Chapter 4 - The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The door opened.
Slowly.
Nobody spoke.
The person standing outside the hidden room remained in the shadows.
I could only see the outline of a man.
Tall.
Still.
Watching us.
Dominic stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The man didn't answer immediately.
Instead, his eyes moved past Dominic.
They moved toward me.
That scared me more than anything.
Because he wasn't looking at the hidden room.
He wasn't looking at the documents.
He was looking at me.
"Clara Bennett."
My name came from his mouth like he had known it for years.
I stepped back.
"How do you know who I am?"
The man walked closer.
The bodyguard raised his weapon.
"Stop right there."
The stranger stopped.
Then he smiled slightly.
Not because he was amused.
Because he knew something we didn't.
"Dominic."
His voice became serious.
"You really don't remember me?"
Dominic stared at him.
For several seconds, there was nothing.
Then I saw something change in his expression.
Recognition.
Shock.
Disbelief.
"No."
The word came out quietly.
The stranger looked at him.
"Yes."
Dominic's hand tightened.
"That's impossible."
I looked between them.
"What is happening?"
Neither answered.
The man stepped into the light.
And I finally saw his face.
He was older.
Maybe late fifties.
Gray hair.
A scar near his eyebrow.
But there was something familiar about him.
Something Dominic recognized immediately.
"My name is Adrian Caruso."
The room went silent.
The bodyguard lowered his weapon slightly.
Because even I understood the name.
Caruso.
The same last name.
Dominic's last name.
"Adrian..."
Dominic whispered.
The man nodded.
"I thought you would remember."
Dominic stared at him.
"You're dead."
Those words froze me.
The man who had just walked into the hidden room was supposed to be dead.
Adrian smiled sadly.
"That's what they wanted everyone to believe."
I felt my heartbeat increase.
This wasn't just a hidden room.
This wasn't just a family secret.
Someone had erased people.
Changed stories.
Controlled what everyone believed.
Dominic stepped closer.
"My father told me you died."
Adrian looked away.
"Your father lied."
The sentence hit harder than I expected.
Because Dominic didn't react like someone hearing a random accusation.
He reacted like someone hearing the answer he was afraid existed.
"Why?"
Adrian looked around the hidden room.
"Because this room contains everything your family tried to destroy."
He walked toward the shelves.
His fingers touched the old files.
"Your mother found out the truth."
Dominic's expression changed.
"What truth?"
Adrian looked at him.
"The truth about why she disappeared."
A heavy silence filled the room.
I looked at Dominic.
His face was unreadable.
But his eyes weren't.
They were angry.
And hurt.
"What happened to my mother?"
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he walked to the desk.
He picked up the photograph.
The one of Dominic's mother.
The one with the scratched-out child.
"She wasn't running away."
He turned the photograph around.
"She was protecting someone."
Dominic stared at the picture.
"Who?"
Adrian looked at me.
My stomach dropped.
"Her."
Nobody moved.
I pointed at myself.
"Me?"
Adrian nodded.
Dominic immediately turned toward him.
"Why would my mother protect Clara?"
Adrian placed the photograph on the desk.
"Because Clara isn't here by accident."
My breathing stopped.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian looked at me.
"Your entire job was arranged."
The words felt like a punch.
"No."
I shook my head.
"No, I was hired because they needed someone to clean the mansion."
Adrian's expression softened.
"That is what you were told."
I felt sick.
Three weeks.
The messages.
The instructions.
The strange feeling that someone wanted me in that house.
Everything suddenly felt different.
Dominic looked at Adrian.
"Who hired her?"
Adrian hesitated.
That hesitation answered the question before he spoke.
"Someone inside your family."
The room became quiet.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"Who?"
Adrian looked toward the hidden door.
Then back at him.
"Someone who knew this room would be opened."
The bodyguard stepped forward.
"We need to leave now."
Adrian shook his head.
"It's too late."
Everyone looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Adrian pointed toward the shelves.
"Because whoever sent Clara here already knows she found it."
My phone suddenly vibrated.
The sound echoed through the hidden room.
Everyone looked at me.
A new message.
From the same number.
The number that belonged to Dominic's dead mother.
My hands shook as I opened it.
One sentence.
Only one.
"Don't trust Adrian."
I looked up.
Adrian was watching me.
Dominic noticed my expression.
"What did it say?"
I couldn't answer.
Because before I could speak, another message appeared.
This time from the same number.
But it contained a photo.
A recent photo.
Taken inside the mansion.
My blood turned cold.
Because the picture showed the hidden room.
It showed us standing there.
And in the corner of the image...
Someone else was visible.
Someone standing behind us.
Someone who had been inside the room the entire time.
Dominic slowly turned around.
The hidden room door behind us moved.
May you like
And a voice whispered from the darkness:
"Dominic..."
