Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Knew Norah's Secret
"Gabriel, someone was inside the house before your wife disappeared."
Luca’s words echoed through the security room.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The mansion was filled with screens.
Security footage.
Camera feeds.
Digital maps.
Every possible angle of Gabriel Costa’s world was displayed in front of him.
But none of it showed where his wife and children had gone.
Gabriel stood in front of the largest monitor, staring at the empty driveway footage.
The same driveway where Norah had escaped.
The same driveway where someone had waited for her.
Someone who knew exactly how to avoid his security.
Someone who knew exactly when to move.
“How long?” Gabriel asked.
Luca looked at the tablet in his hand.
“Before midnight.”
Gabriel turned.
“Before she gave birth?”
Luca nodded.
“We checked every camera. The system wasn’t damaged. It was disabled manually.”
“By who?”
“That’s the problem.”
Luca placed the tablet on the table.
“There are no records of anyone entering the property.”
Gabriel stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“Yes.”
Luca’s expression tightened.
“That means whoever helped her already had access.”
The room became silent.
Gabriel looked away.
His mind went through every person who worked for him.
Every guard.
Every employee.
Every person who had ever stepped inside his home.
Someone close.
Someone trusted.
Someone who knew his security system.
Someone who knew Norah.
His phone remained in his hand.
The unknown number from earlier still bothered him.
The voice.
The confidence.
The fact that the woman had known he found the photograph.
Gabriel opened the photo again.
Norah was sitting on the hospital bed.
The twins were wrapped in white blankets.
She looked exhausted.
But peaceful.
Behind her stood a woman.
A woman Gabriel recognized.
He had spent years believing she was gone.
Dead.
Buried.
But the photograph proved something else.
She was alive.
Gabriel zoomed in.
The woman’s face was partially hidden.
Only her eyes were visible.
But that was enough.
He remembered those eyes.
Because five years earlier, those eyes had looked at him while she disappeared.
“Luca.”
“Yes?”
“Find everything about Elena Moretti.”
Luca froze.
Not because of the name.
Because of the reaction Gabriel had.
“Boss…”
“I said everything.”
Luca slowly nodded.
“Understood.”
Gabriel walked out of the security room.
He needed answers.
Not guesses.
Not assumptions.
Answers.
He returned to Norah’s bedroom.
The room looked untouched.
Too untouched.
That bothered him.
Norah was not someone who left things behind accidentally.
Every detail of her life was organized.
Her books were arranged perfectly.
Her clothes were folded.
Her jewelry was placed carefully.
But now Gabriel noticed something.
One drawer was different.
Only one.
He opened it.
Inside were several documents.
Medical records.
Bank statements.
Travel information.
And a small notebook.
Gabriel picked it up.
The first pages contained simple notes.
Baby names.
Doctor appointments.
Things every expecting mother would write.
Then he reached the last page.
The handwriting changed.
The words were darker.
More urgent.
"Gabriel cannot know yet."
He stopped breathing.
He continued reading.
"If he finds out too soon, they will come after the children."
Gabriel’s fingers tightened around the notebook.
"They?"
Who were they?
He turned the page.
There was only one sentence.
"Trust the person who knows what happened five years ago."
Five years ago.
The same year Elena disappeared.
The same year Gabriel had helped search for her.
The same year everyone told him she was dead.
A sound came from behind him.
Gabriel immediately turned.
Nothing.
The bedroom door was still closed.
But he knew someone had been there.
He walked toward the hallway.
“Come out.”
Silence.
Gabriel reached inside his jacket.
Not a weapon.
A phone.
He pressed Luca’s number.
“Someone was in the room.”
Luca answered immediately.
“We’re on our way.”
Gabriel looked around.
The hallway was empty.
But something had changed.
A picture frame on the wall was slightly tilted.
He walked closer.
It was a family photograph.
Gabriel.
Norah.
A younger version of themselves.
Before the lies.
Before the distance.
Before everything broke.
He adjusted the frame.
Then he noticed something behind it.
A small hole in the wall.
A hidden compartment.
Gabriel pulled it open.
Inside was a memory card.
His heart stopped.
Another one.
He carefully removed it.
For a moment, he thought about the first photograph.
The first clue.
The hidden messages.
Norah had not disappeared randomly.
She had left a trail.
A trail only he could follow.
Gabriel inserted the memory card into his laptop.
A single video file appeared.
Created three days earlier.
The title made his blood run cold.
"For Gabriel."
He clicked.
The screen showed Norah.
She was sitting in a room he did not recognize.
She looked tired.
But calm.
The same woman who had vanished after giving birth.
The same woman who had left without saying goodbye.
Gabriel leaned closer.
"Gabriel."
Her voice filled the room.
"If you are watching this, then I am already gone."
His jaw tightened.
"I know what you are thinking."
Norah looked directly into the camera.
"You think I betrayed you."
Gabriel said nothing.
"You think I took your children because I wanted to hurt you."
A tear appeared in her eyes.
"But I didn't."
The video paused for a second.
Then continued.
"I took them because someone was coming."
Gabriel felt a chill.
"Someone who has been watching us for years."
The screen flickered.
Norah looked behind her.
Like she was afraid someone could hear.
"There is something you need to understand."
She lowered her voice.
"Your life is not what you think it is."
Gabriel leaned forward.
"What does that mean?"
Of course, she could not hear him.
The recording continued.
"You believe the people around you protect you."
Norah looked at the camera.
"But some of them have been protecting a secret."
The video ended.
No explanation.
No name.
No location.
Just darkness.
Gabriel sat frozen.
Then he noticed something.
The video file had one more attachment.
A document.
He opened it.
His expression changed.
It was a birth certificate.
Not for the twins.
For another child.
A child born five years earlier.
Gabriel read the name.
Then he looked at the date.
The same month Elena disappeared.
His phone rang.
Luca.
Gabriel answered.
“What?”
“Boss.”
Luca sounded different.
More serious than before.
“We found the person who disabled the cameras.”
Gabriel stood.
“Who?”
A pause.
Then Luca spoke.
“It was someone who worked inside this house.”
Gabriel waited.
“Someone Norah trusted.”
The silence stretched.
“Give me the name.”
Luca hesitated.
Then:
“Gabriel…”
His voice dropped.
“The person who helped your wife escape was…”
The call suddenly cut off.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
No signal.
Impossible.
The entire security system had gone offline.
Then, from downstairs, he heard a sound.
A slow movement.
A door opening.
Gabriel walked toward the staircase.
The mansion was silent.
Until a woman’s voice whispered from the darkness:
“Gabriel…”
He stopped.
Because he knew that voice.
He had heard it five years ago.
May you like
The voice of the woman everyone told him was dead.
The basement door opened slowly.
