Chapter 5 - The Room That Never Existed
The photo was still glowing on my phone screen.
My father's face.
Massimo's face.
And the third person standing between them.
I knew him.
Everyone in the mansion knew him.
The man who had entered hours earlier.
The man who claimed he knew everything about the people who walked through Massimo Pascale's doors.
The man who had smiled when he said my father's name.
Victor Rinaldi.
Massimo's closest adviser.
His most trusted ally.
And apparently, the last person my father saw before he died.
Nobody spoke.
Not even Victor.
For the first time since he entered the room, his confidence disappeared.
Just for a second.
But it was enough.
I noticed.
"Explain."
My voice sounded different.
Calmer.
Almost empty.
I looked at Massimo.
"Why is he in this picture?"
Massimo didn't answer.
His eyes stayed on Victor.
And I understood something.
This was not a secret Massimo wanted to hide from me.
This was a secret Massimo wanted to bury forever.
Victor slowly adjusted his suit jacket.
"That photo proves nothing."
I looked at him.
"Then why did everyone stop breathing?"
Nobody answered.
The silence was the answer.
Massimo moved his wheelchair forward slightly.
"Everyone leaves."
Victor looked at him.
"You can't protect her anymore."
Massimo's eyes became colder.
"I said leave."
Victor smiled.
Not because he was confident.
Because he knew something.
"You still think you're in control."
Then he walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he looked at me.
"Ask him about Room 17."
The door closed.
And for several seconds, nobody moved.
I looked at Massimo.
"What is Room 17?"
He didn't answer.
Again.
That same silence.
That same refusal.
Except now I knew why.
Because every unanswered question was connected.
My father.
Luca Pascale.
The accident.
The photo.
Victor.
And a room that apparently did not exist.
"I want the truth."
Massimo looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
"You don't know what you're asking for."
"I know exactly what I'm asking for."
I held up the phone.
"My father died because of this."
His expression changed.
A small movement.
A reaction he couldn't control.
I saw it.
And I hated that I was right.
"You knew him."
Massimo looked away.
"Yes."
"You knew him before I did."
The words came out sharper than I intended.
But they were true.
He knew my father.
He knew secrets about my family.
And he still hired me without telling me.
"Why did you bring me here?"
Massimo was quiet for a long time.
Then he said:
"Because I believed someone was going to come after you."
My anger paused.
"What?"
"When your father died, he left something behind."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"I don't know."
That answer surprised me.
"You don't know?"
"No."
He looked toward the window.
"But someone does."
The woman who had been standing silently finally spoke.
"Room 17."
I turned toward her.
"You know about it?"
She nodded slowly.
"I know what it was."
"Was?"
She looked uncomfortable.
"Because officially, it never existed."
I felt a chill.
"What does that mean?"
She walked to the table and opened the folder again.
She pulled out another document.
"This is the original medical record from the night your father died."
I looked at it.
The paper was old.
The ink had faded.
But one line was clear.
Location of incident:
Pascale Medical Facility.
My heart stopped.
"Your father didn't die at home."
Massimo said quietly.
"He died here."
I looked around the mansion.
"No."
"Not this house."
He paused.
"A private medical facility owned by my family."
I felt sick.
All this time, I thought my father's death happened somewhere ordinary.
A road.
A hospital.
A place where accidents happened.
But he died inside the world I had spent my entire life avoiding.
A world connected to Massimo.
"Why was he there?"
Massimo closed his eyes.
"Because he came to warn me."
"About Victor?"
He didn't answer.
That was enough.
The woman continued.
"Your father discovered that Luca's death wasn't the only plan."
I looked at her.
"What else?"
She hesitated.
Then she said:
"They wanted Massimo gone too."
I looked at him.
"But he survived."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Nobody answered.
Then Massimo said:
"Because your father changed the plan."
The room went silent.
"What does that mean?"
Massimo's voice became quieter.
"Your father found out about the attack before it happened."
I felt my hands become cold.
"He knew?"
"Yes."
"Then why didn't he stop it?"
Massimo looked at me.
"Because he was trying to save both of us."
The words hit harder than I expected.
My father.
A man I thought lived a quiet life.
A man I thought spent his days helping patients.
Had been caught in something much bigger.
Something dangerous.
Something that killed him.
"Tell me everything."
Massimo looked at me.
For several seconds, I thought he would refuse.
Then he nodded.
"Six months before the accident, Luca discovered someone was stealing information from the organization."
I listened.
"He trusted your father because he was the only person who treated him like a human being."
Massimo looked down.
"Not like a monster."
I didn't know what to say.
Because despite everything I had learned about him, I understood that sentence.
Everyone saw Massimo Pascale as a threat.
Nobody saw the person underneath.
"Your father found evidence."
Massimo continued.
"Evidence against someone powerful."
"Victor."
Massimo didn't confirm it.
But he didn't deny it either.
"Your father planned to meet me the night he died."
My breathing stopped.
"What happened?"
Massimo's expression became painful.
"He never made it to my office."
A pause.
"Someone found him first."
I looked at the photo.
The three people standing together.
My father.
Massimo.
Victor.
"Then why is Victor alive?"
The question came out before I could stop it.
Massimo's face changed.
And that scared me.
Because I had finally asked the question nobody wanted asked.
Before he answered, every light in the mansion turned off.
Again.
But this time, nobody panicked.
Everyone knew.
Someone had entered.
The security system remained silent.
No alarms.
No warnings.
Which meant whoever came inside had access.
The woman immediately reached for the folder.
Massimo looked toward the hallway.
"Get Elena upstairs."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Now."
His voice was different.
Not commanding.
Afraid.
The first time I heard fear in it.
A sound came from the end of the hallway.
Slow footsteps.
Approaching.
Everyone in the room froze.
Then a voice spoke from the darkness.
"Massimo."
I recognized it.
My stomach dropped.
Because it was impossible.
That person was supposed to be dead.
The emergency lights flickered back on.
May you like
And standing at the entrance was someone holding the original copy of my father's missing file...
Someone who knew exactly what happened in Room 17.
