Chapter 2 - The Maid Who Was Afraid to Speak
Adrien did not move.
The woman's voice had come from behind the locked door.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it when he was fourteen.
He had heard it on the last night his mother was alive.
Then she had disappeared.
Everyone had told him she left.
Everyone had told him she abandoned the family.
His father had never discussed it again.
Adrien had eventually stopped asking.
But now the voice had spoken his name.
"Adrien..."
Lily squeezed his hand.
The little girl's fingers were impossibly small inside his.
Adrien looked down.
She wasn't afraid.
Neither was she surprised.
That bothered him more than anything.
"Who is in there?"
Elena shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You heard the voice."
"I know."
"Then tell me."
"I can't."
Adrien looked at her.
"You brought this child here."
"I know."
"You carried an old key."
"I know."
"You told me the door was connected to someone who disappeared."
Elena's tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I know."
"Then you know something."
She closed her eyes.
Adrien waited.
He had learned long ago that silence was sometimes more effective than threats.
Finally Elena whispered:
"Lily's mother told me to bring her here."
Adrien's breathing slowed.
"Her mother?"
Elena nodded.
"Where is she?"
"She's gone."
"Dead?"
Elena didn't answer.
Adrien looked at Lily.
The child was playing with the cuff of his sleeve.
"Does Lily know?"
"No."
"Does she know her mother's name?"
Elena shook her head.
"She calls her Mama."
Adrien turned toward the door again.
The voice had disappeared.
He pushed it open.
Darkness filled the room.
The smell of old paper and cedar drifted into the hallway.
Adrien reached for the light.
Nothing happened.
He took out his phone and turned on the flashlight.
The room was larger than he expected.
Shelves covered the walls.
Old boxes.
Photographs.
Documents.
Furniture covered in white sheets.
A grand piano sat in the corner beneath a layer of dust.
Adrien stepped inside.
Lily followed.
Elena remained at the doorway.
"You stay here."
Adrien looked back.
"Both of you."
Elena nodded.
He moved deeper into the room.
His flashlight passed over an old writing desk.
Then a stack of photographs.
He stopped.
One photograph showed his mother.
Adrien picked it up.
She was younger than he remembered.
She was smiling.
And beside her stood a woman Adrien didn't recognize.
The photograph was dated nineteen years ago.
Adrien frowned.
His mother had supposedly disappeared eighteen years ago.
Why had she been photographed one year later?
He turned the photograph over.
A handwritten sentence appeared on the back.
"She knows about Lily."
Adrien stared at it.
His stomach tightened.
"Lily."
The child peeked inside.
Adrien held up the photograph.
"Lily, do you recognize her?"
The girl walked toward him.
She looked at the photograph.
Her face changed.
She pointed.
"Mama."
Adrien's fingers went cold.
He looked at the woman in the photograph.
Then at Lily.
Then back at the photograph.
The child had recognized his mother.
Adrien whispered:
"That's impossible."
Elena stepped into the room.
"Mr. Moretti..."
Adrien turned.
"How does she know my mother?"
Elena looked at the photograph.
Her expression collapsed.
"Because your mother knew Lily's mother."
Adrien stared at her.
"Who is Lily's mother?"
Elena didn't answer.
"Who?"
"Her name was Sophia."
Adrien's face went still.
Sophia.
The name struck him with a strange familiarity.
He searched his memory.
Nothing.
"Who was Sophia?"
Elena looked down.
"She worked here."
Adrien's eyes narrowed.
"As a maid?"
"Yes."
"How long ago?"
"Before you returned from boarding school."
Adrien looked at the photograph again.
His mother.
Sophia.
A hidden room.
A child.
A key.
His mind began connecting pieces that shouldn't have existed together.
"Why did my father hide this?"
Elena's lips trembled.
"I don't know."
"You're still lying."
"I am afraid."
"Of my father?"
Elena didn't answer.
Adrien took a step toward her.
"He's been dead for years."
"I know."
"Then what are you afraid of?"
Elena looked directly into his eyes.
"The people who still work for him."
Adrien went silent.
His father had been dead for nine years.
Yet Elena was speaking as if his influence still existed.
Adrien turned toward the shelves.
He began searching.
Old files.
Financial records.
Letters.
Receipts.
Legal documents.
Then he found a leather folder.
His father's initials were stamped into the cover.
Adrien opened it.
The first page contained a list of names.
Most were familiar.
Executives.
Lawyers.
Advisers.
Business partners.
Then, near the bottom, one name had been crossed out repeatedly.
Sophia Bell.
Adrien stared at it.
Underneath the name was a handwritten note.
"Do not allow Adrien to learn the truth."
His heart stopped for half a second.
He read it again.
"Do not allow Adrien to learn the truth."
He looked toward Lily.
The child was sitting beside the old piano.
She was humming quietly.
Adrien walked over.
"Lily."
She looked up.
He crouched.
"Did your mother ever tell you about my father?"
Lily nodded.
"What did she say?"
The girl smiled.
"Grandpa was bad."
Adrien froze.
"Who told you that?"
"Mama."
"Your mother knew my father?"
Lily nodded.
Adrien felt a strange pressure in his chest.
"Did she ever tell you my name?"
Lily smiled.
"Adrien."
He looked away.
There was something wrong.
Something enormous.
Something his entire family had buried.
Then Elena suddenly gasped.
Adrien turned.
She was staring at the doorway.
"What's wrong?"
Elena whispered:
"We aren't alone."
Adrien stood.
He looked toward the hall.
No one was there.
Then he heard footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Approaching from the other side of the corridor.
Adrien moved Lily behind him.
The footsteps stopped.
A shadow appeared beneath the doorway.
May you like
Someone was standing outside.
Then the doorknob began to turn.
