Chapter 3 - The Secret Hidden Inside the Estate
The photograph on Carmine's phone was taken from inside my bedroom.
I knew because I recognized the curtains.
The small crack in the wooden frame near the window.
The old lamp beside my bed that I always forgot to turn off.
Someone had been inside my room.
Watching me.
And I had never known.
My hands went cold.
"Carmine..."
He didn't respond.
His eyes remained fixed on the screen.
The man who never showed fear looked like he had just seen something he couldn't explain.
"What does it mean?" I whispered.
Slowly, he lowered the phone.
"It means someone wanted me to know they could reach you."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
His silence answered before his words did.
Because they wanted to hurt him.
Not me.
Me.
I had spent my entire life believing I was invisible.
That was how I survived.
But now I was standing in the middle of a kitchen with the most dangerous man in the city, and someone had chosen me as a message.
Carmine turned away.
"How long have you worked here?"
I frowned.
"Eight months."
"Who hired you?"
"The estate manager."
"Name."
"Daniel."
Carmine immediately picked up his phone.
I watched him make the call.
"Find Daniel."
A pause.
"No."
His voice became colder.
"Don't contact him. Find him first."
He ended the call.
I stared at him.
"Do you think he did something?"
"I think someone inside my house helped whoever did."
The words felt impossible.
The Moretti estate was supposed to be the safest place in the city.
Guards.
Cameras.
Security systems.
Everything controlled.
Everything monitored.
But someone had entered my room.
Someone had followed me.
Someone had hurt me.
And nobody stopped them.
Carmine walked toward the kitchen door.
I noticed something.
He wasn't walking away.
He was checking the hallway.
Protecting the path.
Making sure nobody was there.
"You're going to your room," he said.
I shook my head.
"No."
His eyes moved toward me.
"No?"
"I can't go back there."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Carmine understood.
Not because I explained.
Because he saw it on my face.
The fear.
The thought of opening that bedroom door.
The possibility that someone had been waiting there before.
His expression softened.
"You won't."
I looked confused.
"What?"
"You won't go back there."
I swallowed.
"Where am I supposed to go?"
Carmine looked around the kitchen.
Then toward the hallway.
"Somewhere nobody can reach you."
I almost smiled.
"Mr. Moretti, people like you say things like that because you have power."
His face changed.
"What does that mean?"
"It means you can make people disappear."
The room went quiet.
I immediately regretted saying it.
But Carmine didn't become angry.
Instead, he looked at me carefully.
"You think that's what I do?"
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know.
Everyone had stories.
Everyone had rumors.
Some said Carmine Moretti was a businessman.
Others said he was a criminal.
Some said he was worse than the men he punished.
But standing there, seeing him look at my injuries like they were his responsibility, I didn't know what to believe anymore.
"I think..." I started.
Then stopped.
Carmine waited.
"I think powerful people always have a reason for helping."
His eyes stayed on mine.
"And what do you think my reason is?"
I looked away.
"I don't know."
For the first time that night, something almost like sadness crossed his face.
"Maybe not everything has a price."
I didn't know what to say.
Because I wanted to believe him.
And that scared me.
A knock suddenly came from the hallway.
Both of us froze.
Carmine's hand immediately moved toward the drawer beside the counter.
Not rushing.
Not panicking.
Just prepared.
"Who is it?" he asked.
A woman's voice answered.
"Mr. Moretti, it's Elena."
I recognized the name.
Elena worked in the main house.
She had been there longer than anyone.
Carmine didn't open the door immediately.
"Why are you here?"
"I found something."
His eyes narrowed.
"What?"
Silence.
Then Elena answered:
"The security footage."
Carmine unlocked the door.
Elena stepped inside holding a tablet.
She looked at me.
Then at Carmine.
Her expression changed when she saw my injuries.
But she didn't ask questions.
That told me everything.
People in this house knew how to hide their reactions.
"I recovered the deleted footage," Elena said.
Carmine took the tablet.
"When?"
"Thirty minutes before the cameras went offline."
He pressed play.
I moved closer without realizing it.
The video showed the staff hallway.
Empty.
Silent.
Then a figure appeared.
A man.
Wearing black clothing.
Walking slowly.
He stopped near the camera.
Then looked directly into it.
Even though the footage had no sound, I knew something was wrong.
Because he wasn't trying to hide.
He wanted to be seen.
The man lifted his hand.
And removed his mask.
My breathing stopped.
I didn't recognize him.
But Carmine did.
His face changed instantly.
"Impossible."
Elena looked at him.
"You know him?"
Carmine didn't answer.
The video continued.
The man looked into the camera.
Then pointed toward the lens.
Like he was sending a message.
The footage froze.
A timestamp appeared.
11:47 PM.
Carmine stared at the screen.
"Play it again."
Elena did.
Again.
And again.
I watched his expression.
Each time the same moment appeared, he looked more certain.
"You know him," I whispered.
Carmine finally looked at me.
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"Someone who should have been dead."
The words made the room colder.
I looked back at the frozen image.
A stranger who had entered my room.
A stranger who had hurt me.
A stranger Carmine Moretti believed was impossible.
"What does he want?"
Carmine looked at the screen.
Then at me.
"I don't know."
That answer frightened me more than anything else.
Because a man like Carmine Moretti always knew.
He always had a plan.
Always had control.
But now he looked like someone had reached into his world and destroyed the rules.
Elena suddenly received a notification on her phone.
She looked down.
Her face changed.
Carmine noticed.
"What?"
She hesitated.
"Mr. Moretti..."
"Show me."
Elena slowly handed him the phone.
Carmine read the message.
Then his expression became completely empty.
That was worse than anger.
Worse than fear.
I stepped closer.
"What did it say?"
He didn't answer.
"Carmine?"
Slowly, he turned the phone toward me.
The message was from an unknown number.
Only one sentence.
"Ivy isn't the first maid who disappeared from this house."
Then another message appeared.
A name.
A name I had never heard before.
But Carmine recognized it immediately.
Because the moment he saw it...
He whispered:
May you like
"No."
And then the kitchen lights went out again.
