Chapter 5 - The Night the Mansion Turned Against Him
Alejandro spent the next day preparing.
Every entrance was reinforced.
Every guard was questioned.
Every employee was searched.
The family gathered in the main house.
Mama kept me close.
Adrian stayed beside Alejandro.
Clara was placed under guard.
Dr. Gabriel remained in custody.
Lorenzo was confined to the west wing.
Nobody trusted anyone.
At sunset, Alejandro came to the kitchen.
Mama was preparing food.
He stood quietly for a while.
Then he asked:
“What does Emma like?”
Mama smiled.
“Pasta.”
Alejandro nodded.
“Tomorrow night, make pasta.”
Mama laughed softly.
“You're planning a war and thinking about dinner?”
“Both matter.”
He looked at me.
I held up my rabbit.
“My rabbit eats pasta too.”
Alejandro smiled.
“I'll remember.”
The moment felt almost normal.
Then the electricity failed.
Every light in the mansion went out.
Emergency lamps flickered red.
Tommy's voice came through the radio.
“Security breach.”
Alejandro's face changed.
“Mama, take Emma.”
He drew his weapon.
The mansion filled with footsteps.
Doors slammed.
Shouts echoed through the halls.
Then gunfire.
Mama grabbed me.
We ran toward the safe room.
The hallway doors locked behind us.
Someone had taken control of the system.
We were trapped.
“Mommy.”
“I know.”
I could hear people running inside the walls.
Alejandro was somewhere else.
Then his voice came over the emergency speaker.
“Rosa.”
Mama looked up.
“Stay where you are.”
“Where are you?”
“West corridor.”
A gunshot.
Then silence.
Mama started crying.
I touched the wall.
“He's okay.”
“How do you know?”
“His footsteps.”
She held me tighter.
We heard three loud impacts.
Then silence again.
The door opened.
Alejandro stood there.
Blood was on his sleeve.
It wasn't his.
“Come.”
We followed.
He had disarmed several attackers.
The traitor had used the mansion's hidden passages to bring men inside.
The attackers wore Moretti security uniforms.
They had duplicated access cards.
The hidden camera network had helped them learn guard movements.
The plan was brilliant.
Terrifying.
But it had one weakness.
Me.
Because I heard them.
I pointed.
“Behind the wall.”
Tommy moved.
“Nothing.”
I shook my head.
“People.”
He opened the panel.
Three men were hiding inside.
Alejandro stared at me.
“You heard them?”
I nodded.
He touched my head gently.
“You're saving me again.”
Then a voice came through the dark.
“Enough.”
Lorenzo stepped forward.
He had a gun pointed at Adrian.
Alejandro froze.
“Lorenzo.”
“Move away.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Do it.”
Lorenzo's hand shook.
“You don't understand.”
Alejandro stared.
“You poisoned me.”
“No.”
“You were on camera.”
“No.”
“Then explain the ring.”
Lorenzo looked at the black ring.
“I gave it to Victor.”
Alejandro's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because he had my daughter.”
Everyone went silent.
Lorenzo lowered the weapon.
Victor had threatened his family.
Lorenzo had obeyed.
He had helped open the west gate.
He had helped provide schedules.
But he had not poisoned the wine.
“Then who did?”
Lorenzo looked at Clara.
Everyone turned.
Clara began crying.
“I didn't.”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“Not her.”
“Then who?”
He whispered:
“Vittorio.”
The old butler.
Missing for days.
Alejandro's face went cold.
“Find him.”
Tommy checked his phone.
“He's at the south gate.”
They rushed.
Vittorio was trying to escape.
He carried a metal case.
Alejandro stopped him.
“Open it.”
Vittorio smiled.
“No.”
Tommy searched him.
Inside the case were vials.
Camera equipment.
And the original bottle of wine.
Alejandro stared.
“Why?”
Vittorio finally spoke.
“Your father promised me protection.”
“He's dead.”
“He broke his promise.”
Alejandro frowned.
“What did he do?”
“Everything.”
Vittorio had served the family for decades.
He believed Alejandro's father had betrayed him.
So he joined Victor.
But there was more.
The poison had been prepared by Dr. Gabriel.
Vittorio had delivered it.
Clara had provided the wine.
Lorenzo had opened the gate.
Victor had organized everything.
Everyone had a piece.
But one person had been manipulating them all.
Alejandro looked at Vittorio.
“Victor.”
Vittorio smiled.
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Vittorio looked toward the mansion.
“You will never find him.”
Emma heard a low hum.
I grabbed Alejandro's hand.
“Down.”
He crouched.
“What?”
“Bad sound.”
The floor shook.
Everyone froze.
A hidden mechanism activated beneath the mansion.
A wall opened.
Inside was a tunnel.
Victor had built an escape route beneath the house.
Alejandro stared.
“He's here.”
They entered.
The tunnel led to an underground room.
There sat Victor.
Beside him was Helena.
And on the table was the missing ledger.
Victor smiled.
“You finally came.”
Alejandro raised his weapon.
“Let her go.”
Victor shook his head.
“First, Adrian.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“No.”
Alejandro blocked him.
Victor laughed.
“You see?”
He pointed.
“This is why your father feared you.”
“What?”
“You don't behave like him.”
Alejandro stared.
“You think that's a weakness.”
“It is.”
Victor pressed a button.
A screen appeared.
The mansion.
Every room.
Every hallway.
Every person.
Then a final image.
Me.
Victor smiled.
“The little girl is the last piece.”
Alejandro's expression changed.
“What piece?”
Victor answered:
“She knows where the final safe is.”
I looked at Alejandro.
He looked at me.
He understood.
I didn't know where any safe was.
But someone thought I did.
Victor leaned forward.
“Your father hid the original Moretti fortune before he died.”
Alejandro stared.
“Where?”
Victor pointed at me.
“The child was with him the day he hid it.”
I shook my head.
“I don't remember.”
Victor smiled.
“You will.”
Alejandro stepped forward.
“No.”
Victor's smile faded.
“You don't understand.”
Alejandro's voice was cold.
“She is four.”
“She is the key.”
“No.”
Alejandro looked at Tommy.
Then Adrian.
Then Helena.
“Get them out.”
Victor raised his gun.
Too late.
The lights went out.
Again.
But this time, Alejandro knew exactly what to do.
May you like
The mansion was no longer his prison.
It was his weapon.
