Chapter 5 - The House That Hid the Truth
The security monitor showed the old Bellandi house.
But nobody was supposed to be inside.
The screen displayed the abandoned mansion exactly as it had been left six years earlier.
The same dark hallway.
The same wooden staircase.
The same locked study where Matteo's father had supposedly spent his final days.
Except something was different.
The camera was moving.
Not because of a malfunction.
Because someone was holding it.
I watched the screen carefully.
A shadow crossed the hallway.
Then disappeared.
Matteo stood completely still beside me.
"Who has access to that house?"
Nobody answered.
That silence told us more than words could.
His father looked away.
Claire lowered her head.
Even the security team avoided Matteo's eyes.
I looked at him.
"You already know something."
His expression remained cold.
"I know that someone has been inside my father's house."
"No."
I shook my head.
"That's not what I mean."
He looked at me.
"You know who."
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Matteo turned toward his father.
"Take us there."
The older man looked surprised.
"You can't."
Matteo's eyes hardened.
"You disappeared for six years."
A pause.
"You don't get to tell me what I can do anymore."
Nobody argued.
Not even his father.
Twenty minutes later, we left the gala.
The guests stayed behind.
The security team followed.
And Victoria was escorted into a private room until Matteo decided what to do.
She screamed that she was innocent.
She cried.
She begged him to listen.
But Matteo never looked back.
I noticed that.
Not because he didn't care.
Because he was trying not to.
The drive to the Bellandi estate was silent.
I sat in the back seat beside Matteo.
The city lights passed by the window.
For the first time since everything started, I had a moment to think.
A few hours ago, I had walked into a gala as an accountant nobody respected.
Now I was sitting beside the most powerful man in Chicago, heading toward a house connected to secrets about my own family.
None of it made sense.
"Why me?"
Matteo looked at me.
"What?"
"Why was I involved?"
He didn't answer.
So I continued.
"Your father left documents with my name."
"The person who sent the message knew about my father."
"Victoria signed agreements connected to my family."
I looked at him.
"Why was everyone hiding something about me?"
Matteo stared forward.
Then he said:
"Maybe because you were the one person nobody could control."
I looked away.
I didn't like that answer.
Because it sounded like he believed I was important.
And I had spent my entire life trying to be invisible.
My father taught me one thing before he disappeared.
Don't attract attention.
Don't trust powerful people.
And never let anyone know what you know.
I had broken every rule in one night.
The car finally stopped.
The Bellandi mansion appeared in front of us.
It was massive.
Old.
Silent.
The kind of place that looked beautiful from far away but carried too many secrets inside.
The security team checked the property.
"No movement."
Matteo stepped out.
His father followed.
I watched them walk toward the entrance together.
A father and son who had lost six years.
A family reunited by a lie.
But I couldn't stop thinking about one thing.
If Matteo's father had been alive all this time...
Who was buried in his grave?
The front door opened.
Inside, everything was covered with dust.
Nothing had changed.
Almost.
We walked through the hallway.
Matteo stopped near a portrait of his family.
A younger Matteo.
His parents.
A perfect image.
Except something was missing.
I stepped closer.
"The picture."
Matteo looked at me.
"What?"
"Someone removed a piece of it."
I pointed.
The frame had a small empty space.
Like someone had cut a person out.
Matteo touched the damaged area.
His father became tense.
"You remember."
Matteo looked back.
"Remember what?"
The older man hesitated.
"There was someone else in that picture."
The hallway became quiet.
"Who?"
His father didn't answer.
I looked at the empty space.
Then I noticed something.
A small mark behind the frame.
A handwritten letter.
Only one word.
"Elena."
My stomach dropped.
Matteo saw it.
His expression changed.
"Why would your name be behind my family portrait?"
I had no answer.
Because I was asking myself the same question.
We continued toward the study.
The door was locked.
Matteo reached for the handle.
"It hasn't been opened since my father's funeral."
His father looked nervous.
"Matteo."
He ignored him.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was exactly how it had been left.
A desk.
Bookshelves.
Old documents.
But on the desk...
Someone had placed a brand-new laptop.
Everyone stopped.
Matteo walked closer.
The laptop screen was already on.
A video file was waiting.
No password.
No security.
Just one name.
"Elena Brooks."
I felt my heartbeat increase.
Matteo looked at me.
"You need to see this."
I stepped forward.
The video began.
A man appeared on screen.
My father.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
I covered my mouth.
Because I had not seen his face in fifteen years.
His voice came through the speakers.
"Elena, if you are watching this..."
He looked directly into the camera.
"...then they failed to keep you away from the truth."
My eyes filled with tears.
Matteo watched silently.
My father's recording continued.
"I don't have much time."
He looked behind him.
Like he was afraid someone was listening.
"The Bellandi family did not destroy your life."
A pause.
"The person closest to you did."
The screen flickered.
My father's face became clearer.
Then he said something that made Matteo step backward.
"Elena, you were never just my daughter."
I froze.
Matteo looked at me.
The video continued.
"You were the reason they tried to erase an entire family."
The room became silent.
Then the laptop displayed one final image.
A birth certificate.
My name.
My father's name.
And another name listed beneath it.
Mother.
I stared at the screen.
Because the name written there was impossible.
The same name everyone believed had died six years ago.
Matteo's mother.
And then another file appeared automatically.
Created fifteen years earlier.
Title:
"THE TRUTH ABOUT ELENA BROOKS."
Matteo reached toward the keyboard.
May you like
But before he touched it...
the study door slowly closed by itself from behind us.
