Chapter 1 - About Which Room?
“SHE'S LYING! THAT MAID HAS BEEN SNEAKING THROUGH MY FIANCÉ'S MANSION!” VANESSA SCREAMED IN FRONT OF FORTY DINNER GUESTS. BUT WHEN THE YOUNG MAID CALMLY MENTIONED A MAINTENANCE INVOICE, VANESSA LOST CONTROL AND ACCUSED HER OF ENTERING A SECRET BLUE ROOM. THE MAID HAD NEVER MENTIONED SUCH A ROOM—AND THE MAFIA BOSS HAD NO IDEA IT EXISTED.
“Fire her, Dominic. Tonight.”
Vanessa Sterling slammed a folder onto the dining table.
Forty guests fell silent.
Elena Carter stood beside the doorway in her black-and-white maid's uniform.
She was twenty-six, composed, and had worked at the Moretti mansion for nearly two years.
Dominic Moretti slowly set down his wineglass.
“What happened?”
Vanessa pointed at Elena.
“SHE'S BEEN SNOOPING THROUGH THE HOUSE!”
Elena didn't flinch.
“That's not true, ma'am.”
“Don't lie to me!”
Dominic raised his hand.
“Vanessa. Let her speak.”
His fiancée turned toward him.
“Dominic, I caught her carrying documents from the east wing!”
Dominic looked at Elena.
“Is that true?”
“Yes, sir.”
Vanessa smiled triumphantly.
“See?”
Elena continued calmly.
“I found a maintenance invoice beneath the service staircase. I was bringing it to the house manager.”
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
“What invoice?”
“A repair bill, ma'am.”
“For what?”
“A damaged door lock.”
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward.
“YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO ENTER THE BLUE ROOM!”
The room went silent.
Elena slowly raised her eyes.
Then asked, without changing her expression:
“ABOUT WHICH ROOM, MA'AM?”
Vanessa froze.
“The… the room you entered!”
Elena tilted her head slightly.
“I NEVER MENTIONED A BLUE ROOM.”
A guest quietly set down his glass.
Dominic turned toward Vanessa.
“What blue room?”
Vanessa's face drained of color.
“Dominic, it's nothing.”
He stood.
“Then why are you shouting about it?”
Vanessa forced a laugh.
“It's just an old storage room. Elena must have heard about it from the staff.”
Elena folded her hands.
“Actually, sir, I've never seen a blue room.”
Vanessa glared at her.
“THEN WHY WERE YOU CARRYING THAT INVOICE?”
“Because someone paid to replace a lock on a room that doesn't appear on the mansion's maintenance records.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“What?”
Elena carefully removed a folded paper from her apron.
Vanessa lunged toward her.
“GIVE ME THAT!”
Dominic stepped between them.
“Vanessa. Stop.”
Elena calmly placed the invoice on the table.
Dominic read it.
PRIVATE EAST-WING CHAMBER — LOCK REPLACEMENT.
Authorized by: Vanessa Sterling.
Additional work: Soundproofing and interior surveillance removal.
Dominic stared.
“Soundproofing?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“It was a renovation!”
“Why would a storage room need soundproofing?”
She couldn't answer.
Elena spoke quietly.
“Sir, the invoice also includes a service date.”
Dominic looked down.
The repairs had been completed six months earlier.
Three weeks after his father, Antonio Moretti, died.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“My father kept the east wing closed.”
Vanessa nodded quickly.
“Exactly! I was only making it safe!”
Elena looked at her.
“Then why did the contractor list the room as occupied?”
Vanessa froze.
Dominic slowly turned.
“Occupied?”
Elena pointed toward the bottom of the invoice.
A handwritten note read:
WORK DELAYED — OCCUPANT PRESENT.
Dominic stared at the words.
“Who was inside?”
Vanessa stepped backward.
“Nobody.”
Elena remained perfectly still.
“Then the contractor must have made a mistake.”
Her voice was polite.
Almost gentle.
But Vanessa looked increasingly frightened.
“YOU THINK YOU'RE CLEVER, DON'T YOU?”
Elena didn't respond.
Vanessa grabbed her wrist.
“You've been planning this!”
Dominic immediately intervened.
“Let her go.”
Vanessa released Elena.
Dominic picked up the invoice.
“Where is this room?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know, sir. The floor plan doesn't show it.”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“Because it doesn't exist!”
Dominic looked at her.
“THEN WHY DID YOU PAY TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS TO REPAIR ITS LOCK?”
Vanessa's lips trembled.
No answer.
Dominic turned toward his security chief.
“Marcus. Check the east wing.”
Vanessa suddenly screamed.
