heart tightened.
“No one is going to hurt you for showing me a picture.”
Noah slowly nodded.
Lily handed him the folder.
Dominic opened it.
The first drawing showed a small boy standing in a dark hallway.
A woman in a red dress towered over him.
Her mouth was drawn as a large black circle.
Dominic frowned.
“Who's this?”
Noah whispered:
“Me.”
“And the woman?”
The boy didn't answer.
Dominic turned another page.
A child sat alone at a dinner table.
Above him, in uneven handwriting, were the words:
DADDY IS TOO BUSY.
Dominic stared.
He remembered Vanessa repeatedly telling him Noah preferred eating alone.
He'd believed her.
The third drawing showed a little boy standing outside a closed office door.
Inside, a man sat at a desk.
A red line separated them.
Dominic swallowed.
“Did you want to come see me?”
Noah nodded.
“But Vanessa said you'd be angry.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
He had never once told his son that.
He turned toward Vanessa.
“Did you tell him I didn't want to see him?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Dominic, children misunderstand things!”
Lily quietly spoke.
“Sir, there are more drawings.”
Vanessa suddenly lunged toward the folder.
“GIVE ME THOSE!”
Dominic stood.
“BACK AWAY FROM MY SON.”
Vanessa stopped.
He placed Noah gently beside Lily.
Then continued examining the drawings.
One showed a bedroom window.
Another showed a small boy crying beneath a blanket.
And another showed a woman holding something silver in her hand.
Dominic frowned.
“What is she holding?”
Noah whispered:
“A key.”
Vanessa's face went pale.
Dominic looked at her.
“A key?”
She forced a smile.
“Probably his imagination.”
Noah shook his head.
“No, Daddy.”
Dominic turned back.
“What do you mean?”
The boy looked toward Vanessa.
Then quickly lowered his eyes.
Lily gently touched his shoulder.
“You can tell your father.”
Noah's voice trembled.
“Sometimes I knock.”
Dominic felt a chill.
“Knock on what, buddy?”
“My door.”
Dominic stared.
“Why would you knock on your own door?”
Noah didn't answer.
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward.
“ENOUGH! HE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO BED!”
Dominic raised his hand.
“Vanessa. Not another word.”
He turned the next page.
It showed a dark bedroom.
A small boy sat on the floor.
Outside the door stood a woman in a red dress.
And beneath the picture, Noah had written:
I WAS GOOD. PLEASE OPEN IT.
Dominic stopped breathing.
He stared at the words.
Then looked at his son.
“Noah…”
The little boy began crying.
“I'm sorry, Daddy.”
Dominic immediately pulled him into his arms.
“Don't apologize.”
“I tried to be quiet.”
Dominic's voice broke.
“Why did you have to be quiet?”
Noah buried his face against his chest.
“Because Vanessa said good boys don't bother grown-ups.”
Vanessa stepped backward.
Dominic looked at Lily.
“How long have you known about these drawings?”
The maid swallowed.
“Three weeks, sir.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried.”
Vanessa's head snapped toward her.
“LILY!”
The maid remained composed.
“I asked Mrs. Sterling for permission to speak with you privately.”
Dominic stared.
“And?”
“She told me I'd lose my job if I mentioned Noah's drawings.”
Vanessa shook her head desperately.
“She's lying!”
Lily didn't argue.
She simply opened the folder to its final page.
“Mr. Moretti, Noah drew this yesterday.”
Dominic took it.
At first, he saw only a bedroom.
A bed.
A window.
A small boy standing beside the door.
Then he noticed something unusual.
A large black lock had been drawn on the outside of the bedroom door.
Not the inside.
The outside.
Dominic stared.
His hands slowly tightened around the paper.
He looked toward Vanessa.
She had gone completely white.
Then he looked at Lily.
His voice was low.
Controlled.
“WHY DID HE DRAW A LOCK ON THE OUTSIDE OF HIS BEDROOM DOOR?”
Nobody answered.
Dominic turned toward Noah.
“Buddy, did someone lock you inside?”
The little boy began shaking.
Vanessa suddenly whispered:
“Dominic, please…”
He looked at her.
“Don't.”
Noah clutched his father's shirt.
Then whispered:
“DADDY… I THOUGHT YOU KNEW.”
Dominic froze.
“Knew what, sweetheart?”
Noah looked toward the hallway.
Then at Vanessa.
“SHE SAID YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TOLD HER TO LOCK ME IN.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
Vanessa stumbled backward.
And Lily quietly placed one final object on the bedside table.
A small brass key.
With a label attached.
NOAH'S ROOM — EXTERIOR LOCK.
Dominic stared at it.
Then slowly raised his eyes toward the woman he was supposed to marry.
For the first time, Vanessa looked truly afraid.
May you like
Read Chapter 2 in the first comment to discover how long Noah had been locked inside his bedroom—and why Vanessa convinced him that his own father had ordered it. Thank you for reading!"
|
