Chapter 4 - The Maid Who Came Before Me
The lights went out.
Again.
For a second, nobody moved.
The darkness swallowed the kitchen completely.
I heard my own breathing.
I heard Elena whisper something under her breath.
And I heard Carmine move.
One step.
Then another.
Toward me.
His hand found my shoulder.
Not grabbing.
Not controlling.
Just making sure I knew where he was.
"Stay here."
His voice was low.
Calm.
But I could feel the anger underneath.
The emergency lights turned on a few seconds later.
The kitchen returned in a dim red glow.
Carmine immediately looked at the security panel near the wall.
"The power didn't fail."
Elena looked confused.
"What?"
"The lights were turned off."
My stomach dropped.
Someone was controlling the house.
Someone inside the house.
Carmine picked up his phone.
"Lock every entrance."
Elena nodded and immediately walked away.
I watched her leave.
Then I looked back at him.
"The name."
Carmine didn't respond.
I knew he heard me.
"The name on the message."
His jaw tightened.
"Who was she?"
For a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer.
Then he said:
"Sophia Bell."
The name meant nothing to me.
But the way he said it told me everything.
She mattered.
"What happened to her?"
Carmine looked toward the dark hallway.
"She worked here."
My heart sank.
Another maid.
Another woman.
Another person nobody talked about.
"When?"
"Three years ago."
I stared at him.
"She disappeared?"
He nodded.
"Everyone thought she quit."
"But she didn't?"
"No."
The silence between us became heavy.
I looked down at my hands.
The same hands that had spent months cleaning this house.
The same hands that had carried trays through rooms where secrets were hidden behind closed doors.
"How many people knew?"
Carmine looked at me.
"About Sophia?"
I nodded.
He didn't answer immediately.
"Not enough."
Those words scared me.
Because I understood what he meant.
Not enough people cared.
Not enough people looked.
Not enough people asked questions.
I thought about Sophia.
A woman I had never met.
A woman who had worn the same uniform.
Walked through the same halls.
Maybe stood at the same sink.
Maybe cried in the same silence.
And nobody noticed.
"I found her name because of you."
I looked at Carmine.
"What?"
He walked back to the counter and picked up my broken badge.
"The person who sent this message wanted me to remember her."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"Because they knew I forgot."
That answer surprised me.
Carmine Moretti admitted he forgot something.
A missing person.
Someone who worked inside his home.
I had always imagined powerful people as people who knew everything.
But maybe power didn't mean seeing everything.
Maybe it just meant having more things hidden from you.
"I need to ask you something."
His voice changed.
Serious.
"What?"
"Before tonight, did anyone ever make you uncomfortable?"
I hesitated.
Too long.
Carmine noticed.
"Ivy."
I looked away.
"There was a man."
The words came out quietly.
Carmine became still.
"Who?"
"I don't know his name."
"What did he look like?"
I closed my eyes.
Trying to remember.
"Medium height. Dark hair. Scar near his eyebrow."
Carmine's expression changed.
"You've seen him before?"
I shook my head.
"No."
But something bothered me.
Something I couldn't explain.
"He knew my schedule."
Carmine's eyes narrowed.
"Explain."
"He knew when I worked alone. He knew when the other staff left. He knew which hallway cameras didn't cover the kitchen entrance."
The room went silent.
Because that meant one thing.
This wasn't random.
Someone had studied me.
Carmine walked away from the counter.
He looked angry now.
Not the kind of anger people feared.
The kind that came from realizing someone had crossed a line.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
I laughed softly.
A sad, empty sound.
"Who would I tell?"
He stopped.
I looked at him.
"The guards work for you."
Silence.
"The managers work for you."
Another pause.
"And I was just the maid."
Something changed in his face.
Because that sentence hurt him.
Not because it insulted him.
Because he knew it was true.
"You think no one would listen."
"I know."
Carmine looked down.
For the first time, he looked guilty.
That surprised me.
I expected anger.
I expected him to blame someone else.
But not guilt.
"You should have been protected."
I didn't know how to answer.
Because nobody had ever said that either.
A phone rang.
Not Carmine's.
Mine.
I froze.
My phone was inside my apron pocket.
I hadn't even realized I still had it.
The screen showed an unknown number.
Carmine noticed.
"Don't answer."
I stared at the phone.
The ringing continued.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then stopped.
A message appeared.
I didn't want to open it.
But Carmine already saw my face.
"What did they send?"
My fingers shook as I opened it.
One picture.
A photograph.
My bedroom door.
Taken from inside the room.
Underneath it were five words.
"She should have stayed quiet."
My blood ran cold.
Carmine took the phone from my hand.
His expression became something I had never seen before.
Pure rage.
But before he could speak, another message arrived.
This time, there was no picture.
Just a location.
An old staff building behind the estate.
And a name.
Sophia Bell.
Carmine stared at the screen.
"They want us to go there."
I whispered.
"Why?"
He looked toward the window.
"Because they're ready."
I followed his gaze.
The estate grounds were dark.
Too dark.
Then something moved outside.
A figure.
Standing near the old staff building.
Watching us.
Carmine reached for his jacket.
"No."
I grabbed his arm without thinking.
He looked down at my hand.
Then at me.
"You can't go alone."
His eyes softened for a second.
Then hardened again.
"Ivy."
"She was like me."
The words stopped him.
"Sophia was a maid."
I swallowed.
"If nobody came for her..."
I looked toward the darkness outside.
"I don't want to be another person nobody finds."
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he nodded.
"Stay close."
We walked through the silent halls together.
For the first time since I entered the Moretti estate, I wasn't walking alone.
But as we approached the old staff building, I noticed something strange.
The door was already open.
Carmine stopped.
His hand moved toward the weapon hidden beneath his jacket.
A cold wind moved through the empty doorway.
Inside was darkness.
And on the floor, someone had placed a single object.
My broken maid badge.
But this time...
There was something written underneath it.
Carmine bent down and picked it up.
His face changed.
Because the message wasn't for me.
It was for him.
May you like
It said:
"Ask your brother why Sophia disappeared."
