Chapter 5 - The Room Where My Son Was Hidden
The image on the security screens burned into my mind.
A chair.
A small room.
A child sitting alone.
My son.
For four years, I had imagined a thousand different versions of where Anthony might be.
A hospital.
A foreign country.
A place where someone had taken him and erased every trace of his existence.
But I never imagined this.
A hidden room.
Inside the city where I lived.
Under the control of someone who had been standing beside me all along.
My hands shook slightly.
Not from fear.
From rage.
"Where is this room?"
Nobody answered immediately.
That scared me more than anything.
My guards were trained to respond instantly.
They had faced armed men, threats, and enemies who wanted me dead.
But now they were looking at a screen showing a child who had been missing for years.
And nobody knew what to say.
I turned toward Matteo.
He was no longer smiling.
That was the first confirmation I needed.
He knew exactly what was happening.
"You knew."
My voice was low.
Matteo looked at me.
"Alessandro..."
"You knew he was alive."
Silence.
"Answer me."
His jaw tightened.
Then he sighed.
"I knew."
The room exploded with movement.
My guards raised their weapons.
Lena covered Lucia's ears.
Someone shouted.
But I heard nothing.
Because those two words were louder than everything else.
I knew.
Four years.
Four years of grief.
Four years of searching.
Four years of waking up every morning believing my son was gone.
And my own brother knew.
"You watched me suffer."
Matteo looked away.
"I watched you survive."
I stared at him.
"That's your excuse?"
"No."
His voice became colder.
"That's the truth."
I stepped closer.
"Where is he?"
Matteo didn't answer.
That was when I understood.
He wasn't afraid of me.
He was afraid of what would happen if I found Anthony.
Because once my son was back in my arms, every lie Matteo built would collapse.
"Take him."
My guards moved instantly.
But before they reached Matteo, the mansion lights flickered.
The screens changed.
The image of Anthony disappeared.
A new message appeared.
"STOP LOOKING."
Then another line appeared beneath it.
"OR HE DISAPPEARS AGAIN."
Everyone froze.
My eyes moved across the screens.
This wasn't Matteo.
Not completely.
Someone else was controlling the system.
Someone else had access.
"Who has access to my security network?"
My head of security stepped forward.
"Only three people."
"Name them."
He swallowed.
"You."
"Matteo."
He paused.
"And..."
I stared at him.
"And who?"
He looked at Lena.
"Marco Vieri."
The name hit the room like a gunshot.
Marco.
The man who was supposed to be dead.
The man who had supposedly protected Anthony.
The man who had been standing beside Matteo outside.
I turned back to the monitor.
The hidden room was gone.
The screens were black.
But one thing remained.
A small red light blinking in the corner.
Recording.
Someone was watching us.
Someone wanted me to know they were watching.
"Find Marco."
My guards moved.
But Lena grabbed my arm.
"Wait."
I looked at her.
"What?"
Her face was pale.
"Marco would never hurt Anthony."
"Then explain why he has access to the room."
She looked toward Matteo.
Then at me.
"Because maybe he isn't the one keeping Anthony there."
The possibility entered my mind.
A terrible possibility.
Matteo.
Marco.
Someone else.
Too many pieces.
Too many secrets.
I turned toward Matteo.
"You have one chance."
He looked at me.
"To do what?"
"Tell me where my son is."
A long silence passed.
Then Matteo laughed softly.
Not because he found it funny.
Because he was exhausted.
"You still don't understand."
"Understand what?"
"Anthony isn't the only thing they took from you."
My eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?"
Matteo looked at Lena.
Then Lucia.
Then the empty screens.
"They didn't just hide your son."
He stepped closer.
"They erased your entire family."
I wanted to hit him.
I wanted answers.
But something in his expression stopped me.
For the first time, Matteo looked less like a villain.
He looked like someone who had realized he had lost control of something much bigger than himself.
"Who is they?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the hallway.
"Because they're already here."
Everyone turned.
At first, I heard nothing.
Then I noticed it.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Calm.
Coming from the lower level.
The basement.
The place nobody entered.
The place my family used for old storage.
The place that had been sealed for years.
My guards moved toward the stairs.
I followed.
Lena stayed behind with Lucia.
The basement door was at the end of the corridor.
A door I had walked past thousands of times.
A door I had never questioned.
Because I thought there was nothing behind it.
My guard tried the handle.
Locked.
"Break it."
He stepped back.
The door opened before he touched it.
Everyone froze.
The inside was dark.
But something caught my attention.
A child's drawing taped to the wall.
A drawing of a house.
A family.
A father.
A little boy.
And a little girl.
Two children.
Not one.
My breathing stopped.
Because underneath the drawing was a name written in childish handwriting.
"Sofia and Anthony."
I stepped into the room.
There were boxes everywhere.
Old files.
Photographs.
Documents.
Evidence of a life someone had stolen from me.
Then I saw the wall.
Hundreds of pictures.
Anthony growing up.
Anthony learning to walk.
Anthony smiling.
Anthony playing.
Pictures I had never seen.
Pictures taken while I was searching for him.
My knees almost gave out.
He wasn't missing.
He was being watched.
A sound came from behind me.
A soft movement.
I turned.
A small object rolled across the floor.
A toy car.
Anthony's favorite toy.
The one he carried everywhere when he was four.
I picked it up.
And underneath it was a note.
My hands trembled as I unfolded it.
Three words.
"Dad, I'm sorry."
I looked around the room.
"Anthony?"
No answer.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message.
From an unknown number.
I opened it.
There was only one sentence.
"Your son is closer than you think."
I looked toward the darkest corner of the basement.
May you like
Because behind the old shelves...
A hidden door had just opened.
