Chapter 6 - The Woman Behind the Secret
The phone kept ringing.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Luca stood in the middle of his bedroom, staring at the hidden passage behind the wall.
The voice had come from there.
A voice he had spent years trying to forget.
A voice he had buried with memories, photographs, and unanswered questions.
His mother.
Mara looked at him.
She had never seen Luca like this.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Not controlled.
Broken.
"Luca..."
He raised one hand.
A silent request for everyone to stop.
The phone continued ringing.
Slow.
Patient.
Almost like whoever was calling knew he would eventually answer.
Dr. Bennett looked terrified.
Mrs. Vale looked like she was about to cry.
That frightened Mara more than anything.
Because these two people had spent years around Luca.
They had seen enemies.
They had seen threats.
But this was different.
This was fear of a person.
Not a situation.
Finally, Luca walked toward the hidden passage.
Mara stepped beside him.
"You shouldn't."
He looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because everyone in this room is afraid of whoever is calling."
His expression hardened.
"And you think I should be too?"
"No."
Mara shook her head.
"I think you should be careful."
For a moment, Luca looked at her.
Then he nodded.
A small movement.
But it meant something.
He trusted her.
He entered the passage slowly.
Mara followed.
Behind them, Dr. Bennett whispered:
"Luca."
He stopped.
The doctor looked at him.
"If you hear her voice..."
He paused.
"What?"
Dr. Bennett looked down.
"Remember that not everything you hear is the truth."
Luca stared at him.
"That is exactly what someone who has been lying would say."
The doctor had no answer.
Luca continued walking.
The phone was on a small wooden shelf at the end of the passage.
Old.
Dusty.
A phone that looked like it had been forgotten for years.
But it was ringing.
Luca picked it up.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then:
"Hello?"
Silence.
A soft breath came through the line.
Then a woman's voice.
"Luca."
His eyes closed.
Mara watched him.
The reaction was immediate.
He knew the voice.
He knew it wasn't a recording.
It was real.
"Who is this?"
The woman laughed softly.
A sad laugh.
"You always asked questions after it was too late."
Luca gripped the phone.
"Who are you?"
"You know."
"No."
His voice cracked slightly.
"No, I saw what happened."
"You saw what they wanted you to see."
The words hit him.
Mara watched his face.
The anger returned.
"Where are you?"
The woman didn't answer.
Instead, she said:
"Adrian tried to tell you."
Luca froze.
"Where is my brother?"
Another pause.
Then:
"Closer than you think."
The line went silent.
"Luca?"
The call ended.
He stared at the phone.
Then suddenly threw it against the wall.
The sound echoed through the passage.
Mara jumped.
She had never seen him lose control.
Not once.
"She's alive."
Nobody answered.
They all knew.
Luca turned around.
His eyes were filled with a mixture of anger and pain.
"My mother is alive."
Dr. Bennett stepped closer.
"Luca..."
"Don't."
The doctor stopped.
"Do not say you were protecting me."
The doctor lowered his eyes.
Because he couldn't.
Luca walked back into the bedroom.
He looked at the photograph again.
The woman standing beside him and Adrian.
His mother.
A person he had mourned.
A person who had apparently been watching from somewhere.
For ten years.
Mara looked at the picture.
"Why would someone fake her death?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Mrs. Vale spoke.
"Because she knew something."
Luca turned.
"What?"
Mrs. Vale looked exhausted.
"Something about your father's business."
Mara frowned.
"But Luca built everything after his father died."
Mrs. Vale nodded.
"That's what everyone believes."
Luca stared.
"What are you saying?"
Mrs. Vale took a deep breath.
"Your father didn't leave you an empire."
The room became quiet.
"He left you a war."
Luca said nothing.
Mara felt the weight of those words.
For years, Luca believed he had inherited power.
But maybe he inherited a battlefield.
"What did my mother find?"
Mrs. Vale looked toward the hidden passage.
"She found out your father wasn't betrayed by outsiders."
Luca's expression changed.
"He was betrayed by someone inside the family."
The sentence sat heavily.
Mara looked at Luca.
"Your father was murdered?"
Mrs. Vale nodded slowly.
"And your brother found proof."
Luca looked at the laptop.
The files.
The videos.
The hidden messages.
Adrian hadn't disappeared.
He had been searching.
And someone had stopped him.
"Who killed my father?"
Mrs. Vale looked away.
"That is the question Adrian was trying to answer."
Luca walked toward the desk.
The laptop was still open.
He searched through the files.
More folders appeared.
Some were locked.
Some were empty.
Then one folder caught his attention.
A folder created on the day Adrian disappeared.
The name was simple.
MARA.
Mara froze.
Her heart dropped.
"What?"
Luca looked at her.
The folder had her name.
Not his.
Not Adrian's.
Hers.
"I don't understand."
Neither did Luca.
He clicked it.
Inside was one file.
A photograph.
Mara stared.
The image loaded slowly.
Then appeared.
A young woman.
Holding a baby.
Standing outside the Varelli mansion.
Mara felt her body go cold.
Because she recognized the woman.
Not from memory.
From somewhere else.
The woman in the picture was her mother.
"Luca..."
Everyone turned toward her.
She stepped closer to the screen.
"My mother."
Silence.
Luca looked at her.
"What did you say?"
Mara couldn't breathe.
"My mother."
Dr. Bennett moved toward the laptop.
Then stopped.
Like he had seen something impossible.
"That's not possible."
Mara looked at him.
"You know her?"
Nobody answered.
That was enough.
"You know my mother."
Dr. Bennett looked away.
Mara felt anger rising.
"Everyone knows everything except me."
Luca watched her.
For the first time, he understood.
She wasn't just a maid who accidentally found his secret.
She was connected to it.
Somehow.
"Who was your mother?"
Mara shook her head.
"I don't know."
Her voice became quieter.
"She died when I was young."
Mrs. Vale looked at the picture.
Then whispered:
"She wasn't supposed to have a child."
Mara turned.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Luca noticed something else.
A note attached to the photograph.
He picked it up.
Only one sentence was written.
His face changed as he read it.
"Mara was the last person Adrian trusted."
Mara stared.
"Why?"
Before Luca could answer, the laptop screen suddenly changed.
A new message appeared.
No sender.
No name.
Only four words.
"She is already inside."
May you like
Everyone froze.
Then the bedroom door slowly opened...
