CHAPTER 7 — THE LAST SONG OF ROSE ALVAREZ
CHAPTER 7 — THE LAST SONG OF ROSE ALVAREZ
Victor Graves's funeral was held three days later.
No body.
Only a sealed casket.
No one questioned it.
In Adrian Cain's world, empty coffins were often safer than real ones.
Rain fell over the cemetery as Emma stood beside Luca beneath a black umbrella.
She couldn't stop thinking about Victor's final words.
The song.
Not the girl.
The song.
That night, Adrian locked himself inside the underground room again.
The journals were gone.
The photographs had been stolen.
Only shattered pieces of the cassette remained.
He stared at the broken plastic until something finally caught his attention.
One tiny strip of magnetic tape had escaped the attack.
It was lodged beneath the cassette shell.
Carefully, he removed it.
On the back of the wooden chest, almost invisible beneath decades of dust, he noticed shallow scratches.
Not words.
Music.
Someone had carved musical notes into the wood.
Emma entered quietly.
"You found something."
Adrian handed her the fragment.
"I think my mother expected the tape to be destroyed."
Emma studied the carved notes.
"They're incomplete."
"Can you finish them?"
She hesitated.
"My grandmother used to make me sing a second verse."
"A second verse?"
"The radio only played the first."
Adrian's heart skipped.
"Show me."
Emma closed her eyes.
For the first time in years, she sang the forgotten verse Rose had taught her as a child.
The melody echoed through the stone chamber.
As the final note faded—
A loud metallic click echoed behind them.
Both turned.
The stone floor shifted.
A narrow compartment rose from beneath the chest.
Inside lay a small steel box.
Untouched for twenty-six years.
Adrian slowly opened it.
There was no gold.
No diamonds.
Only a leather-bound ledger.
A stack of original contracts.
A birth certificate.
And one videotape.
Emma frowned.
"What is all this?"
Adrian opened the ledger.
His face turned pale.
"It isn't about money."
"What is it?"
"It's ownership."
The documents proved that Cain Logistics—the company that had eventually grown into Adrian's billion-dollar empire—had originally belonged to his mother.
Before her death, she had transferred every share into a legal trust.
The trustee's signature froze Adrian's blood.
Victor Graves.
Emma whispered,
"He protected it."
Adrian nodded.
"He pretended to betray us..."
"...so no one would suspect he was guarding it."
Another envelope rested beneath the documents.
Across the front, written in Evelyn Cain's handwriting:
For Adrian—When You Finally Learn Who Killed Me.
They played the videotape in Adrian's private theater.
Static filled the screen.
Then Evelyn Cain appeared.
She looked exhausted.
But determined.
"If you're watching this..."
"...then Rose kept her promise."
She smiled sadly.
"Adrian... if you're old enough to understand these words, then I've already been dead for many years."
Emma watched Adrian's hands tighten into fists.
"The man who betrayed our family wasn't Victor."
Adrian closed his eyes.
He already knew.
"It was my younger brother."
Emma gasped.
"You had an uncle?"
"I thought he died."
Evelyn continued.
"Damien wanted the family empire."
"He sold information to our enemies."
"When I discovered the truth, he disappeared."
She leaned toward the camera.
"If Damien ever returns..."
"...he will wear the symbol of the raven."
The screen went black.
Neither Adrian nor Emma spoke.
Finally, Adrian whispered,
"My uncle is alive."
At that exact moment—
The mansion lights went out once again.
Not from sabotage.
From a citywide power failure.
Emergency generators activated.
Security cameras rebooted.
Then Marcus burst into the theater.
"Boss!"
Adrian stood instantly.
"What happened?"
Marcus handed him a tablet.
"The front gate camera came back online for six seconds."
On the screen stood an elderly man wearing a dark overcoat.
Silver hair.
Sharp eyes.
A silver ring engraved with a raven.
He smiled directly into the camera.
Then spoke silently.
The security camera had no audio.
May you like
Emma read his lips.
"Happy birthday... nephew."
