Chapter 5 - The Room Beneath the Library
The voice came from beneath the floor.
"Roman..."
I froze.
Marcus stood behind me with the tablet still in his hand.
Elena pulled Sophie closer.
Daniel stared at the hidden staircase as if he had just heard the voice of a dead man.
I looked at him.
"That was my father."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why are you standing there?"
Daniel looked at the darkness below.
"Because something is wrong."
I stepped onto the first stair.
Daniel grabbed my shoulder.
"Wait."
I turned.
"My father has been locked beneath this house for twelve years."
"Not locked."
"Then what?"
"Hidden."
I pulled his hand away.
"There is a difference?"
"To your father, there is."
I descended.
The staircase was narrow and cold.
The walls were made of old stone, not the polished marble and expensive wood that covered the rest of the house.
This part of the estate felt older.
Forgotten.
Every few steps, a small brass light flickered above us.
Elena followed with Sophie.
Marcus came behind her.
Daniel was last.
Nobody spoke.
We reached the bottom.
A long corridor stretched ahead.
At the far end stood the metal door from the security footage.
My father's door.
I walked toward it.
Halfway there, I noticed something on the wall.
Photographs.
Dozens of them.
I stopped.
They were pictures of me.
As a child.
At school.
Playing soccer.
Sleeping.
Getting into a car.
Graduating college.
Standing beside Elena on our wedding day.
Holding Sophie as a newborn.
My stomach twisted.
Someone had been watching me my entire life.
I touched one of the photographs.
"Who took these?"
Daniel didn't answer.
I turned.
"Who?"
He finally said:
"Your mother."
Elena stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because Catherine wanted to know everything Roman did."
I looked at the photographs again.
"Even after I moved away?"
"Especially then."
I took another step.
There was a photograph from three years ago.
It showed Elena standing outside our house.
She was holding Sophie.
Both of them were looking toward a black car.
I recognized the vehicle.
It belonged to my family.
I grabbed the photograph.
"When was this taken?"
Daniel looked at it.
"The night Elena disappeared."
I turned toward Elena.
She looked at the photograph and went pale.
"I didn't know anyone had taken that."
I looked at the black car.
"Who was driving?"
She shook her head.
"I never saw the driver."
Daniel spoke quietly.
"I did."
I looked at him.
"Who?"
He pointed to the photograph.
"The man behind the wheel was your mother's attorney."
I felt my pulse rise.
"Why would he be there?"
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Because he wasn't watching Elena."
He pointed toward Sophie.
"He was watching the baby."
Sophie suddenly buried her face against Elena.
I clenched the photograph.
"Why?"
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
"Because your daughter was the key."
"The key to what?"
"The trust."
I remembered the documents.
My grandfather's secret trust.
Everything had been left to me.
But Daniel was shaking his head.
"Not exactly."
He reached into his coat and removed a small brass key.
"Your grandfather didn't leave the trust to you."
He placed the key in my palm.
"He left it to Sophie."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"Roman, your grandfather knew your mother would try to control you."
He looked toward the photographs.
"He knew she would manipulate the family."
"So he made Sophie the beneficiary?"
"Not just the beneficiary."
Daniel pointed toward the metal door.
"She is the only person who can legally activate the trust."
Elena stepped forward.
"She's three."
"Exactly."
I stared at him.
"That makes no sense."
"It will."
Daniel looked at Sophie.
"Your grandfather created a protection clause."
"What protection?"
"Until Sophie turns twenty-one, control remains with an independent trustee."
"Who?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Your father."
The corridor went silent.
I looked toward the metal door.
"My father."
Daniel nodded.
"He wasn't imprisoned here."
"Then why did he stay?"
"Because he chose to."
I didn't understand.
"He could have left."
"Yes."
"Then why didn't he?"
Daniel's eyes darkened.
"Because your mother had a choice."
"What choice?"
"Protect Roman and Sophie, or destroy the trust."
I looked at Elena.
She knew something.
"You knew this."
She shook her head.
"I knew there was a trust."
"Not this?"
"No."
Daniel interrupted.
"Elena knew enough to make your mother afraid."
Elena looked at him.
"I found the transfers."
"You found part of them."
"What did I miss?"
Daniel didn't answer.
A metallic sound came from the other side of the door.
Everyone froze.
Three knocks.
Slow.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
My father's voice came through.
"Roman."
I stepped closer.
"Dad?"
Silence.
Then:
"Is Sophie with you?"
I looked at Elena.
She nodded.
"Yes."
A long pause.
Then my father's voice became urgent.
"Do not open the door."
I stopped.
Daniel's expression changed.
