Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Buried the Truth
The message stayed in my mind.
Ask your brother why Sophia disappeared.
I read those words again and again.
Not because I didn't understand them.
Because I did.
Carmine Moretti had a brother.
And whoever sent that message wanted him to know something about him.
Something terrible.
The old staff building smelled like dust and forgotten memories.
It was nothing like the rest of the Moretti estate.
The main house was polished.
Perfect.
Every corner designed to show power.
But this place looked abandoned.
Like someone had tried to erase it.
Carmine walked ahead of me.
His movements were different now.
More careful.
More alert.
He wasn't just searching for answers.
He was preparing for someone to attack.
I stayed close behind him.
The floor creaked beneath our feet.
"Who is your brother?" I asked quietly.
Carmine didn't answer.
That worried me.
Because every time I asked about Sophia, he had answered.
But this question was different.
Finally, he stopped.
"My brother's name is Luca."
I waited.
"Where is he?"
Carmine looked toward the dark hallway.
"Not here."
The answer felt incomplete.
"You don't talk about him."
"No."
"Why?"
His face hardened.
"Because there are things you don't talk about until you're ready to admit they happened."
I didn't understand.
But I knew pain when I saw it.
And Carmine Moretti was carrying something heavy.
We entered the old staff office.
A small room filled with broken furniture and outdated records.
Carmine turned on a flashlight.
The light moved across dusty shelves.
Then stopped.
There.
A cabinet.
Locked.
He walked toward it.
"Was this always here?"
I asked.
"No."
That answer made me nervous.
He crouched down.
The lock had been recently changed.
Someone had been here.
Recently.
Carmine pulled out a small tool from his pocket.
I stared.
"You carry that around?"
His eyes remained on the lock.
"I carry things I might need."
A few seconds later, the cabinet opened.
Inside were files.
Old employee records.
Pictures.
Documents.
Carmine started searching.
Then he stopped.
I saw the moment he found something.
A photograph.
He slowly pulled it out.
I stepped closer.
It showed two women standing in the estate garden.
One was Sophia.
I recognized her from the security footage.
The other was a younger woman.
Another maid.
Carmine looked at the picture for a long time.
"Who is she?"
I asked.
His fingers tightened around the paper.
"Her name was Rachel."
Another name.
Another woman.
Another disappearance.
"What happened to her?"
Carmine didn't answer.
He looked through the files faster.
Then he found a folder.
The label on it was simple.
STAFF INCIDENTS.
He opened it.
The first pages were normal.
Minor injuries.
Complaints.
Schedule changes.
Then I saw his expression change.
He reached the final pages.
A report.
Sophia Bell.
Date:
Three years ago.
Status:
Transferred.
But underneath that word, someone had written something else.
Missing.
Carmine stared at it.
"She wasn't transferred."
I whispered.
"No."
His voice was cold.
"She was removed."
"By who?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he turned the page.
A signature appeared at the bottom.
The person who approved the transfer.
I expected a stranger.
A manager.
A security officer.
Someone I had never heard of.
But when Carmine saw the name...
He stopped breathing.
I looked down.
The signature belonged to:
Luca Moretti.
Carmine's brother.
The room went silent.
I looked at him.
"You didn't know?"
He didn't respond.
That scared me.
Because Carmine Moretti always looked like a man who knew everything.
But now...
He looked betrayed.
"I thought he left."
"Left where?"
"After my father died."
His voice became quieter.
"Luca and I stopped speaking."
"Why?"
Carmine closed the folder.
"Because he chose a different path."
I didn't understand.
"You mean crime?"
His eyes met mine.
"No."
A pause.
"He chose cruelty."
The words sent a chill through me.
A loud sound suddenly came from outside.
A door slamming.
Carmine immediately moved.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him.
The movement was so fast I barely processed it.
Someone was inside the building.
"Stay here."
"No."
His eyes turned toward me.
This time I didn't step back.
"I’m not hiding while you walk into danger."
For a moment, he looked surprised.
Then something almost like approval appeared.
"You really don't know how to listen."
"Neither do you."
A small silence.
Then, unexpectedly, Carmine almost smiled.
Almost.
It disappeared quickly.
But I saw it.
And somehow, that made everything feel even stranger.
He moved toward the hallway.
I followed.
We reached the end of the corridor.
The door ahead was slightly open.
Carmine stopped.
The same way he had stopped before.
Because something was wrong.
The door wasn't supposed to be open.
He pushed it slowly.
Inside was a small room.
A room that looked untouched for years.
Except for one thing.
A chair in the center.
And on the chair...
A woman's coat.
My breath caught.
I recognized it.
Not because I had seen the woman.
Because I had seen the photograph.
"Sophia."
Carmine walked closer.
On the table beside the chair was a small recorder.
He pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman's voice.
Weak.
Terrified.
"If someone finds this..."
Carmine froze.
The voice continued.
"My name is Sophia Bell."
I felt my heart race.
The recording was old.
But the fear in her voice felt alive.
"I need someone to know what happened here."
A pause.
Then:
"It wasn't Carmine."
Carmine's eyes widened.
"It was his brother."
The recorder crackled.
I looked at Carmine.
His face had gone completely pale.
"Sophia knew."
I whispered.
The recording continued.
"Luca told me if I spoke, another maid would take my place."
My blood ran cold.
Another maid.
Someone like me.
Someone who could disappear.
Then the recording ended.
Silence.
Carmine stood completely still.
I had never seen him like that.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Broken.
Then the recorder clicked again.
A second file started playing.
But this time...
It wasn't Sophia's voice.
It was a man's voice.
A voice I had never heard before.
But Carmine recognized it instantly.
Because he whispered:
"Luca."
The voice on the recording said:
"Brother, if you're hearing this, it means Ivy finally found what she was never supposed to find."
My entire body froze.
The recording continued.
"And now you have to choose."
A pause.
Then the final words came through the speaker.
"Protect the maid..."
A longer pause.
"Or protect the family."
Carmine looked toward the doorway.
May you like
Because someone outside had just whispered his name.
"Luca..."
