Chapter 9 - The Girl Behind the Door
“Daddy…”
The tiny voice came again.
Victor didn't move.
Poppy clung to his neck.
Hannah stood frozen beside the table.
Elena stared at the hidden door as if she had seen a ghost.
Victor whispered,
“Lily?”
The child behind the door began crying.
“Mommy?”
Hannah's knees nearly gave way.
She rushed toward the door.
Victor caught her arm.
“Wait.”
“That's my daughter.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know her voice.”
Hannah struggled against him.
“I know my baby's voice.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Hannah…”
Hannah turned on her.
“You knew?”
Elena shook her head.
“I suspected.”
“You knew she was alive?”
“I didn't know.”
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Hannah's eyes filled with rage.
“You took twelve years from me.”
Victor stepped between them.
“Enough.”
The child cried again.
“Mommy…”
Hannah covered her mouth.
Victor looked toward the hidden door.
“Lily, can you hear me?”
Silence.
Then a small voice answered.
“Daddy?”
Victor froze.
Poppy lifted her head.
“That's not my daddy.”
Victor looked at her.
“What?”
Poppy stared toward the door.
“That girl is crying.”
“Yes.”
“She sounds like me.”
Hannah's face changed.
Victor looked at Poppy.
“What do you mean?”
Poppy pointed toward the door.
“She has my voice.”
Nobody spoke.
The speaker crackled.
The man's voice returned.
“Now you understand.”
Victor turned toward the wall.
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“Open it.”
“You still haven't asked the right question.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“What question?”
The voice answered,
“Which child is yours?”
Victor looked down at Poppy.
The little girl was shaking.
“She is.”
The voice laughed softly.
“You're certain?”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“She is my daughter.”
“Then why doesn't she know her own name?”
Victor went still.
Poppy looked up at him.
“Mr. Victor?”
Victor crouched.
“What?”
“Am I Poppy?”
The question broke something inside him.
He looked at her frightened face.
He didn't know what to say.
Poppy started crying.
“Please tell me.”
Victor pulled her into his arms.
“You are you.”
She sobbed against his chest.
“I don't want another name.”
“You don't need another name.”
The speaker went silent.
Hannah stared at Victor.
Then she slowly approached Poppy.
“Can I see her?”
Victor hesitated.
Hannah knelt.
Poppy looked at her cautiously.
Hannah reached toward the little girl's shoulder.
“May I?”
Victor nodded.
Hannah gently moved the pajama shirt aside.
The crescent-shaped mark was still visible.
Hannah's hands began trembling.
“I remember this.”
Victor watched her.
“You said Lily had it.”
“She did.”
Hannah touched the mark with one finger.
Then she started crying.
“She had this exact mark.”
Poppy looked confused.
“Am I Lily?”
Hannah couldn't answer.
Victor looked toward Elena.
“Tell me the truth.”
Elena wiped her tears.
“Poppy was never supposed to know.”
“That's not an answer.”
“She was given another identity.”
“Why?”
“To keep her alive.”
“From whom?”
Elena looked toward the speaker.
“Your father.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“My father is dead.”
“He is.”
“Then why are we still following his orders?”
Elena looked at him.
“Because he left people behind.”
Victor understood.
The Castellano empire had not died with the man.
It had become a machine.
And someone had kept it running.
The hidden door suddenly rattled.
Hannah stepped backward.
Victor raised his weapon.
A small hand appeared beneath the door.
Victor stared.
The fingers were tiny.
A child's hand.
Hannah moved forward.
“Lily?”
The hand disappeared.
Then a piece of paper slid beneath the door.
Victor picked it up.
One sentence.
SHE DOESN'T REMEMBER YOU.
Hannah stared at the words.
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
Hannah shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Elena suddenly whispered,
“I do.”
Victor turned.
Elena was staring at the paper.
“She wasn't supposed to remember.”
“Remember what?”
“The night we switched them.”
Victor went completely still.
“What switch?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“When the fire started, there were three babies.”
Hannah whispered,
“Three?”
“Yes.”
“Poppy.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“And Lily.”
Elena nodded.
“They were all in the nursery.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Your father had arranged for them to be there.”
“Why would he put three babies together?”
“Because he was testing them.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“For what?”
“Blood compatibility.”
“And Lily?”
“She wasn't supposed to be part of the test.”
“Then why was she there?”
Elena looked at Hannah.
“Because Gregory brought her.”
Hannah shook her head.
“No.”
“I saw him.”
“You're lying.”
“He carried her into the nursery.”
“Why?”
Elena swallowed.
“Because he wanted to see whether the Castellano bloodline could be transferred.”
Victor stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“It did to your father.”
“What happened?”
Elena looked toward the hidden door.
“The fire started.”
“And?”
“I grabbed Poppy.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“What about Daniel?”
“Gregory took him.”
“And Lily?”
