Chapter 5 - THE MAN IN THE WALLS
We found Arthur in a sealed maintenance corridor behind the wine cellar.
Two guards brought him into my study just after midnight. He looked older than the photographs suggested, with silver hair, sunken cheeks, and a scar beneath his left eye.
He didn't seem surprised to see me.
"Your father would be disappointed," he said.
"My father is dead. You're supposed to be dead, too."
Arthur smiled faintly.
"Your family has always confused appearances with truth."
I placed the birth certificate on the desk.
"Tell me about Mia."
His smile vanished.
"Where did you get that?"
"From my mother's safe."
He tried to reach for it. Rocco caught his wrist.
Arthur leaned back.
"The child is a liability. Vivien should never have brought her into this."
"Why?"
"Because your mother made arrangements that were never supposed to be discovered."
I moved closer.
"What arrangements?"
He looked toward the door, checking whether we were alone.
Then he spoke.
"Your father had a daughter before he married your mother. Her existence threatened the inheritance structure. When your mother discovered the truth, she planned to expose the financial crimes that had followed."
I thought of the photograph.
"Who was the daughter?"
Arthur shook his head.
"I don't know whether the records are accurate. Your mother believed the child had been placed with a trusted family."
"And Mia?"
"Her mother was that family's daughter."
The room fell silent.
Arthur explained that Elena's mother had received letters and money to keep the child safe. After her death, Elena had found the documents and hidden them.
Vivien had discovered the truth and begun threatening her.
"Why would Vivien care about an old inheritance?" I demanded.
Arthur looked at me with something close to pity.
"Because if Mia's identity is confirmed, the trust she has been stealing belongs to the child."
I turned toward Rocco.
"Take him downstairs."
Arthur suddenly laughed.
"You still don't understand, Lorenzo."
He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"Vivien isn't the one who arranged your mother's death."
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Then he gave me a name I had never expected to hear.
"My father."
