CHAPTER 7 – THE HIDDEN ROOM
CHAPTER 7 – THE HIDDEN ROOM
The mansion erupted into controlled chaos.
Search teams spread across the estate.
Drones filled the night sky.
Roadblocks appeared within minutes on every highway leading out of Chicago.
Yet Dominic Moretti stood perfectly still.
His eyes never left the photograph.
Someone had entered the safest house in Illinois.
Walked into his daughter's bedroom.
Taken a picture.
Walked back out.
Without anyone noticing.
That meant only one thing.
"It was an inside job."
The room fell silent.
Every employee lowered their eyes.
Dominic slowly looked at each member of his security team.
"If the person responsible confesses now..."
"I might let them live."
Nobody spoke.
Emily picked up the black envelope again.
Something rattled inside.
She turned it over.
A tiny brass key fell into her palm.
Attached to it was a handwritten note.
"The Blue Room."
Emily looked up.
"The hidden room."
Dominic understood instantly.
Without another word, they ran.
The steel-blue door beneath the mansion stood exactly where Emily had found it the night before.
Locked.
Dominic inserted the small brass key.
The heavy door swung open with a metallic groan.
Cold air rushed out.
Dust covered everything inside.
The room wasn't a prison.
It was an archive.
Shelves lined every wall, filled with documents, hard drives, old photographs, and dozens of locked storage boxes.
In the center sat a wooden desk.
On it rested a leather journal.
Dominic recognized it immediately.
"Isabella..."
His hands trembled as he opened the first page.
The handwriting belonged to his late wife.
If you're reading this, it means I was right.
I was never afraid of our enemies.
I was afraid of someone inside our own home.
Every page revealed another piece of the truth.
Isabella had discovered that millions of dollars were being secretly diverted from Dominic's businesses.
She had traced the money to shell companies.
Each company led to one name.
Victor Kane.
The trusted attorney.
The family friend.
The man Dominic had relied on for nearly fifteen years.
But the final page was worse.
Much worse.
Victor wasn't stealing alone.
Someone inside Dominic's security team had been helping him.
Emily looked toward Dominic.
"We have a traitor."
Before he could answer...
A slow clap echoed through the basement.
Victor Kane stepped out of the shadows.
He wasn't alone.
Half of Dominic's bodyguards raised their weapons...
Not at Victor.
At Dominic.
"You always were too trusting," Victor said with a smile.
Dominic's face became stone.
"Where is Ava?"
Victor laughed.
"Safe."
"For now."
"You killed Isabella."
"No."
Victor's smile widened.
"I merely arranged the accident."
Dominic fired first.
The basement exploded into gunfire.
Emily grabbed Isabella's journal and dove behind a steel cabinet.
Bullets tore through shelves.
Paper flew like snow.
Dominic fought with terrifying precision, but he was badly outnumbered.
One loyal guard fell.
Then another.
Victor slowly backed toward an emergency exit.
"Find the girl!"
"If she remembers the rest..."
"...everything is over!"
Emily froze.
Remembers?
Not imagines.
Remembers.
May you like
Ava hadn't been hearing ghosts.
She had witnessed something.
