Chapter 3: The Secret My Father Left Behind
I read the message three times.
Not because I didn’t understand the words.
Because I refused to believe them.
*Your father was alive when the agreement was made. Ask Adelaide what she signed.*
My hands went cold.
My father had been dead for twelve years.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
I turned toward my mother.
She was already crying.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just silently.
The kind of tears someone cries when they have carried a secret for far too long.
“Mother.””
She closed her eyes.
“I was hoping you would never find out this way.””
My heart pounded.
“Find out what?””
She looked at the door.
Then at me.
“Your father left something behind.””
“Hattie said there was an agreement.””
My mother nodded slowly.
“There was.””
“What agreement?””
She reached into the drawer beside her chair and pulled out a small key.
A simple metal key.
Old.
Worn.
She placed it in my hand.
“He trusted me to protect it.””
I stared at the key.
“Protect what?””
She whispered:
“The truth.””
I wanted answers.
But before I could ask another question, the mansion lights suddenly went out.
Darkness filled the room.
My instincts took over.
I moved in front of my mother.
A second later, glass shattered somewhere downstairs.
Someone had entered the house.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Salvatore.””
Her voice was filled with fear.
Not for herself.
For me.
“They know you found out.””
I looked toward the hallway.
Footsteps echoed.
Slow.
Confident.
Coming closer.
Then a voice called from the darkness.
“You should have stayed away from your father’s secrets.””
I recognized the voice.
And my blood ran cold.
Because it belonged to the one person I thought could never betray us.
May you like
My father’s oldest friend.
And the person who had signed my mother’s starvation order five days earlier.
