Chapter 2 - The Secret Behind the Locked Room
The voice came from the darkness.
"Maya."
My entire body froze.
For one second, I couldn't move.
The mansion that had always felt too large suddenly felt too small.
The power had gone out completely.
No lights.
No security screens.
No sound except the rain hitting the massive windows and the quiet breathing of the people around me.
I still held my phone in my hand.
The message was glowing on the screen.
Run from him.
I looked at Adrien Moretti.
He was standing only a few feet away.
The same man everyone feared.
The same man who had protected me moments earlier.
The same man whose name was now connected to a warning from someone who knew mine.
Nobody spoke.
Then Adrien moved.
Not toward me.
Toward the door.
"Nobody leaves this room."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
The eight men immediately obeyed.
That scared me more than if he had shouted.
Because powerful people didn't need to raise their voices.
They only needed people to listen.
I tightened my grip on my phone.
"Mr. Moretti..."
He stopped.
For the first time that night, he looked uncertain.
Not afraid.
But careful.
"Show me the message."
My fingers moved slightly.
I hesitated.
Something inside me told me not to trust anyone.
But another part of me remembered the way he caught me before I hit the floor.
The way he stopped his men from blaming me.
The way he looked at the carved words.
She knows everything.
Slowly, I turned my phone around.
Adrien looked at the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
The room became colder.
"Who sent this?"
"I don't know."
"When did you receive it?"
"Right after the lights went out."
One of his men stepped closer.
"Sir, the security system is offline."
Adrien looked at him.
"Impossible."
The man shook his head.
"I checked twice. The entire west wing is disconnected."
Adrien's eyes moved toward the hallway.
The west wing.
The same area where the broken pipe had been.
The same area where someone had left a message hidden inside the conference room.
I felt a strange pressure in my chest.
Because suddenly I understood something.
The flooding.
The carved message.
The power outage.
They weren't separate accidents.
Someone had planned this.
And somehow...
I was part of it.
"I should leave."
The words came out before I could stop them.
Everyone looked at me.
Adrien frowned.
"No."
I blinked.
"No?"
"You are not leaving."
My heart started beating faster.
"I don't think staying in a mansion where someone is sending me threats is a good idea."
His expression hardened.
"Neither do I."
"Then why am I still here?"
He looked at the phone in my hand.
"Because whoever sent that message wanted you scared."
I said nothing.
"They wanted you to run."
He stepped closer.
"And if you leave now, they get exactly what they wanted."
I hated that he made sense.
I hated even more that I knew he was right.
But there was something else.
Something I couldn't ignore.
"Why do they think I know something?"
Adrien didn't answer.
That silence told me more than words could.
I stared at him.
"You know."
The room went completely quiet.
One of the guards looked away.
Another lowered his eyes.
That was when I realized something.
Everyone in that room knew there was a secret.
Everyone except me.
Adrien slowly placed the wooden piece on the table.
The carved words faced upward.
"Six months ago, someone inside this mansion stole confidential information."
I listened carefully.
"The person who took it disappeared before we could find them."
"And you think that person is me?"
"No."
His answer came too quickly.
I wasn't expecting that.
"Then why is my name involved?"
Adrien looked at the message again.
"Because someone wants me to believe it is."
I stared at him.
"You don't think I did this?"
"No."
"Why?"
A long pause.
Then he said:
"Because the person who betrayed me would never make such an obvious mistake."
The way he said it bothered me.
Not because he suspected me.
Because he sounded like he knew betrayal very well.
Before I could ask anything else, the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then returned.
Everyone immediately reached for their weapons.
I stepped back.
The room looked different under the bright lights.
The fear was gone from their faces.
Replaced by focus.
Training.
They were ready for something.
Someone.
Adrien looked toward the security monitor mounted on the wall.
The screen slowly turned on.
Static.
Then an image appeared.
A hallway.
The same hallway where the pipe had broken.
The camera angle showed the empty floor.
Then someone walked into view.
My breath stopped.
It was a woman.
She was wearing a black coat.
Her face was hidden.
But she was holding something.
A folder.
She placed it on the floor.
Then looked directly into the security camera.
Even through the screen, I felt like she was looking at me.
Adrien stepped closer.
"Zoom in."
One of the men controlled the screen.
The woman moved closer to the camera.
For a brief second, her face became visible.
Adrien went completely still.
I noticed.
And that scared me.
Because Adrien Moretti was not someone who showed fear.
"Who is she?" I whispered.
Nobody answered.
The woman on the screen slowly opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
She held it up.
The image was blurry.
But there was one detail I could see.
The photograph showed me.
My hands went cold.
"Why does she have a picture of me?"
Adrien didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward the security controls.
The woman on the screen smiled.
Then she pointed at the photograph.
And mouthed something.
Adrien stopped.
"What did she say?" I asked.
His jaw tightened.
"Nothing."
I knew he was lying.
The woman placed the photograph down.
Then she turned the folder around.
Written on the back were words.
Even from the distance, the camera captured them.
Maya Collins.
The room went silent.
My name.
Again.
But this time, underneath it was another sentence.
Adrien saw it before anyone else.
His face changed.
"What does it say?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
I walked closer to the monitor.
The words became clearer.
And when I read them, I felt like the floor had disappeared beneath me.
Because the message wasn't a threat.
It was a warning.
It said:
"Ask Adrien what happened to your mother."
I turned toward him.
For the first time that night, Adrien Moretti looked like a man who had been caught hiding something.
"Your mother?" I whispered.
He didn't respond.
"Mr. Moretti..."
Still nothing.
The woman on the screen picked up the folder again.
Then she walked toward a door at the end of the hallway.
A door I had never seen before.
A door hidden behind a painting.
She placed her hand on the handle.
Adrien suddenly moved.
"Stop her."
The guards rushed toward the hallway.
But before they reached the door, the security camera cut out.
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
Then Adrien looked at me.
His voice was barely a whisper.
"She found the room."
I felt my stomach drop.
"What room?"
He stared at the dark screen.
"The room your mother was last seen in."
Before I could ask another question, the hidden door on the security monitor suddenly turned back on by itself.
May you like
And slowly...
the handle began to move from the inside.