"Why?"
My father didn't answer.
I moved closer.
"Dad, tell me what's happening."
Nothing.
"Who is in there?"
Silence.
Then another voice came through the door.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Calm.
Familiar.
"Roman."
My blood froze.
It was my mother.
I turned.
She wasn't behind us.
She was upstairs.
I looked at Daniel.
He was staring at the door.
"How is that possible?"
The voice came again.
"Roman, open the door."
Elena stepped backward.
"That's not your mother."
I looked at her.
"How do you know?"
"Because she doesn't use that voice."
"What voice?"
"The voice she uses when she's lying."
The corridor seemed to become colder.
My father suddenly shouted:
"GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR!"
I stepped back.
Something struck the metal from inside.
Once.
Twice.
Then again.
Sophie began crying.
I pulled her toward me.
"It's okay."
The door shook violently.
Marcus drew his phone.
"Should we call the police?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the police are already involved."
Marcus stared at him.
"What?"
Daniel pointed toward the photographs.
"Look."
I followed his finger.
One of the photographs showed my father entering a courthouse.
Another showed a police officer standing beside my mother.
Another showed a judge.
Another showed a bank executive.
Every person connected to my grandfather's trust had been photographed.
Daniel looked at me.
"This wasn't just a family secret."
He pointed toward the metal door.
"It was a system."
I looked at Elena.
"Who can we trust?"
She didn't answer.
Then Sophie tugged my sleeve.
"Daddy."
I looked down.
She was holding something.
A tiny silver key.
"Where did you get that?"
She pointed toward the floor.
I looked.
There was a narrow crack between the stones.
I crouched and reached inside.
My fingers touched metal.
I pulled out a small wooden box.
It was old.
Burned around the edges.
There was no lock.
I opened it.
Inside was a stack of documents.
The first page had my grandfather's signature.
The second had my father's.
The third had my mother's.
The fourth had Elena's.
I stared at her name.
"Why is your signature here?"
She stepped closer.
"I've never seen that document."
I turned the page.
There was a photograph attached.
It showed Elena.
Pregnant.
Standing beside my grandfather.
The date was six months before Sophie was born.
Elena covered her mouth.
"I never met him alone."
Daniel stared at the photograph.
"That's impossible."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because your grandfather was already dead."
My blood went cold.
I looked at the date again.
My grandfather had supposedly died eight months before that photograph was taken.
Someone had forged the date.
Or someone had lied about his death.
I flipped through the documents faster.
Then I found something.
A birth certificate.
Sophie's.
Under father's name:
Roman D'Angelo.
Under mother's name:
Elena D'Angelo.
But beneath the official information was another handwritten line.
Heir confirmed.
Then a second sentence:
Protection begins upon disappearance.
I stared at it.
"Protection from what?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Elena stepped closer.
"Roman."
She pointed to the bottom of the page.
There was another signature.
Not my grandfather's.
Not my mother's.
Not my father's.
Daniel's.
I looked at him.
"You signed this?"
He nodded slowly.
"I did."
"When?"
"Three years ago."
"Before you disappeared?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
He looked at Sophie.
"Because I knew someone was going to take her."
My heart pounded.
"Who?"
Daniel's eyes moved toward the metal door.
"Your mother."
Elena stepped forward.
"Why would Catherine take her own granddaughter?"
Daniel's answer was quiet.
"Because Sophie wasn't just her granddaughter."
He looked at me.
"She was the last person standing between Catherine and everything your grandfather left."
I stared at him.
Then the lights went out.
Sophie screamed.
I grabbed her.
Marcus switched on his flashlight.
The beam cut through the darkness.
The metal door was still closed.
But something had changed.
A thin line of light appeared beneath it.
Someone had turned on a light inside.
Then came a sound.
Footsteps.
One person.
Then another.
Then another.
Three sets of footsteps.
Moving toward the door.
I looked at Daniel.
"There are people inside."
He nodded.
My father suddenly shouted:
"Roman, listen to me!"
I stepped closer.
"Yes?"
His voice came through the door.
"Your mother isn't upstairs."
My blood turned cold.
"What?"
"She never left the basement."
Elena grabbed my arm.
I looked toward the corridor behind us.
Nobody was there.
Then Sophie's fingers tightened around mine.
She stared into the darkness behind Marcus.
"Daddy..."
"What?"
She pointed.
"Grandma is there."
Marcus turned his flashlight.
The beam stopped on an empty hallway.
Then a woman's voice came from directly behind us.
"Hello, Roman."
We turned.
May you like
My mother was standing at the end of the corridor.
And in her hand was a gun.
