Chapter 5 - The Child Who Knew A Secret
The first thing I did was ask Livia the same question three times.
"Who told you that?"
The little girl looked at me with frightened eyes.
Not confused.
Not playful.
Frightened.
That was when I knew she was not making up a story.
Children invented things.
They imagined monsters under beds.
They created invisible friends.
But fear was different.
Fear came from somewhere.
"Livia," I said gently, lowering myself to her level. "I need you to tell me everything you remember."
She held Pearl tighter.
"The man said I shouldn't tell Daddy."
My heart sank.
"Why?"
She looked toward the hallway.
"Because Daddy would be angry."
I glanced behind me.
The mansion suddenly felt different.
The walls.
The cameras.
The guards.
The locked doors.
Everything that was supposed to make this place safe suddenly reminded me that there were things happening here that I didn't understand.
"What did he look like?"
Livia thought carefully.
"Old."
"Old like Enzo?"
She shook her head.
"No."
She touched her chin.
"Like Daddy."
That answer made me freeze.
"Like Dante?"
She nodded.
"But not the same."
I felt a chill move through me.
Before I could ask more, footsteps approached.
Dante.
He stopped when he saw Livia standing outside my room.
His eyes immediately went to her face.
Then mine.
"What happened?"
Livia became quiet.
Too quiet.
I looked at Dante.
"We need to talk."
He noticed my expression.
And instantly became serious.
He crouched beside his daughter.
"Livia."
The little girl looked at him.
"Did someone come to see you?"
For a moment, I thought she would lie.
Not because she wanted to.
Because she was scared.
But then she slowly nodded.
Dante's face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
"Who?"
Livia whispered:
"The man who said Mommy wasn't gone."
The silence that followed felt heavy.
Dante stood.
Slowly.
"Enzo."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Within seconds, the entire mansion shifted.
Guards appeared.
Doors opened.
Phones rang.
The calm atmosphere disappeared.
I watched Dante.
The man who had been patient with his children.
The man who had quietly watched Livia trust me.
Now he looked like the person everyone feared.
"Dante."
He turned.
"Who was Livia's mother?"
The question came out before I could stop it.
His expression changed.
A pain appeared in his eyes.
Not anger.
Pain.
"Her name was Sofia."
"Was?"
He looked away.
"She died."
I didn't know what to say.
Livia was still holding Pearl.
Watching us.
Dante noticed.
He immediately softened.
"Enzo will take the children upstairs."
"No."
Livia grabbed my hand.
"I want Evelyn."
The room stopped.
Dante looked at me.
Then at his daughter.
And I realized something.
For all his power.
For all his control.
He could not force his children to trust him.
But somehow, they trusted me.
"I'll stay with her."
Dante nodded.
Then he walked away.
But before leaving, he said something quietly.
"Don't let her out of your sight."
I looked at him.
"Because of the man?"
"Because whoever came here knew exactly where to hurt me."
Then he left.
An hour later, I was sitting in the nursery with Livia.
The two boys were there too.
The serious one, whose name I learned was Matteo, sat on the floor arranging chess pieces.
The other, Luca, was drawing beside him.
They were quieter than usual.
They knew something had changed.
Children always knew.
"Did Mom really leave?"
Luca suddenly asked.
I looked at him.
I didn't answer immediately.
Because I had learned something important.
Children hated lies.
Especially beautiful ones.
"I don't know."
Matteo looked up.
"Everyone says she died."
I glanced at them.
"Do you believe that?"
Nobody answered.
That told me enough.
"What do you remember about her?"
Luca looked down.
"Her perfume."
Matteo moved a chess piece.
"Her singing."
Livia hugged Pearl.
"Her necklace."
I turned toward her.
"Her necklace?"
She nodded.
"She said it would protect me."
"What happened to it?"
Livia touched her neck.
"It disappeared."
My attention sharpened.
"When?"
"After the night Mommy left."
I felt something was wrong.
Because everyone had told these children their mother died.
But they were describing a disappearance.
Not a death.
That night, after the children slept, I found Dante in his office.
He was standing beside the window.
A file was open on the desk.
Photographs.
Documents.
Evidence.
I stepped inside.
"You knew."
He didn't turn.
"About what?"
"That Sofia's death wasn't simple."
The silence answered.
I walked closer.
"You told me she died."
"Because that is what I was told."
I stopped.
"What?"
Dante finally looked at me.
Seven years ago, Sofia Bellandi had disappeared.
Not died.
Disappeared.
The official story was created afterward.
A story that protected the children.
A story that protected the family.
But Dante never believed it.
"Then why did you let everyone think she was dead?"
"Because someone wanted her erased."
I looked at the files.
"And you couldn't find her?"
His jaw tightened.
"No."
That answer surprised me.
Dante Bellandi.
The man who could find anyone.
Couldn't find his own wife.
"Who wanted her gone?"
He looked at the documents.
"The same people who have been watching you."
My heart dropped.
"Sebastian?"
"No."
A pause.
"Someone higher."
I looked at the photographs.
"Why me?"
Dante didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"Why was someone watching me before I married Sebastian?"
His expression changed.
Because he knew.
And he didn't want to say it.
"Dante."
Finally, he opened the file.
Inside was an old photograph.
One I recognized.
Not because of me.
Because of the woman standing beside me.
My mother.
I froze.
"My mother?"
Dante nodded.
"Your mother knew Sofia."
I stared at the picture.
It showed my mother years ago.
Standing beside Sofia Bellandi.
Both of them smiling.
I had never seen this photo.
I had never heard Sofia's name before.
"My mother never mentioned her."
"Because she was afraid."
"Of who?"
Dante looked at me.
"The same person who sent the letter."
My hands shook.
All my life, I thought my mother's secrets belonged to the past.
Now I realized they belonged to something much bigger.
"What connection did my mother have with your family?"
Dante opened another document.
A handwritten note.
The handwriting looked familiar.
Too familiar.
I read the first line.
And my entire body went cold.
Because it was written by my mother.
The note said:
Dante, if anything happens to me, protect Evelyn. She cannot know the truth until the right person finds her.
I looked up.
"She knew about me?"
Dante's expression darkened.
Before he could answer, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
"Who is it?"
He didn't reply.
The call ended.
Then another notification appeared.
A message.
Dante read it.
And for the first time since I met him...
I saw real fear.
"What happened?"
He handed me the phone.
The message contained only one sentence.
You found Evelyn. Now bring her to the place where Sofia disappeared.
I looked at Dante.
"Where is that?"
He stared toward the window.
Then whispered:
"The old Bellandi chapel."
My blood went cold.
Because I remembered something.
The chapel inside the mansion.
The one with the candles.
The one with the bullet scars.
The one Enzo told me never to enter.
Then the lights in the hallway suddenly went out.
The entire mansion fell into darkness.
May you like
And from somewhere downstairs...
A woman's voice whispered my name.
