Chapter 2 - The Recording Revealed My Fiancée’s Voice—But the Three-Year-Old Knew Something Even WorseI opened the office door myself.
Elena stood there.
For half a second, neither of us spoke.
She wore a cream sweater, dark trousers, and the same silver heels Elsie had described.
Her expression was perfectly composed.
"What happened?" she asked.
I looked at her shoes.
Then at her face.
"You tell me."
Her eyebrows lifted.
"I don't understand."
I stepped aside.
She saw the audio equipment on my desk.
Then she saw the small black transmitter.
Something almost invisible moved across her face.
Fear.
Then surprise.
Then anger.
"What's that?"
"You tell me."
"I have no idea."
"Nero was attacked this morning."
Her gaze shifted toward the dog.
"By the handler?"
"Yes."
"That's unfortunate."
"Someone attached this transmitter beneath his fur."
Elena stared at it.
"And you think I did?"
"I think someone in this house did."
Her expression became wounded.
"Alessio."
I hated the way she said my name.
Soft.
Almost affectionate.
It was the same tone she used whenever she wanted me to doubt myself.
"I've been beside you for years."
"That's exactly why this is a problem."
"What problem?"
I gestured toward the computer.
"We have recordings."
She looked at Marco.
Then at the screen.
Then back at me.
"Recordings of what?"
I pressed play.
Her own voice filled the room.
"Alessio trusts the dog more than anyone."
Elena's face drained of color.
Only for a second.
Then she laughed.
"That's ridiculous."
"You recognize your voice."
"Of course I recognize my voice."
"Then explain."
She crossed her arms.
"I could be talking about someone else."
"Who?"
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came.
Then she looked toward Elsie.
And that was when Nero growled.
It wasn't loud.
But it was deep.
Elena stepped back.
"What is wrong with that dog?"
"He knows you."
"He's protecting a child from me?"
"Maybe."
Her face hardened.
"This is insane."
I didn't answer.
She turned toward Sienna.
"You brought your daughter into restricted areas again."
Sienna stepped back.
"She wasn't alone."
"She shouldn't be here."
I looked at Elena.
"Enough."
She froze.
For the first time in years, I saw genuine anger behind her smile.
Then Elsie spoke.
"She was in the blue room."
Every adult in the office turned toward her.
Elena went still.
"What blue room?"
Elsie pointed.
"The room with the flower window."
I exchanged a glance with Marco.
There was no blue room.
Not officially.
But there was an old storage chamber beyond the west corridor, painted blue decades ago.
Almost nobody knew about it.
I had never told Elena about it.
I looked at Elsie.
"How do you know?"
She shrugged.
"She took me there."
Sienna went pale.
"What?"
Elsie continued.
"She said it was a secret."
I felt the room tilt.
I looked at Elena.
"You took her?"
Elena's voice became sharp.
"She's a child. Children invent things."
Elsie shook her head.
"No."
Her little face suddenly looked frightened.
"She told me not to tell you."
My jaw tightened.
"What else did she tell you?"
Elsie hugged her teddy bear.
"She said if Mama asked, I should say I was playing."
Sienna covered her mouth.
I walked toward Elena.
She stepped back.
"You need to calm down."
"Where is the blue room?"
"I don't know."
"You just said it doesn't exist."
"I said I don't know what she's talking about."
"Then why are you afraid?"
"I'm not."
"You're shaking."
She looked down.
Her hands were trembling.
I turned to Marco.
"Search the west corridor."
Within minutes, security officers filled the hallway.
Elena tried to stop me.
"You can't search my private spaces without a warrant."
I looked at her.
"This is my house."
She went silent.
We found the blue room behind a false wall.
Inside were photographs.
Dozens of them.
Nero.
Me.
Sienna.
Elsie.
My business partners.
My drivers.
My enemies.
Some photographs were taken inside the estate.
Others were taken outside.
One showed Elsie sleeping in the servants' apartment.
Another showed Sienna dropping her daughter at daycare.
Another showed me visiting my mother's grave.
Marco opened a cabinet.
Inside were medical files.
Not mine.
Nero's.
And Elsie's.
I stared at the file labeled with her name.
"Why would anyone have this?"
Marco turned pale.
"There's something else."
He handed me a folder.
Inside was a report from three years ago.
A genetic test.
The child's name had been partially covered.
But the date was clear.
It was dated one day after Elsie's birth.
At the bottom, someone had handwritten:
MATCH: 99.8%.
I looked at Sienna.
She was crying.
"What's going on?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Elena suddenly screamed.
"Put that down!"
We turned.
She was staring at the folder.
And her fear was no longer hidden.
I walked slowly toward her.
"What is this?"
She said nothing.
"What does Elsie match?"
Still nothing.
Then Nero began growling.
He wasn't looking at Elena.
He was staring at the wall behind the cabinet.
I walked there.
Knocked.
Solid.
Knocked again.
Hollow.
Marco immediately removed the panel.
A hidden compartment appeared.
Inside was a single envelope.
My name was written on it in my mother's handwriting.
I hadn't seen that handwriting in fifteen years.
My fingers shook as I opened it.
The letter contained only one sentence.
Alessio, if you are reading this, the little girl named Elsie is the reason your father died.
I stared at the words.
Then at the three-year-old child sitting on the floor.
And for the first time, I understood.
May you like
Elsie wasn't simply a witness.
She was connected to a secret my family had buried long before she was born.
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