Chapter 3 - The Voice Inside the Old Recording
Antonio Moretti had heard thousands of voices in his life.
Enemies begging for mercy.
Business partners making excuses.
People lying directly to his face.
But nothing had ever shaken him like hearing one word from that old baby monitor.
"Dad..."
His hand froze above the desk.
The room felt smaller.
The walls felt closer.
For five years, Antonio had trained himself not to remember his son’s voice.
Because remembering was easier than accepting.
If he forgot the sound of his laughter, maybe the pain would become smaller.
If he stopped looking at old photographs, maybe the empty room would stop hurting.
But now that voice was back.
Coming from the exact place where his son had spent his final years.
Antonio slowly turned toward the baby monitor.
The small device sat on the desk.
Covered in dust.
Untouched for years.
Impossible.
He walked closer.
Elena grabbed Lily’s hand.
"Sir, don't."
Antonio looked at her.
"You know something."
Elena shook her head.
"I know something is wrong."
"That is not an answer."
She looked terrified.
"Because I don't know who is still listening."
Antonio stopped.
"Still listening?"
Before she could respond, the baby monitor made a strange sound.
Static.
Then silence.
Then a voice.
Not his son.
A man’s voice.
Deep.
Calm.
Cold.
"Antonio Moretti."
Antonio’s expression changed.
The room went completely quiet.
Nobody spoke his name like that.
Not with confidence.
Not without fear.
He reached for the monitor.
The voice continued.
"You finally opened the door."
Antonio stared at the device.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
Only static.
Then another sentence.
"Your son tried to tell you."
Antonio’s hand tightened.
"Tell me what?"
The monitor went silent.
Antonio looked at Elena.
"Where is the recording?"
She looked confused.
"What recording?"
"The one hidden in this room."
"I don't know."
Antonio walked toward the desk again.
He searched through everything.
The notebook.
The drawers.
The shelves.
Nothing.
Then Lily slowly stepped forward.
Antonio noticed.
"What is it?"
The little girl pointed.
Not at the desk.
At the old stuffed animal sitting on the bed.
A small brown bear.
Antonio froze.
He knew that bear.
His son carried it everywhere.
Even when he was sick.
Even when he slept.
Antonio walked toward it.
He picked it up.
The bear was heavier than it should have been.
His eyes narrowed.
He opened the back seam.
Inside was a small device.
A recording chip.
Elena covered her mouth.
Antonio stared at it.
"How did you know?"
Lily looked innocent.
"Because he told me."
Antonio turned.
"Who?"
The child looked toward the hallway.
"The little boy."
Elena immediately pulled her daughter closer.
"Lily."
But Antonio did not move.
"What little boy?"
The child looked at him.
"The one who was crying."
Antonio felt a chill.
"When?"
"At night."
"Where?"
Lily pointed at the room.
"Here."
Antonio looked around.
His son's room.
The room everyone said was empty.
The room everyone said had been untouched.
But somehow, his son had left messages.
Somebody had entered.
Somebody had hidden things.
Somebody had wanted Antonio to find them.
He took the recording chip downstairs.
Nobody spoke during the walk.
The mansion felt different now.
Every hallway.
Every corner.
Every shadow.
Antonio had spent years believing he controlled this place.
Now he wondered how much had happened without him knowing.
In his private office, he connected the device.
The screen flickered.
A single audio file appeared.
No title.
No date.
Just one word.
"Dad."
Antonio stared.
His fingers hovered over the button.
For a moment, he couldn't press play.
Because a part of him was afraid.
Afraid that after five years, he would hear his son’s voice and realize he had missed something.
Something important.
Something that could have changed everything.
Then he pressed play.
A few seconds of silence.
Then a small voice.
"Dad..."
Antonio closed his eyes.
It was him.
His son.
Older than the last recording he remembered.
His breathing became uneven.
"I don't know when you will hear this."
The child’s voice continued.
"But if you hear it, something happened."
Antonio looked at Elena.
She was crying quietly.
The recording continued.
"Everyone says you are dangerous."
Antonio frowned.
His son continued.
"But you're not dangerous to me."
A tear moved down Antonio’s face.
"I know you will be angry when you find this."
A pause.
Then:
"But please don't hurt anyone until you know the truth."
Antonio opened his eyes.
The sentence confused him.
"Don't hurt anyone?"
Why would his son say that?
The recording continued.
"There is someone in our house who is lying."
Antonio immediately looked toward Elena.
She looked away.
The child’s voice became quieter.
"Someone who knows about the accident."
Antonio leaned closer.
"Someone who was there."
The recording stopped.
The room became silent.
Antonio looked at the screen.
Only thirty seconds.
That was all.
Thirty seconds that destroyed five years of certainty.
He looked at Elena.
"Who was there?"
She didn't answer.
"Elena."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I didn't want you to know this way."
Antonio stood.
"Know what?"
She took a deep breath.
"The night your son died..."
She stopped.
Antonio waited.
"What happened that night?"
Elena looked at the floor.
"Your son wasn't alone."
Antonio's face hardened.
"Who was with him?"
Before Elena could answer, Antonio’s office door opened.
His security team entered quickly.
"Boss."
Antonio turned.
"What?"
The guard held a tablet.
"We found something."
Antonio took it.
A security camera recording appeared.
The date was five years ago.
The night his son died.
Antonio stared.
Because the footage came from a camera he never knew existed.
A camera inside the mansion.
A camera pointed directly at his son's bedroom door.
The guard spoke carefully.
"Someone deleted this file after the incident."
Antonio watched.
The video showed the hallway.
Empty.
Then at midnight...
Someone appeared.
A person standing outside his son's room.
Antonio leaned closer.
The person slowly turned toward the camera.
The image froze.
Antonio stopped breathing.
Because he recognized the face.
It was someone he trusted.
Someone who had stood beside him for five years.
Someone who had comforted him after his son’s death.
The guard whispered:
"Boss..."
Antonio stared at the frozen image.
Then the screen suddenly changed.
A new message appeared over the video.
One sentence.
"Ask your wife why she lied before she died."
Antonio dropped the tablet.
May you like
Because his wife had been dead for five years too.
And the person standing outside his son’s room was still alive.
