Chapter 2 - The Voice From the Dead
Adrien Bellandi hadn't heard his wife's voice in twenty-six months.
Now it came through his phone like a ghost returning to claim everything he'd buried.
"Celeste?"
Evelyn watched his hand begin trembling.
The three children looked toward him.
Sophia whispered, "Mommy?"
On the phone, the woman began crying.
"Adrien, please listen."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Celeste, I've been searching for you for two years."
"I know."
His voice broke.
"They said you stole twelve million dollars."
A long silence followed.
Then Celeste whispered:
"I never took that money."
Adrien closed his eyes.
"I know."
But Evelyn noticed something.
He'd answered too quickly.
Like a man trying to convince himself of a truth he'd once doubted.
Celeste continued.
"Victor arranged everything."
Adrien went still.
"My brother?"
"Yes."
His jaw tightened.
"Where is he holding you?"
"Not where you think."
Then the line crackled.
A man's voice sounded faintly in the background.
Celeste gasped.
"I have to go."
"Celeste!"
She whispered urgently:
"Find the red door."
The call ended.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Adrien looked toward Marco.
"Get the house plans."
Marco nodded.
"And Victor?" he asked.
Adrien's expression turned cold.
"Don't contact him."
Evelyn watched the exchange.
She'd spent seven years working in restaurants where wealthy men believed every problem could be solved with money or threats.
But this wasn't a business dispute.
Three frightened children had finally spoken.
Their mother might be alive.
And someone close to their father had spent years making sure nobody discovered the truth.
Adrien turned toward Evelyn.
"I need your help."
She looked startled.
"Mine?"
"The children respond to you."
She glanced down.
Sophia was still holding her apron.
Luca stood beside Matteo, watching every adult carefully.
Evelyn swallowed.
"I can help them feel safe. But I'm not a therapist, Mr. Bellandi."
"I know."
"They need professionals who understand childhood trauma."
He nodded.
"I'll arrange that."
"And nobody should force them to answer questions."
"Agreed."
Evelyn studied him.
For the first time, he wasn't issuing an order.
He was listening.
Then she asked:
"Why were the children at the restaurant tonight?"
Adrien frowned.
"Victor suggested a family dinner."
Her stomach tightened.
"Victor?"
He nodded.
"He said getting them out of the house might help."
Evelyn looked toward the silver key.
The suspicious waiter.
The tapping game.
The first spoken words.
Suddenly, the evening felt less accidental.
She looked back at Adrien.
"Mr. Bellandi, I don't think your brother wanted them to have dinner."
His expression sharpened.
"What do you mean?"
"I think he wanted to find out whether they remembered."
Adrien stared at her.
Then Marco returned carrying a tablet.
"Boss, we found something in the original estate blueprints."
Adrien took the device.
His face changed.
"What?"
Marco enlarged a section of the basement.
An old service corridor appeared beneath the east wing.
At its end was a room marked:
COLD STORAGE — ACCESS RESTRICTED.
Evelyn pointed toward the small symbol beside the door.
A red square.
Adrien's breathing changed.
"That room was sealed before I was born."
Then Marco opened the renovation records.
The entrance had been reopened two years earlier.
May you like
Six days before Celeste disappeared.
And the authorization carried Victor Bellandi's signature.
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