Chapter 3 - The Door Beneath the East Wing
Adrien Bellandi had lived in his family's mansion for thirty-seven years.
He knew every staircase.
Every balcony.
Every locked office.
But he had never seen the red door beneath the east wing.
That night, he discovered why.
The basement corridor had been concealed behind shelving in a storage room used by household staff.
An old service elevator stood at the end.
Its control panel was covered with dust.
But the floor beneath it showed fresh scuff marks.
Someone had been using it.
Recently.
Adrien stood beside Marco and two investigators who'd been contacted after Celeste's call.
Evelyn remained with the children at a separate, secure location.
She'd refused to accompany armed men into a potentially dangerous basement.
Instead, she sat on the floor of a quiet guest suite, arranging wooden blocks with Luca, Matteo, and Sophia.
"Can you make a house?" she asked.
Luca nodded.
He stacked three blocks.
Matteo added a roof.
Sophia chose a red block and placed it beneath the others.
Evelyn's heart tightened.
"Is that the cellar?"
The little girl nodded.
Then she pointed toward a tiny wooden figure.
"Mommy."
Evelyn spoke gently.
"Was Mommy there?"
Sophia nodded again.
But when Evelyn reached toward the figure, the child quickly covered it with both hands.
"No take."
Evelyn withdrew her hand.
"Okay. Nobody will take it."
Sophia relaxed.
Then Luca whispered:
"Uncle said quiet."
Evelyn looked up.
"What did Uncle say?"
The boy stared at the floor.
"He said Daddy go away."
Her stomach tightened.
"Who said that?"
"Uncle Victor."
Then Matteo added:
"Mommy said no."
Evelyn carefully repeated the tapping rhythm.
Three slow.
Two quick.
All three children looked toward her.
For the first time, Luca smiled.
A tiny, uncertain smile.
Meanwhile, beneath the Bellandi mansion, investigators opened the concealed service corridor.
At the end stood a heavy steel door.
Its original paint had been covered with gray enamel.
But beneath the handle, red paint showed through.
Adrien stared.
"The children were right."
Marco nodded grimly.
An investigator examined the lock.
The keyhole matched the silver key recovered from the suspicious waiter.
After documenting the scene and obtaining the necessary authorization, the team opened the door.
Inside was a narrow room.
A small bed.
A table.
A chair.
And a cracked mirror.
Adrien stopped breathing.
On the wall, someone had scratched a message.
A + C + L + M + S
His initials.
Celeste's.
And the triplets'.
Below it were five small marks.
Three long.
Two short.
Adrien covered his mouth.
"She was here."
An investigator approached the bed.
Beneath the mattress lay a faded blue scarf.
Adrien recognized it immediately.
Celeste had worn it the day she disappeared.
He took a step forward.
Then stopped when the investigator raised a hand.
"We need to preserve the room."
Adrien nodded shakily.
For once, he wasn't thinking about revenge.
He was thinking about Celeste sitting alone in that room while he searched the world for her.
Then Marco's phone rang.
His expression changed.
"Boss, we found the waiter."
Adrien looked up.
"Where?"
"His name isn't Peter."
My stomach tightened as Marco relayed the information to Evelyn.
The man's real name was Samuel Reed.
And according to the investigators, Samuel had been employed by Victor Bellandi for eleven years.
But the next detail changed everything.
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Samuel wasn't just Victor's employee.
He was Celeste's younger brother.
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