Chapter 5 - THE SECRET UNDER THE BED|
Adrian survived the gunshot.
The bullet had passed through his shoulder, missing the artery by inches. By dawn, he was in a secure private clinic under an assumed name, with Marcus guarding the door and two trusted physicians treating him.
Dominic stayed until the surgeon confirmed his brother would recover.
Then he returned to the mansion.
The memory card was locked inside his safe, but Adrian's final words followed him through every room.
Your son.
Dominic found Noah asleep in his own bed for the first time since the confrontation. A night-light glowed beside the dresser. The exterior lock had been removed, and the door stood open.
He sat quietly beside his child.
“Buddy?”
Noah stirred.
“Daddy?”
“Can I ask you something?”
The boy rubbed his eyes.
“Did you ever hide something under your bed?”
Noah's face changed.
Dominic didn't move closer.
“You're not in trouble. I promise.”
The boy stared at the floor.
“It's not mine.”
“What isn't?”
“A little metal box.”
Dominic's pulse quickened.
“Where did you find it?”
“Behind the loose board. I found it when I dropped my dinosaur.”
“When?”
“A long time ago.”
“How long?”
Noah thought carefully.
“Before Vanessa started locking my door.”
Dominic swallowed.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she said it was dangerous. She said if anyone found it, you would go away forever.”
Dominic took his son's hand.
“Did she tell you what was inside?”
Noah shook his head.
“She told me not to touch it.”
“Did you?”
The boy nodded.
“Only once.”
“What did you see?”
“Pictures. And a little silver thing.”
“What kind of pictures?”
Noah looked toward the door.
“One was Mommy.”
Dominic went still.
“Can you show me?”
Noah slid out of bed, knelt beside the frame, and carefully lifted a narrow wooden board near the wall. Behind it was a small metal box wrapped in a faded blue cloth.
Dominic opened it.
Inside lay a silver locket, a stack of photographs, and a folded note bearing Elena's handwriting.
The first photograph showed Elena standing beside Adrian outside a courthouse.
The second showed Vanessa entering a private clinic.
The third made Dominic's blood run cold.
It showed his father, Vincent, shaking hands with a man Dominic recognized from an old family photograph.
His grandfather, Antonio Moretti, had supposedly died decades earlier.
Dominic turned the photograph over.
Written on the back were the words:
THE ORIGINAL AGREEMENT. THE ONE THEY NEVER DESTROYED.
The note was addressed to Noah.
My sweet boy, if you're reading this, it means the adults around you have failed to keep you safe. There is something hidden in this house that belongs to your father. You must never give it to anyone who tells you that love requires silence.
Dominic's hands trembled.
Elena had written the note before her death.
The box had been hidden in Noah's room.
And someone had known it was there.
He looked at his son.
“Did Vanessa ever search your room?”
“Lots of times.”
“Did she find this box?”
Noah shook his head.
“She made me stand in the hallway while she looked. I think she was searching for something else.”
Dominic closed the box.
“Do you know what?”
The boy hesitated.
“Daddy, can I tell you something without you getting angry?”
“Always.”
“I heard her talking on the phone one night. She said the boy didn't know where the second copy was.”
Dominic's heart hammered.
“What second copy?”
“I don't know. She said, 'The first one is gone, but the second one is still in the house.'”
Dominic glanced at the note.
The original agreement.
He called Samuel and ordered him to analyze the photographs, trace the clinic, and identify the man in the final picture.
Then he did something he should have done years earlier.
He called a child psychologist.
Not because Noah was broken, but because he deserved help from someone whose job was to listen without judgment. Dominic arranged for the therapist to meet Noah in a calm, familiar room, with Lily present until the boy felt comfortable.
He also instructed the staff that Noah could move freely through the mansion and ask for his father whenever he wanted.
No permission slips.
No locked doors.
No exceptions.
When Vanessa learned what was happening, she demanded to see Dominic.
He met her in the library, with Marcus nearby.
“You're destroying our future over a child's imagination,” she said.
“Did you know about the box under Noah's bed?”
Vanessa's eyes flickered.
It was barely noticeable.
But Dominic saw it.
“What box?” she asked.
“The one containing Elena's photographs.”
Vanessa's mouth tightened.
“You should be careful about accusing me of things you can't prove.”
“Then answer a simple question. Why did you visit a private clinic the night Elena died?”
She stared at him.
“Because she was my friend.”
“Did you see her alive?”
Vanessa looked down.
For the first time, her composure seemed to collapse.
“Yes.”
Dominic gripped the back of a chair.
“What happened?”
“She was injured. I didn't know how badly.”
“Who brought her there?”
Vanessa said nothing.
“Who?”
“My brother.”
Dominic remembered the guardianship application.
Richard Sterling.
“What did Richard do to her?”
“He said he was trying to help.”
“Help her do what?”
“Leave.”
Dominic stared.
“Leave me?”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“Leave your father. Leave the business. Leave everything.”
“And you helped him?”
“I thought she was going to destroy you.”
“By telling me the truth?”
Vanessa shook her head desperately.
“You don't understand. Your father had people everywhere. If Elena exposed him, you would have lost everything. Noah would have grown up with enemies at every door.”
“So you decided to lock my son in a room?”
“I never wanted him hurt!”
Dominic's voice dropped.
“Then why did you hurt him?”
Vanessa couldn't answer.
For a moment, she looked genuinely ashamed.
Then she said something that changed the direction of the entire investigation.
“Because I was told that if Noah ever found the second recording, every person in this family would be in danger.”
Dominic went still.
“What recording?”
Vanessa pressed her lips together.
“I don't know where it is.”
“Who told you about it?”
She looked toward Marcus.
Then back at Dominic.
“Your father.”
Dominic took out the memory card Adrian had given him.
“Adrian says there's a recording of our father explaining Elena's death.”
Vanessa's face drained of color.
“He gave it to you?”
“He said it was hidden somewhere in this house.”
Vanessa backed away.
“No. No, that's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because your father told Richard that the second copy was never made.”
Dominic stared at her.
“You just admitted you knew there was a second copy.”
Vanessa's breathing quickened.
Before she could respond, Samuel called.
He had identified the man in the photograph.
It was Antonio Moretti's former attorney, a man officially declared dead twelve years earlier.
But the attorney's daughter had recently filed a missing-person report.
The last person she had seen her father with was Richard Sterling.
And the attorney had left her a voicemail the night before he disappeared.
Samuel played it over the phone.
A man's trembling voice filled the room.
“If anything happens to me, tell Dominic the truth. His father didn't order Elena's death. He ordered her disappearance.”
Dominic gripped the phone.
“Then who ordered the killing?”
There was a burst of static.
The voice returned for one final sentence.
“The person who wanted Dominic to marry Vanessa—and who has been living inside his house all along.”
The message ended.
At that exact moment, the mansion's power went out.
May you like
From the hallway came Noah's frightened scream.
And somewhere downstairs, a door slammed shut.
