Chapter 3 - The Secret Inside Vanessa’s Room
I drove through the city faster than I ever had before.
Every red light felt like an obstacle.
Every second felt like another chance for something terrible to happen inside my house.
Rosa was alone.
My daughters were alone.
And the woman I trusted most had been lying to me.
My hands tightened around the steering wheel as I replayed the last words I heard from Rosa.
"Someone is in the room with me."
Then silence.
I called her again.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
I called Lily.
Straight to voicemail.
I called Emma's tablet.
No response.
That was when fear replaced anger.
I wasn't thinking like a businessman anymore.
I wasn't thinking about contracts, companies, or money.
I was thinking like a father.
I needed to get home.
I needed to see my daughters.
When I finally turned onto my street, I slowed down.
I couldn't just rush inside.
If Vanessa knew I was watching her, I would lose whatever advantage I had.
I parked two houses away and turned off the engine.
The mansion stood exactly as it always had.
The lights were warm.
The windows were glowing.
From the outside, it looked like a perfect home.
But I knew better now.
Behind those walls were secrets.
Lies.
And people I no longer recognized.
I pulled out my phone and opened the security system.
The cameras were still active.
Living room.
Empty.
Kitchen.
Empty.
Hallway.
Empty.
Then I opened the camera feed that had appeared by itself.
The hidden camera.
The one I never installed.
The screen showed my office.
Rosa was standing there.
Alone.
My heart stopped.
She wasn't being held.
She wasn't trapped.
She was searching through my desk.
For a moment, I felt confused.
Then angry.
Had I been wrong?
Had Vanessa been right all along?
Was Rosa actually hiding something?
I watched closer.
Rosa wasn't taking anything.
She was looking for something.
Her hands were shaking.
She opened drawers carefully.
She checked behind books.
She looked terrified.
Then she found something.
A small envelope hidden underneath the bottom drawer.
She held it tightly.
And immediately looked toward the door.
Someone was coming.
Rosa quickly hid the envelope inside her uniform.
The office door opened.
Vanessa walked in.
My blood went cold.
She looked calm.
Too calm.
"Rosa."
Rosa turned around.
"Miss Vanessa."
Vanessa smiled.
But there was no kindness in it.
"Looking for something?"
Rosa said nothing.
Vanessa walked closer.
"You really thought you could hide things from me?"
I leaned closer to my phone.
The camera audio was weak, but I could hear every word.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Vanessa laughed quietly.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
She moved around Rosa slowly.
Like a predator watching its prey.
"Give me the folder."
Rosa's face changed.
So Vanessa knew.
"Where did you put it?"
Rosa stayed silent.
Vanessa's expression hardened.
"You have no idea how much trouble you've caused."
Rosa looked toward the camera.
Almost like she knew I was watching.
Then she said something that made me freeze.
"Adrian will find out the truth."
Vanessa smiled.
"No."
She stepped closer.
"He won't."
My jaw tightened.
Vanessa reached into her purse.
I couldn't see what she pulled out.
But Rosa immediately stepped back.
"Don't."
That one word changed everything.
Because Rosa wasn't afraid of being fired.
She was afraid of something much worse.
I grabbed my phone and called Daniel.
"Track this camera."
"What camera?"
"The one inside my office."
There was a pause.
"Mr. Cole, you said your system was secure."
"It was."
I looked at the screen.
"Until someone else got inside."
Daniel's voice became serious.
"I'll trace it."
I kept watching.
Vanessa lowered her hand.
Whatever she had been holding disappeared from view.
Then she whispered:
"You should have left when I gave you the chance."
Rosa looked directly at her.
"I protected those girls when their own mother couldn't."
The room went silent.
My breathing stopped.
Their own mother?
What did Rosa mean?
Vanessa's face changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Real fear.
"What did you just say?"
Rosa looked away.
She realized she had revealed too much.
Vanessa stepped closer.
"Rosa."
Her voice became colder.
"What do you know?"
Before Rosa could answer, the lights in my office flickered.
The camera went black.
Someone had cut the connection.
I stared at the dark screen.
"No."
I opened every camera.
Nothing.
The entire mansion had gone offline.
Someone had disabled my security system.
From inside.
I ran toward the mansion.
I didn't care anymore.
The front door was unlocked.
That was the first thing I noticed.
My home was never unlocked.
Not once.
I slowly pushed it open.
The silence inside felt wrong.
"Rosa?"
No answer.
"Lily?"
Nothing.
"Emma?"
Still nothing.
I walked through the hallway.
Every picture on the wall showed memories that suddenly felt fake.
Family vacations.
Birthday parties.
Christmas mornings.
A life I thought I understood.
I reached the living room.
My daughters were sitting on the couch.
Safe.
My entire body relaxed.
"Daddy!"
Lily ran toward me.
I dropped down and hugged both girls.
I held them tighter than I ever had.
"Are you okay?"
Emma nodded.
But Lily looked worried.
"Daddy..."
"What?"
She looked toward the staircase.
"Rosa told me not to tell Vanessa."
My heart tightened.
"Tell me what?"
Lily lowered her voice.
"Rosa found something in Vanessa's room."
I stood up.
"What did she find?"
Lily looked scared.
"A picture."
"What picture?"
She whispered:
"Of you."
That confused me.
"What kind of picture?"
Before she could answer, a sound came from upstairs.
A door closing.
I looked toward the staircase.
"Stay here."
I walked upstairs slowly.
Every step felt heavier.
Vanessa's bedroom door was slightly open.
I pushed it.
Inside, everything looked normal.
The expensive furniture.
The designer clothes.
The jewelry.
The perfect image.
But something was different.
The closet door was open.
And inside, behind the clothes, there was a small hidden compartment.
Someone had forced it open.
I walked closer.
Inside was a stack of documents.
Photos.
And a folder with my name written across it.
I picked it up.
My hands started shaking.
Because underneath my name were four words.
Words that made no sense.
"Adrian Cole Adoption Records."
I opened the folder.
The first page was a photograph.
Not of me.
Of a woman.
A woman I had never seen before.
But beneath the picture was a name.
A name that changed everything.
And then my phone received a new message from an unknown number.
I opened it.
May you like
There was only one sentence.
"Ask Rosa who your real father was."
