Chapter 5 - The Secret Letter From The Past
Dominic Serrano had spent his entire life believing his father was a man who left behind answers.
Not questions.
Not ghosts.
Not unfinished stories.
But standing at the bottom of the staircase, hearing a voice that should have disappeared years ago, Dominic realized one terrifying truth.
His family had never buried the past.
They had hidden it.
The voice came from above.
Calm.
Confident.
Almost familiar.
“Dominic…”
Every instinct in his body told him to move.
To find the person.
To demand answers.
But something stopped him.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Because the voice sounded exactly like the recordings he had heard from his childhood.
The same deep tone.
The same slow way of saying his name.
His father.
His mother stepped forward immediately.
“Don’t.”
Dominic turned.
“What did you say?”
She looked terrified.
“Don’t go upstairs.”
“Why?”
She didn’t answer.
“Mom.”
Her eyes filled with regret.
And for the first time in years, Dominic saw something he never expected to see from her.
Fear.
Not fear of him.
Fear of what was waiting.
“You need to leave this house.”
Dominic stared at her.
“You knew.”
She closed her eyes.
“You don’t understand.”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“I understand enough.”
He pointed toward the stairs.
“My dead father just called my name from upstairs.”
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Celeste looked away.
His mother looked down.
And that was when Dominic knew.
They all knew something.
The entire family.
Everyone except him.
He walked up the stairs.
“Dominic!”
His mother grabbed his arm.
He stopped.
But he didn’t turn.
“Tell me one thing.”
His voice was quiet.
“Was my father really dead?”
His mother’s hand slowly fell.
That was the answer.
Dominic continued walking.
The second floor was darker than he remembered.
The lights had gone out completely.
Only the emergency lights from the hallway created small shadows along the walls.
This was the same hallway where he grew up.
The same place where he had run as a child.
The same place where his father used to stand and watch him.
But now every memory felt different.
Every happy moment felt like it had something hidden underneath.
He reached the end of the hallway.
There was one door.
His father’s old office.
A room no one had entered since his supposed death.
Dominic placed his hand on the handle.
It was unlocked.
That alone made his heart slow.
Because his father never left anything unlocked.
Not documents.
Not rooms.
Not secrets.
He pushed the door open.
Inside, everything was exactly the same.
The desk.
The books.
The old leather chair.
The photographs.
A room frozen in time.
Dominic stepped inside.
Then he saw it.
On the desk.
An envelope.
His name was written on it.
For Dominic.
His breathing changed.
He walked closer.
The handwriting was his father’s.
Impossible.
He touched the envelope.
For several seconds, he didn’t open it.
Because some part of him already knew.
Whatever was inside would change everything.
He opened it.
A single page.
Dominic,
If you are reading this, then they failed to keep the truth hidden.
His fingers tightened.
The letter continued.
You were always told I abandoned this family.
You were told I betrayed everyone.
You were told Adrian Vale was the enemy.
They lied.
Dominic stopped.
Adrian.
The man from the photos.
The man everyone called a traitor.
His eyes moved faster.
Adrian was the only person who knew what happened that night.
The night I discovered what my own family had done.
Dominic felt a cold sensation.
His own family.
The letter continued.
I wanted to protect you.
But protecting you meant making you believe I was gone.
Because there was someone close to me who wanted everything I built.
Someone who wanted my name.
My company.
My power.
Someone who knew exactly how to destroy me.
Dominic looked up.
A sound came from outside the office.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Approaching.
He grabbed the letter.
“Who’s there?”
No answer.
The footsteps stopped.
Dominic moved toward the door.
Then his phone vibrated.
Another message.
From the same unknown number.
Don’t open the door.
He froze.
A second message appeared.
The person outside wants you to think they came to help.
Dominic stared at the screen.
Then slowly looked at the door.
Because the handle was moving.
Someone was trying to enter.
Three hours earlier, Elena had returned to the old apartment.
She couldn’t sleep.
Not after everything Dominic discovered.
Not after realizing the pain she carried was not only hers.
Someone had intentionally created it.
Someone had wanted her to disappear.
She sat on the couch, holding the old photograph from her first meeting with Dominic’s family.
The picture of herself smiling.
Before everything changed.
She turned it over.
She had never noticed the small writing in the corner.
A date.
And underneath it:
She was chosen for a reason.
Elena frowned.
Chosen?
By who?
She grabbed her phone and called Dominic.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then she received a message.
Not from Dominic.
From an unknown number.
You finally understand why they wanted you gone.
Elena froze.
Another message.
You were never the weakness. You were the evidence.
Her heart began racing.
Evidence?
She typed:
Who are you?
The reply came immediately.
Someone who tried to warn you before Dominic found out.
Elena stared at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
A photo.
Her face turned pale.
Because the picture showed her.
Not recently.
Years ago.
Before she met Dominic.
Before she knew the Serrano family.
And standing beside her in the photo was someone she had never met.
Or at least, she thought she hadn’t.
Dominic stood in front of the office door.
The handle stopped moving.
Silence.
He waited.
One second.
Two seconds.
Then a voice came from the other side.
“Dominic.”
His entire body froze.
Because this time, he recognized the voice.
Not from recordings.
Not from memories.
From childhood.
“Open the door.”
Dominic stepped back.
The voice continued.
“You deserve to know what your father did.”
His hand tightened around the letter.
“What do you want?”
A pause.
Then:
“I want you to know the truth about Elena.”
That sentence changed everything.
Because the person outside knew her name.
And only a few people in the world knew what Elena meant to him.
Dominic looked at the door.
The message on his phone was still there.
Don’t open the door.
But the voice outside spoke again.
And this time, it said something that made Dominic’s blood run cold.
“Elena wasn’t chosen by accident.”
The handle moved again.
May you like
The lock clicked.
And the door began opening from the outside.
