Chapter 5 - The Room Without Windows
The camera feed shook.
The hidden room upstairs was dark.
Almost completely black.
But someone was sitting inside.
Waiting.
Harlan Voss stared at the screen.
Nobody in the room spoke.
Not me.
Not Elena.
Not even Belle.
Because everyone understood one thing.
Someone had been inside his house.
Someone had been waiting for him.
And they wanted him to find them.
Harlan zoomed in on the camera.
The person’s face was hidden.
Only a silhouette was visible.
A chair.
A small table.
A single light above them.
Then the person moved.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
They lifted their hand.
And waved at the camera.
Belle gasped.
“No.”
Harlan immediately looked at her.
“Belle?”
She hid behind me.
“That’s the room.”
Her voice trembled.
“That’s where they took me.”
Harlan’s expression changed.
The anger disappeared.
Replaced by something much more dangerous.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For his daughter.
He turned toward the stairs.
“Stay here.”
I grabbed Belle closer.
“Harlan.”
He stopped.
I didn’t even know why I said his name.
Maybe because something about the situation felt wrong.
“You don’t know who is up there.”
His eyes met mine.
“That’s exactly why I have to go.”
Then he looked at Elena.
“If I don’t come back in five minutes, take Belle and leave.”
Elena’s face tightened.
“No.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
She stepped closer.
“You think I spent four years hiding to watch you walk into a trap?”
For the first time, Harlan looked at her differently.
Not like someone who betrayed him.
Like someone he still cared about.
But before either of them could say more, the camera feed changed.
A message appeared across the screen.
COME ALONE.
Then another line appeared.
OR THE GIRL LEARNS WHAT HER FATHER DID.
The room went silent.
I looked at Harlan.
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer.
That scared me.
Because a man like Harlan Voss always had an answer.
But this time, he looked confused.
Elena looked at him.
“You know.”
Harlan turned.
“Know what?”
She stared at him.
“You know what they are talking about.”
His expression hardened.
“No.”
“Yes.”
The way she said it made my stomach tighten.
Belle looked between them.
“Daddy?”
Harlan immediately softened.
“Belle.”
But she stepped back.
“You did something bad?”
Nobody answered.
And somehow, that was worse.
Harlan closed his eyes for a moment.
Then opened them.
“I don’t know what they want you to believe.”
Belle looked hurt.
“But you know something.”
That sentence came from a six-year-old child.
But it hit harder than anything else.
Harlan looked away.
And I realized something.
The mystery wasn’t just who attacked Belle.
The mystery was what Harlan had been hiding.
A few minutes later, Harlan climbed the stairs.
His security team followed.
But he stopped them halfway.
“Stay back.”
One guard looked surprised.
“Sir, that’s dangerous.”
“I know.”
The man hesitated.
“Then why?”
Harlan looked at the hidden door at the end of the hallway.
“Because whoever is inside wants me alone.”
I followed from a distance.
I don’t know why.
Maybe because Belle wouldn’t let go of my hand.
Maybe because I knew something terrible was waiting.
Maybe because after everything that happened, I couldn’t just stand downstairs and pretend this wasn’t my problem anymore.
The second floor was colder than the rest of the mansion.
The hallway lights flickered.
Paintings covered the walls.
Family photographs.
Harlan.
Belle.
Elena.
A life that looked perfect.
Until you looked closer.
Then you saw the cracks.
A photograph near the hidden hallway caught my attention.
It showed Harlan holding baby Belle.
Elena standing beside him.
And Adrian.
Everyone smiling.
Everyone pretending.
Harlan stopped when he noticed me looking.
“That was before.”
I looked at him.
“Before what?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he reached the end of the hallway.
There was no door.
At least not one that should have been there.
But the camera showed one.
Harlan placed his hand against the wall.
A hidden lock appeared.
He entered a code.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Then Belle’s voice came through the hallway.
“Daddy.”
Everyone turned.
She was standing behind me.
Elena was beside her.
“How did she get here?”
Nobody knew.
Belle slowly walked toward the wall.
She touched a small mark near the bottom.
A scratch.
Almost invisible.
“The door opens here.”
Harlan looked at her.
“Belle, who showed you this?”
She looked scared.
“Uncle Adrian.”
Harlan froze.
“Adrian brought you here?”
Belle nodded.
“He said this room was where Daddy kept the truth.”
The hidden lock suddenly clicked.
Everyone stepped back.
The door opened.
Slowly.
The room was exactly like the camera feed.
Small.
Cold.
No windows.
A single chair.
A table.
And on the table was a stack of files.
Harlan entered first.
I watched his face as he saw what was inside.
The first file.
The second.
The third.
Every page made him look less like a powerful man.
More like someone discovering his entire life had been built on lies.
Elena stepped inside.
“What is it?”
Harlan didn’t answer.
He picked up one photograph.
His hand shook.
I moved closer.
The picture showed Harlan.
But younger.
Much younger.
Standing beside Adrian.
And beside them was another person.
A person I recognized.
Someone who had been at the mansion.
Someone who had been near Belle.
I looked at Harlan.
“Who is that?”
He didn’t respond.
Elena took the photo.
The second she saw it, she covered her mouth.
“No.”
Harlan looked at her.
“You know.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I thought they were gone.”
The room became silent.
“Who?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
Then the old computer on the table suddenly turned on.
The screen was black.
Then a video started playing.
A man appeared.
His face was hidden.
But his voice was clear.
“Harlan.”
Everyone froze.
“By now, you’ve found the room.”
Harlan stepped closer.
The man continued.
“You always were good at finding enemies outside your family.”
A pause.
“But you were never good at seeing the one standing beside you.”
Harlan’s expression changed.
The video continued.
“You want to know why Belle was taken?”
The screen flickered.
“Because someone wanted you to finally understand the truth about the night Elena disappeared.”
Elena stepped back.
“No…”
The voice continued.
“She didn’t disappear because she was attacked.”
The screen went black for one second.
Then one final image appeared.
A document.
A signature.
A name.
Harlan stared at it.
May you like
His face turned pale.
Because the signature belonged to the person he trusted most...
