Chapter 10 - The Recording Mara Never Heard
The voice whispered Mara’s childhood name again.
“Mara Rose.”
She froze.
Dominic turned toward the darkness.
Michael Arden stood behind them, his face drained of color.
“No one has called you that in twenty-three years,” he whispered.
Mara stared into the black room.
“Who is there?”
Nothing.
Then came a soft click.
A hidden speaker turned on.
A man's voice filled the room.
“You were always supposed to come home.”
Dominic raised his gun.
“Show yourself.”
The voice continued.
“You brought him.”
Mara's breathing stopped.
The speaker crackled.
“Good.”
Dominic stepped in front of her.
“Who are you?”
A quiet laugh came through the speaker.
“You really don't remember me, Dominic?”
Dominic's face tightened.
Michael moved backward.
“No.”
Dominic looked at him.
“You know that voice?”
Michael nodded.
“I know it.”
“Who?”
Michael's lips trembled.
“Your grandfather.”
The speaker went silent.
Then a recording began.
A woman's voice.
Young.
Terrified.
Mara's mother.
Mara covered her mouth.
“No.”
The recording continued.
“If you're hearing this, then they failed to erase everything.”
Mara's knees weakened.
Dominic caught her.
Her mother's voice continued.
“Mara, if you're hearing this one day, I need you to understand something.”
A pause.
“I never abandoned you.”
Mara began crying.
“I was forced to leave.”
Dominic stared at the speaker.
The recording crackled.
“Your father wanted you dead.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Not because you were his enemy's daughter.”
The voice broke.
“But because you were the only person who could prove what he had done.”
Dominic looked at Michael.
“What did he do?”
Michael didn't answer.
The recording continued.
“He changed the records.”
“He changed the names.”
“He changed the children.”
Mara opened her eyes.
“What does that mean?”
The recording answered.
“One child was declared dead.”
A pause.
“One child was hidden.”
Another pause.
“And one child was raised believing she was someone else.”
Mara's heart pounded.
The speaker crackled.
“That child was you.”
Dominic tightened his arm around her.
Mara whispered,
“Why?”
Her mother's voice returned.
“Because your grandfather believed blood was ownership.”
Michael lowered his head.
“He wanted control of the Vascari fortune.”
Dominic turned toward him.
“Stop interrupting.”
Michael fell silent.
The recording continued.
“He created a false inheritance.”
“He wanted Dominic to become the public heir.”
“And he wanted my daughter to disappear.”
Mara's tears fell silently.
Then her mother's voice became softer.
“But there was another child.”
Dominic stared at the speaker.
“The third child was never supposed to survive.”
Mara whispered,
“The third baby.”
“Yes.”
The recording continued.
“He was Victor's son.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Adrian.”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
The recording said,
“He was taken before the fire.”
Mara looked at Michael.
“Who took him?”
The recording went silent.
Then a different voice spoke.
A man's voice.
Older.
Calm.
Terrifying.
“I did.”
Mara froze.
Dominic's gun lifted toward the speaker.
The old man laughed.
“You're holding a weapon at a wall, Dominic.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Where is my daughter?”
“Safe.”
“Give her back.”
“Not yet.”
“You're running out of time.”
“No.”
The voice remained calm.
“You are.”
Dominic looked at Mara.
She was staring at the speaker.
“Why did you bring me here?”
The voice answered immediately.
“Because you have something that belongs to me.”
Mara frowned.
“What?”
“Your blood.”
Silence.
“I want my heir.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You already have one.”
“No.”
The voice sharpened.
“Dominic was never my true heir.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Then who is?”
The old man laughed softly.
“That's what you came here to learn.”
The recording stopped.
The room went silent.
Then the lights came back.
A screen appeared on the wall.
A live video.
Celeste sat in a chair.
Mara's baby was in her arms.
The elderly man stood behind her.
Dominic stared.
“Where are you?”
The man looked directly into the camera.
“At home.”
“Which home?”
The old man smiled.
“You know.”
The screen switched.
The old Vascari estate appeared.
Dominic recognized the entrance.
Then the image moved.
Celeste walked through a long hallway.
She stopped beside a fireplace.
Behind it was a hidden door.
The old man looked at the camera.
“Come.”
Dominic's voice was cold.
“If you hurt my daughter—”
“You'll do what?”
Dominic said nothing.
The old man smiled.
“You have always been your father's son.”
The screen went black.
Mara looked at Dominic.
“We have to go.”
Michael stepped forward.
“No.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“You cannot walk into that house.”
“My daughter is there.”
“Exactly.”
“You said you wanted to protect Mara.”
“I do.”
“Then help me.”
Michael stared at him.
“He expects you.”
“Good.”
“He expects Mara.”
“Good.”
“He expects both of you.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“What does that mean?”
Michael looked at Mara.
“He isn't trying to kill you.”
Mara swallowed.
