Chapter 6 - The Enemy Inside The Mansion
The message remained on the screen.
"I told you not to open the door."
Nobody spoke.
The words were simple.
But they changed everything.
Because whoever sent that message wasn't outside the mansion.
They were watching us.
I looked around the room.
The hidden office.
The secret files.
The dead woman's recordings.
The truth about Noah.
Every secret this family had buried was sitting in front of us.
And someone knew exactly where we were.
Adrian moved first.
He pulled the computer away from the wall and checked the cables.
"Impossible."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"The system isn't connected to the outside network."
Margaret stepped closer.
"Then how did someone send it?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Because he knew.
Someone inside the house had access.
Noah suddenly grabbed my hand.
"He's angry."
I looked down.
"Who?"
The boy stared at the computer.
"Uncle Lucas."
Adrian immediately turned.
"Noah."
The child looked at him.
"He said Mommy shouldn't have told you."
Adrian froze.
I noticed it.
That tiny reaction.
A father hearing something his son should never know.
"What else did he say?"
Noah looked scared.
"He said Daddy would never believe me."
Adrian crouched down.
For a moment, he wasn't a mafia boss.
He was just a father.
"Noah, listen to me."
The boy looked at him.
"I believe you."
Those three words affected Noah more than anything else.
His expression changed.
Like he had been waiting years to hear them.
I watched Adrian closely.
Because I finally understood something.
He wasn't protecting his image.
He wasn't protecting his power.
He was trying to repair something he thought he had already lost.
But then the computer screen changed again.
A new file appeared.
No title.
No information.
Just one word.
"FATHER."
Adrian stepped back.
Nobody touched the keyboard.
The file opened by itself.
A video started.
This time, it wasn't Elena.
It was Lucas.
The man who was supposed to be dead.
He sat in a dark room.
Older.
Different.
But his eyes were exactly like Adrian's.
Cold.
Confident.
"I knew you would find this eventually."
Adrian stared at the screen.
Lucas smiled.
"Brother."
The word made Adrian's face change.
Lucas continued.
"You always believed you were protecting Noah."
A pause.
"But you were protecting him from the wrong person."
I looked at Adrian.
Lucas leaned closer to the camera.
"Tell me, Adrian..."
His voice became softer.
"Did you ever ask yourself why Elena disappeared?"
The video stopped.
Only five seconds.
That's all.
Five seconds.
But it was enough.
Because Adrian looked like someone had just reopened an old wound.
"What is he talking about?"
I asked.
Adrian didn't answer.
Margaret did.
"Elena believed someone close to Adrian helped Lucas."
I turned toward her.
"Who?"
She looked away.
"I don't know."
That answer wasn't enough.
Not anymore.
I walked toward Adrian.
"Your wife was investigating your brother."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"She discovered Noah's birth secret."
"Yes."
"She left clues for someone to find."
His eyes met mine.
"Yes."
"Then why would she warn me not to trust the person beside me?"
Silence.
A long silence.
Then Adrian said:
"Because she didn't know who betrayed her."
The room felt smaller.
I looked at everyone.
At Margaret.
At Adrian.
At Noah.
Someone here knew more.
Someone was hiding something.
A loud sound suddenly came from upstairs.
A door closing.
Everyone looked up.
Adrian immediately reached for his phone.
"The security team isn't responding."
My stomach tightened.
"Where are they?"
He looked at the screen.
"They disappeared."
Noah whispered:
"He's upstairs."
Adrian looked at him.
"Who?"
The boy's face became pale.
"The man in Mommy's room."
Adrian went completely still.
"Mommy's room?"
Noah nodded.
"He came there before."
I followed Adrian out of the hidden office.
The mansion had changed.
The same hallways.
The same expensive furniture.
But now every shadow felt different.
Like the house itself was hiding something.
Adrian moved quickly.
I stayed beside him.
"You knew Lucas could be alive."
He didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"And you never looked for him?"
"I did."
"Then why stop?"
He stopped walking.
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
"Because every person who helped me search disappeared."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"Detectives. Lawyers. Former employees."
His voice lowered.
"Everyone who got close to the truth vanished."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Then why hire me?"
He looked at me.
"Because Lucas didn't know you existed."
That answer frightened me.
Because it meant I wasn't chosen randomly.
I was a blind spot.
Someone Lucas didn't expect.
We reached Elena's old bedroom.
The door was slightly open.
Adrian stopped.
I noticed his hand.
It was shaking.
Very slightly.
But it was.
He pushed the door open.
The room was dark.
The curtains moved.
Someone had been inside.
On the bed was a photograph.
Adrian walked toward it.
I saw his expression change.
It was a picture of Elena and Noah.
But there was something written on it.
A message.
"YOUR SON WAS NEVER YOURS."
Adrian crushed the photo in his hand.
"No."
I looked around the room.
Something was wrong.
Too obvious.
Someone wanted us to find this.
Someone wanted Adrian angry.
Someone wanted him to doubt everything.
Then Noah walked into the room.
I immediately turned.
"Noah, stay back."
But he didn't listen.
He walked toward a small drawer beside the bed.
He opened it.
Inside was a small necklace.
A silver pendant.
Adrian stared.
Because he recognized it.
"That belonged to Elena."
Noah picked it up.
"She gave this to me."
Adrian looked shocked.
"When?"
Noah looked confused.
"Before she left."
The room went silent.
I looked at Adrian.
"Before she disappeared?"
He nodded slowly.
Noah opened the pendant.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
But it wasn't Elena.
It wasn't Adrian.
It was Lucas.
And another person.
A woman.
I stepped closer.
"Who is that?"
Adrian looked at the picture.
Then his face changed.
Because he knew her.
"That's impossible."
"Who is she?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he whispered:
"My mother."
I froze.
"Your mother?"
Adrian nodded.
"She died twenty years ago."
The photograph slipped from his hand.
Because on the back...
there was a date.
A date from last month.
Someone had taken that picture recently.
Then Noah pointed toward the window.
"She's here."
Everyone turned.
The bedroom curtains moved.
Slowly.
And behind the glass...
someone was standing in the darkness.
A woman.
Watching us.
May you like
Adrian whispered her name.
"Mother..."
