Chapter 3The Secret Room

The door opened with a slow metallic sound.

Elena froze.

Adrian immediately raised his weapon.

"Stay behind me."

Daniel moved toward the hallway, but Adrian stopped him with a gesture.

"No. I'll handle it."

The hidden mansion was silent.

Only the soft hum of the security system could be heard.

Adrian walked toward the open door.

Elena followed despite his warning.

"Adrian, what's inside?"

"I don't know."

She looked at him in disbelief.

"You own this place and you don't know?"

"I've never seen that door open."

They reached the doorway.

Beyond it was a narrow staircase descending into darkness.

Adrian switched on his flashlight.

The stairs seemed to continue endlessly underground.

Elena swallowed.

"Someone could be down there."

"That's what worries me."

They slowly descended.

At the bottom stood another steel door.

Adrian examined the lock.

There were no handles, no keyhole, and no visible controls.

Then Elena noticed something engraved on the metal.

A symbol.

A black crown surrounded by three small circles.

She touched it.

The door suddenly unlocked.

Adrian grabbed her hand.

"Don't."

But it was too late.

The door opened.

Inside was a small room filled with old photographs, documents, and boxes.

Elena stepped inside.

Her eyes moved across the walls.

There were photographs of Adrian's father.

Photographs of her father.

And photographs of Adrian as a teenager.

She stopped.

"Why are there pictures of me?"

Adrian looked at the wall.

There was a photograph of Elena when she was seventeen.

She remembered that day.

It had been taken outside her family home.

"But who took this?"

Adrian didn't answer.

Elena turned toward him.

"You knew me before today."

"No."

"Then why do you have my photograph?"

Adrian walked toward an old wooden desk.

"I didn't put it here."

Elena stared at him.

"Then who did?"

He opened a drawer.

Inside was an envelope covered in dust.

His name was written across it.

ADRIAN BLACKWOOD.

He opened it.

There was a single handwritten page.

Adrian read the first line.

His face changed.

"What does it say?" Elena asked.

He handed the letter to her.

Elena read it.

Adrian,

If you are reading this, then the secret has survived longer than I expected.

Do not trust anyone. Not even the people closest to you.

The girl will return when the time is right.

She carries the truth in her blood.

Elena looked up.

"The girl?"

Adrian nodded slowly.

"That's you."

She shook her head.

"This doesn't make sense."

"There is more."

She continued reading.

When she returns, protect her.

The enemy will come for her.

And when the final door opens, she will learn why her father disappeared.

Elena's hands began to shake.

"My father wrote this?"

Adrian looked at the handwriting.

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"Because I knew his handwriting."

Elena sat down.

For years she had believed her father had abandoned her.

Now everything she believed was falling apart.

"Adrian..."

He looked at her.

"Was my father alive after he disappeared?"

Adrian remained silent.

"Answer me."

"I don't know."

"You're lying."

"I don't know where he went."

"But you knew something."

Adrian looked away.

"Your father asked me to protect you."

"Then why didn't you?"

His eyes met hers.

"Because I failed."

Silence filled the room.

Elena stood.

"What happened?"

Adrian took a deep breath.

"Fifteen years ago, your father discovered that someone inside my family's company was selling information to a criminal organization."

"Who?"

"We never found out."

"Then what happened?"

"My father confronted the traitor."

"And?"

"He was killed."

Elena's voice became quieter.

"What about my father?"

"He disappeared the same night."

She stared at Adrian.

"You think the same people took him?"

"I know they did."

Elena turned away.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I thought they were still watching."

She looked back at him.

"And now?"

Adrian looked at the photograph of her.

"Now they know you're here."

A loud alarm suddenly sounded.

Adrian immediately moved toward the door.

Daniel's voice came through his earpiece.

"Sir! We've got a problem."

"What?"

"Someone breached the outer security."

Adrian's expression hardened.

"How many?"

"I don't know. The cameras are down."

Adrian looked at Elena.

"Stay here."

"No."

"Elena."

"I'm not hiding anymore."

He stared at her.

Then he gave a reluctant nod.

"Stay close."

They left the secret room.

The mansion was suddenly filled with red emergency lights.

Security personnel moved through the corridors.

Daniel ran toward them.

"Sir, someone entered through the west tunnel."

Adrian looked at the security monitors.

Every screen was black.

Then one screen flickered.

A masked man appeared.

He was standing inside the mansion.

Elena's heart stopped.

"He's already inside."

Adrian raised his gun.

"Find him."

Daniel and the guards disappeared down the corridor.

Elena looked at Adrian.

"Who is he?"

"I don't know."

The masked man appeared on another screen.

Then another.

He seemed to be everywhere.

Suddenly, the speakers came alive.

A distorted voice filled the mansion.

"Adrian."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"Show yourself."

The voice laughed.

"You still protect the girl."

Elena looked at Adrian.

"Who is he?"

The voice continued.

"You promised her father."

Adrian stepped forward.

"Leave her out of this."

"You should have kept your promise fifteen years ago."

Adrian's face went pale.

The voice became colder.

"Ask Elena about the night her father disappeared."

Elena frowned.

"What does he mean?"

Adrian looked at her.

"I don't know."

The masked man appeared on the screen again.

This time, he removed his mask.

Elena stared at the face.

She knew him.

She had seen him before.

But not recently.

Years ago.

In an old family photograph.

Her father had been standing beside him.

Elena whispered:

"That's..."

Adrian looked at her.

"Who?"

"My father's friend."

The screen went black.

Then the mansion doors slammed shut.

Adrian immediately grabbed Elena's hand.

"Stay with me."

She looked at him.

"Adrian, who was that man?"

Adrian's expression was filled with shock.

"I thought he was dead."

Before Elena could ask another question, a voice came from behind them.

"People like me don't die that easily."

They turned.

The masked man stood at the end of the hallway.

He smiled.

And in his hand was a photograph of Elena's father.

"Now," he said, "we can finally talk."