“I couldn't find her.”
Hannah stepped forward.
“You left my daughter.”
“I thought she was gone.”
“You left her.”
“I was trying to save Poppy.”
Hannah slapped her.
The sound echoed through the chamber.
Elena didn't react.
She simply stood there crying.
Victor looked at Hannah.
“Where were you?”
“Outside.”
“How did you get back in?”
“I heard screaming.”
“You saw Elena?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I followed her.”
Victor looked at the door.
“And then?”
Hannah whispered,
“Someone hit me.”
Victor's face hardened.
“Who?”
“I never saw him.”
“What happened next?”
“I woke up in the hospital.”
“And Lily?”
“They told me she died.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“They lied.”
Hannah stared at her.
“Who?”
Elena looked at Victor.
“Your father.”
Victor stepped toward the speaker.
“You're listening.”
The voice answered immediately.
“Yes.”
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you still have something to learn.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“What?”
“You believe Poppy is the child you saved.”
“Yes.”
“You believe Lily was the child Hannah lost.”
“Yes.”
“You believe Leo is your brother.”
“Yes.”
The voice became quieter.
“You're wrong about one of them.”
Victor felt cold.
“Which one?”
Silence.
Then the voice said,
“Look behind you.”
Victor turned.
The chamber door was open.
Nobody had touched it.
A man stood in the passage.
Victor raised his weapon.
The man stepped into the light.
Victor's breath stopped.
It was Leo.
Older.
Taller.
A scar ran from his temple down toward his cheek.
But the eyes were the same.
Victor's hand began trembling.
“Leo?”
The man stared at him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Leo looked at Elena.
“You should have told him.”
Elena began crying.
Victor lowered his weapon.
“Leo…”
His brother looked at him.
“Don't come closer.”
Victor stopped.
“It's me.”
“I know.”
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
Victor's voice cracked.
“I buried you.”
Leo's face remained emotionless.
“You buried a boy.”
Victor stared.
“What does that mean?”
Leo stepped into the room.
“It means your father needed you to believe I died.”
“Why?”
“Because he needed me hidden.”
“From whom?”
Leo looked at Poppy.
“From everyone.”
Poppy stared back.
Leo's expression softened for the first time.
“She still has the rabbit.”
Victor looked down.
Poppy clutched the gray rabbit.
“How do you know that?”
Leo's eyes moved to Victor.
“Because I gave it to her.”
Victor froze.
“What?”
Leo nodded.
“Before she was born.”
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
“You weren't there.”
“I was.”
Victor stared.
Leo continued.
“I was there when Elena gave birth.”
Elena looked down.
Victor turned toward her.
“You told me Leo died twelve years ago.”
“I was wrong.”
Leo shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Elena.
“You were protecting him.”
Victor stepped toward his brother.
“Protecting me from what?”
Leo's expression became serious.
“From the truth about our father.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“I know about the children.”
“You don't know everything.”
“Then tell me.”
Leo looked toward the hidden door.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because he's still listening.”
Victor looked at the speaker.
“Who?”
Leo lowered his voice.
“The man who killed our father.”
Silence.
Victor stared.
“My father was murdered?”
Leo nodded.
“By who?”
Leo looked at him.
“Gregory.”
Victor's eyes widened.
“No.”
Leo's expression remained cold.
“Gregory didn't work for our father.”
Victor remembered the files.
The photographs.
The hidden cameras.
The secret nursery.
He felt the pieces shifting.
“Then who did he work for?”
Leo answered,
“The man who owns everything now.”
Victor stared.
“Who?”
Leo looked toward Elena.
Then toward Poppy.
His voice dropped.
“Your father left the empire to someone else.”
Victor's face hardened.
“Who?”
Leo didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward the old crib.
He reached beneath it.
Then he pulled out a small wooden box.
Victor watched.
Leo opened the box.
Inside was a hospital bracelet.
A silver coin.
And a photograph.
Leo held the photograph toward Victor.
Victor took it.
His face went pale.
It showed Elena holding three newborn babies.
Victor stared at the date.
Then at the names written beneath them.
Poppy.
Daniel.
Lily.
But there was something else.
A fourth name had been crossed out.
Victor turned the photograph over.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
Only one of the three was born a Castellano.
Victor looked at Elena.
She was crying.
“Which one?”
She didn't answer.
Victor turned to Leo.
“Which one?”
Leo stared at Poppy.
Then at Hannah.
Then at the hidden door.
A child's voice came from behind it.
“Daddy…”
Victor slowly approached the door.
The voice whispered again.
But this time, it wasn't Lily.
It was Poppy.
Victor turned.
Poppy was still in his arms.
He looked toward the hidden door.
Then back at the little girl.
His blood ran cold.
Because the voice behind the door sounded exactly like Poppy.
May you like
And then the child behind the door whispered one name—
“Victor.”
