Chapter 2 - The Secret Hidden Inside The Key Card
The darkness lasted only three seconds.
But those three seconds changed everything.
One moment, I was standing in front of Adrien Moretti, surrounded by eight men who looked like they could end a person's life without blinking.
The next moment, the entire room disappeared into blackness.
I heard movement.
Fast movement.
Someone pulled a weapon.
Someone whispered.
Someone cursed.
Then a hand grabbed my arm.
I froze.
My first thought was that Adrien Moretti had decided I was a problem.
My second thought was that I was never leaving that room.
But then I heard his voice.
"Nobody moves."
It wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
The entire room stopped instantly.
The hand holding my arm released.
A few seconds later, emergency lights turned on.
A dim red glow filled the room.
And I saw Adrien standing between me and the guards.
Protecting me.
I didn't understand why.
The same man who owned this mansion.
The same man everyone feared.
Was standing in front of me like he was making sure nobody touched me.
One of the guards looked confused.
"Boss, the cameras went offline."
Adrien's eyes remained fixed on the broken key card in his hand.
"All cameras?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Exactly three minutes."
His expression changed.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Recognition.
Like he knew what three minutes meant.
I looked at him carefully.
"What is happening?"
Nobody answered.
I hated that.
I hated being the only person in the room who didn't know the rules.
Adrien finally looked at me.
"You need to leave."
The words surprised me.
"What?"
"You heard me."
I stared at him.
"You were the one who brought me here."
"I brought you here because I needed answers."
His voice became colder.
"Now I know you are involved."
My stomach dropped.
"Involved in what?"
Adrien didn't answer.
That scared me more than an accusation.
Because people who accused you usually wanted something.
People who stayed silent were hiding something.
One of the guards picked up the broken key card.
"Boss, should we check her belongings?"
My body instantly tensed.
Adrien noticed.
His eyes moved toward the guard.
"No."
The guard hesitated.
"But—"
"I said no."
The room became silent again.
The guard lowered his head.
"Yes, boss."
I looked at Adrien.
"Why are you defending me?"
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he placed the key card on the table.
"Because whoever wanted you blamed made one mistake."
"What mistake?"
"They made sure I noticed you."
I frowned.
That made no sense.
"I don't understand."
Adrien walked toward the table.
He picked up the key card again.
"The person who scratched those words into this card wanted someone to find it."
He turned it around.
"Someone powerful enough to investigate."
His eyes moved to me.
"And they knew you would be the one holding it."
A cold feeling moved through my chest.
"I didn't even know this existed."
"I believe you."
The answer came so quickly that I almost missed it.
"You believe me?"
Adrien nodded slightly.
"Yes."
"Why?"
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
"I don't know yet."
That was the strangest answer anyone had ever given me.
Adrien Moretti knew everything.
That was what people said.
He knew everyone's secrets.
He knew every deal.
Every betrayal.
Every person who crossed him.
But standing there, looking at that key card, he looked like a man who had just discovered something he wasn't prepared for.
The door suddenly opened.
A man in a black suit rushed inside.
"Boss."
Adrien turned.
"What?"
The man looked at me.
Then back at Adrien.
"We checked the security system."
"And?"
His face became serious.
"The cameras weren't hacked from outside."
Adrien's expression hardened.
"Explain."
The man swallowed.
"Someone used an internal access code."
The room went completely silent.
I felt everyone looking at each other.
Adrien slowly asked:
"Whose code?"
The man hesitated.
Then he answered.
"Yours."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Adrien.
His face showed nothing.
But his eyes changed.
Someone had used his personal access.
Inside his own house.
Using his own identity.
The man continued.
"There's more."
Adrien waited.
"The system recorded the person who disabled the cameras."
He placed a tablet on the table.
"Do you want to see?"
Adrien walked closer.
Everyone followed.
Even me.
I don't know why.
Maybe because I already knew this had nothing to do with a broken pipe anymore.
Adrien pressed play.
The footage appeared.
The hallway outside the bathroom.
The exact place where the accident happened.
I watched myself walking toward the bathroom.
Carrying towels.
Completely unaware.
Then something appeared behind me.
A person.
Standing at the end of the hallway.
Watching.
I stopped breathing.
The person was wearing dark clothing.
Their face wasn't visible.
But they weren't hiding.
They wanted to be seen.
Adrien paused the video.
"Zoom in."
The guard did.
The image became clearer.
The person stepped closer.
Closer.
Until the camera captured something.
A small detail.
A ring.
A silver ring on their hand.
Adrien's face changed.
I noticed immediately.
"You know them."
He didn't answer.
"You know who that is."
Still nothing.
Then one of the guards spoke quietly.
"Boss..."
Adrien ignored him.
His attention stayed on the screen.
I looked at the frozen image.
A stranger standing in a hallway.
A hidden message on a key card.
A security system broken from inside.
And Adrien Moretti looking like he had just seen a ghost.
"Who is it?" I asked.
My voice was quieter than I expected.
Adrien finally looked at me.
And the expression on his face made my skin go cold.
"Someone who should have been dead."
Nobody spoke.
I didn't know what to say.
Because people didn't say things like that unless they believed them.
The guard beside him looked uncomfortable.
"Boss, maybe we should move her somewhere safe."
Adrien didn't take his eyes off me.
"She stays here."
Everyone looked surprised.
Including me.
"Excuse me?"
Adrien walked closer.
"You are no longer just an employee who caused an accident."
I stared at him.
"Then what am I?"
His answer came slowly.
"You're the person someone chose to deliver a message."
My heart raced.
"I don't know anything about this."
"I know."
"Then why keep me here?"
Adrien looked toward the key card.
"Because whoever started this knows something about my past."
A pause.
"And now they know you are involved."
I wanted to argue.
I wanted to tell him I had a normal life.
A normal job.
Normal problems.
But deep down, I knew something had changed.
Because before tonight, nobody had ever looked at me like I was part of a dangerous secret.
A guard approached Adrien.
"Boss, we found something else."
Adrien turned.
"What?"
The guard held a small envelope.
My name was written on it.
CLARA BENNETT.
My blood ran cold.
I had never seen that envelope before.
The guard placed it on the table.
"We found it inside the bathroom wall."
Adrien looked at me.
Then at the envelope.
"Open it."
The guard started to reach.
But Adrien stopped him.
"No."
Everyone looked confused.
Adrien picked it up himself.
He stared at my name.
Then slowly opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
He pulled it out.
The moment he saw it...
His entire expression changed.
Not anger.
Not surprise.
Fear.
I stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Adrien didn't answer.
I reached for the photo.
And when I saw what was printed on it, my entire body went cold.
Because the woman standing beside Adrien Moretti in the picture...
was my mother.
And underneath the photo was one sentence written in black ink:
"Ask Clara why her mother never told her the truth."
Adrien looked at me.
Then the mansion alarm suddenly started ringing.
A guard rushed to the window.
His face turned pale.
"Boss..."
Adrien looked up.
"Someone just entered the property."
The guard stared outside.
Then whispered:
"And they're not here for you."
May you like
He looked directly at me.
"They're here for Clara."