“Then what does he want?”
Michael whispered,
“He wants you to choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Your family.”
Dominic frowned.
“We are her family.”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Mara.
“Your grandfather wants to know which bloodline you will claim.”
Mara stared.
“I don't care about bloodlines.”
“He does.”
“He doesn't get to decide who I am.”
Michael nodded.
“Then you must survive long enough to prove it.”
Dominic checked his weapon.
Michael looked at him.
“You'll need more than that.”
“What?”
“Evidence.”
Michael returned to the desk.
He opened a hidden drawer.
Inside was a small recorder.
Old.
Black.
Covered in scratches.
Dominic stared.
“What is it?”
“Your father's final recording.”
“You have it?”
“I stole it before the estate was searched.”
Dominic took it.
“Why didn't you destroy it?”
“Because I was waiting for Mara.”
She stared.
“Why?”
“Because the recording wasn't meant for Dominic.”
Michael pressed a button.
The machine clicked.
A man's voice came through.
Dominic recognized it instantly.
His father.
“If Mara Arden ever hears this, then everything has already gone wrong.”
Mara's eyes widened.
The recording continued.
“She must never know about the third child.”
Michael looked at Dominic.
Dominic listened.
“The boy was never meant to inherit.”
A pause.
“But the girl was.”
Mara whispered,
“What girl?”
The recording continued.
“The first heir was not Dominic.”
Dominic froze.
His father continued.
“The first heir was Mara.”
Mara stared at the recorder.
“No.”
Michael closed his eyes.
Dominic looked at him.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
The recording continued.
“She carries Victor's blood and the Vascari blood through her mother.”
“She is the legal heir to both families.”
Dominic's expression changed.
His father continued.
“If she is ever discovered, the entire arrangement collapses.”
The recording stopped.
Mara stared at Dominic.
“I don't want any of this.”
“I know.”
“I never asked for his money.”
“I know.”
“I never wanted his family.”
Dominic took her hand.
“You don't have to.”
Michael looked toward the door.
“We need to leave.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Approaching.
Dominic immediately moved Mara behind him.
Michael reached for the recorder.
The footsteps stopped outside.
Three knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Mara's heart raced.
The door opened.
No one stood there.
Only a small package lay on the floor.
Dominic picked it up.
Inside was a key.
A handwritten note.
FOR MARA.
She took it.
The key was old.
Engraved with the number:
17.
Mara looked at Michael.
“Room 17.”
He nodded.
“What does this open?”
Michael stared at the key.
Then his face changed.
“The family archive.”
“Where?”
“At the estate.”
Dominic looked at the door.
The footsteps had disappeared.
He turned to Mara.
“We're going.”
She nodded.
Michael grabbed his coat.
“We should take the underground route.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because that's the route they expect.”
Michael stared.
“You think they planted the key?”
“I think everything tonight has been planned.”
Mara looked at the key.
“Then maybe the key isn't for the archive.”
Dominic looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
She turned it over.
There was a tiny inscription on the back.
NOT FOR THE DOOR.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
Michael stepped closer.
“What does the other side say?”
Mara turned the key again.
A second inscription had been carved into the metal.
FOR THE BOX.
Michael's face went pale.
“What box?”
He stared at Mara.
“The one your mother hid.”
Mara's breath caught.
“Where?”
Michael looked toward the old photograph of her mother.
“Inside the estate.”
Dominic's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Then the old man's voice came through.
“Bring Mara.”
Dominic's eyes hardened.
“She is coming.”
“No.”
A pause.
“Bring her alone.”
Dominic's hand tightened around the phone.
“You don't make the rules.”
The old man laughed.
“Then listen carefully.”
A baby's cry sounded in the background.
Mara stepped forward.
“My daughter.”
The old man said,
“She is alive.”
“Let me speak to her.”
“No.”
“Put her on.”
“No.”
Mara grabbed the phone.
“Please.”
Silence.
Then the old man said,
“You sound just like your mother.”
Mara froze.
“What did you do to her?”
The line went quiet.
Then he whispered,
“I never told you the truth about how she died.”
The call ended.
Mara stared at the screen.
Dominic took her hand.
“We're going.”
Michael nodded.
But before they could leave, the hospital intercom crackled.
A voice came over every speaker in the building.
“Attention.”
A pause.
“Security breach in the maternity ward.”
Dominic looked up.
Another announcement followed.
“Patient Mara Vascari is to be transferred immediately.”
Mara frowned.
“I didn't request a transfer.”
Dominic's face hardened.
The lights went out.
Emergency sirens began screaming.
Then footsteps rushed toward their room.
Michael whispered,
“They found you.”
Dominic drew his weapon.
The handle began turning.
The door opened an inch.
A man's voice came from the other side.
“Mara?”
She recognized it.
Her own father's voice.
May you like
Victor Arden.
And the door began opening wider…
