Chapter 6 - The Little Girl in the Locked Room
I screamed my daughter's name.
“LILY!”
The guards searched the chapel and surrounding gardens.
Nothing.
Adrian tried to stand.
His body shook violently, and his legs collapsed beneath him.
Marco caught him before he hit the floor.
“Boss! Your legs!”
Adrian pushed him away.
“Find my little girl!”
I was crying so hard I could barely breathe.
“Please. She's only four.”
Adrian looked at me.
“I promise you, Grace. Nobody will hurt her.”
Then he turned to Marco.
“Seal the property. Check every vehicle. Every room. Every tunnel.”
The mansion's security team discovered that one underground service passage had been opened.
It led to an abandoned guesthouse on the northern edge of the estate.
Adrian insisted on coming.
His doctor objected.
“You're not ready for this. Your spinal injury—”
“Then bring the damn wheelchair.”
We reached the guesthouse twenty minutes later.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, I heard a tiny voice.
“Mommy?”
I ran.
“Lily!”
She was sitting on a velvet sofa, clutching Teddy.
A man stood beside her.
Uncle Richard Romano.
He was in his late sixties, silver-haired, impeccably dressed, and carrying himself with the confidence of a man who had never been told no.
“Such a sweet child,” he said.
I rushed toward Lily.
Richard raised one hand.
“Careful. I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt.”
Adrian appeared behind me.
“Let her go.”
Richard smiled.
“Look at you, nephew. Finally out of your bedroom.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“You arranged the assassination.”
Richard shrugged.
“Your father wanted you eliminated. I merely completed his unfinished business.”
“You used his voice.”
“People believe what they want to believe.”
Richard looked at me.
“And you must be Isabella's little miracle.”
I moved between him and Lily.
“Don't come near my daughter.”
Richard laughed.
“Your daughter? You still don't understand, do you?”
He pulled a photograph from his pocket.
It showed Daniel Romano standing beside a young woman.
My mother.
“Elizabeth knew the truth. She raised you because she was paid to hide you. But the money wasn't enough to make her forget.”
“That isn't true,” I whispered.
Richard shrugged.
“Believe whatever comforts you.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“Where is Daniel?”
Richard's smile disappeared.
For the first time, he looked nervous.
“Daniel is dead.”
“Then why did you keep sending money to an account under his name?”
Richard went silent.
Marco stepped forward.
“We found the transfers. Twenty years of payments. The last one was made yesterday.”
Richard's face tightened.
Adrian smiled without warmth.
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You assumed my legs were the only thing you had to take from me.”
Richard reached inside his jacket.
But before he could pull out his weapon, Lily threw Teddy at him.
The stuffed bear struck his face.
Richard stumbled.
Marco disarmed him instantly.
I grabbed Lily and held her tightly.
“Mommy's here, baby.”
She buried her face against my shoulder.
But Adrian wasn't looking at Richard anymore.
He was staring at Teddy.
Something had fallen from a small tear in the bear's back.
A tiny brass key.
Adrian picked it up.
“Where did this come from?”
I stared at it.
“My mother repaired Teddy before she died. She told me never to throw him away.”
Adrian examined the key.
It bore the same silver rose symbol.
Richard began laughing.
“You fools.”
Adrian looked at him.
Richard whispered:
“The real secret isn't in the chapel. It's in the room your father ordered sealed.”
May you like
Then he smiled.
“Ask your mother what happened to the original baby.”