“NO! DON'T SEND ANYONE THERE!”
Dominic froze.
“Why?”
She covered her mouth.
Elena calmly stepped closer to the table.
“Mr. Moretti, there's one more thing.”
Vanessa's eyes widened.
“Elena, don't.”
The maid looked directly at her.
“I haven't accused you of anything, Mrs. Sterling.”
Then she turned to Dominic.
“The contractor left a telephone number on the invoice. I called to ask where the repair had been performed.”
Dominic frowned.
“And?”
“He said he remembered the room because he was instructed to work only after midnight.”
Vanessa's face turned white.
Elena continued.
“He also said someone kept knocking from the other side of the door.”
The dining room fell completely silent.
Dominic stared at her.
“Knocking?”
“Yes, sir.”
Vanessa shook her head desperately.
“She's making this up!”
Elena calmly reached into her apron.
She placed a small business card on the table.
“The contractor is waiting outside, sir. I asked him to come because I thought you might want to hear his explanation yourself.”
Dominic looked toward the entrance.
Vanessa rushed forward.
“YOU CAN'T BRING HIM IN HERE!”
Elena didn't move.
“Why not, ma'am?”
Vanessa stopped.
For the first time, she seemed to realize that every angry word was revealing more than Elena had asked.
Dominic turned toward Marcus.
“Bring him in.”
A moment later, an elderly maintenance contractor entered.
He carried a worn leather tool bag.
Dominic approached him.
“Did you repair a room in my east wing?”
The man nodded.
“Yes, Mr. Moretti.”
“Who hired you?”
He looked toward Vanessa.
“That lady.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“What was inside the room?”
The contractor hesitated.
“I wasn't allowed to look, sir.”
“Did you hear someone knocking?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa suddenly shouted:
“HE'S LYING!”
The contractor looked startled.
Then quietly answered:
“Ma'am, you told me not to answer the knocking.”
Dominic slowly turned toward Vanessa.
“YOU TOLD HIM TO IGNORE SOMEONE TRAPPED BEHIND A DOOR?”
Vanessa began crying.
“I was protecting you!”
“From whom?”
She shook her head.
Dominic stepped closer.
“Vanessa. Who was inside?”
Her voice broke.
“Someone your father wanted hidden.”
Dominic froze.
“My father?”
The contractor reached into his tool bag.
“Mr. Moretti, there's something else.”
He removed an old brass key.
“I kept the original lock because the replacement wouldn't fit.”
Dominic stared at it.
Engraved into the brass was the Moretti family crest.
And beneath it, two initials.
A.M.
Antonio Moretti.
His father.
Dominic slowly looked up.
“Where is the door?”
The contractor pointed toward the east wing.
“Behind the bookcase in your father's private library.”
Dominic's blood ran cold.
His father had died in that library.
Or so Vanessa had told him.
He turned toward Elena.
“Did you know about this?”
She shook her head.
“No, sir. But I found something unusual on the back of the invoice.”
She handed him the paper.
Dominic turned it over.
A handwritten instruction had been added beneath the contractor's signature.
IF THE WOMAN INSIDE ASKS FOR DOMINIC, TELL HER HE'S DEAD.
Dominic stopped breathing.
He stared at the words.
Then looked at Vanessa.
“WHO WAS ASKING FOR ME?”
Vanessa backed toward the doors.
Her face was pale.
Elena calmly spoke.
“That's what I wanted to know, sir.”
Dominic turned toward the contractor.
“Did you hear the woman's voice?”
The elderly man nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
He hesitated.
Then answered:
“She kept saying she had to tell you something about your father's death.”
Dominic went completely still.
Vanessa began trembling.
The contractor lowered his voice.
“And she kept repeating one name.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Whose name?”
The man looked toward Vanessa.
“HERS.”
Vanessa suddenly ran toward the ballroom doors.
Marcus blocked her path.
Dominic slowly approached.
His voice was quiet.
Dangerously quiet.
“VANESSA… WHO DID YOU LOCK INSIDE MY FATHER'S HOUSE?”
She shook her head.
Tears streamed down her face.
Then she whispered:
“DOMINIC, IF YOU OPEN THAT ROOM, YOU'LL FIND OUT WHY YOUR FATHER REALLY DIED.”
Elena stood beside the table, watching silently.
She had never raised her voice.
Never threatened Vanessa.
Never accused her of murder.
She had simply asked one question.
“About which room?”
And now the woman who had tried to fire her was trembling at the thought of that room being opened.
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Read Chapter 2 in the first comment to discover who was hidden behind the blue room's locked door—and what Vanessa knew about Antonio Moretti's mysterious death. Thank you for reading!
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