Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Inside the House
They returned to Chicago with Jonah.
Arnulfo's mansion was no longer a safe place.
Someone inside had been leaking information.
The music box was placed in a locked room.
Jonah examined it.
He found another hidden compartment.
Inside was a tiny metal key.
There was an inscription.
BESS FAMILY ARCHIVE.
Arnulfo recognized it.
“My father's private archive.”
Sadi asked, “Where is it?”
“Below the old estate.”
They went there at midnight.
The archive was protected by steel doors.
Arnulfo used the key.
Inside were hundreds of boxes.
Financial records.
Photographs.
Private contracts.
Letters.
And one sealed cassette.
They played it.
Victor's voice filled the room.
If you're hearing this, then Elena was right.
The family has been infiltrated from the inside.
The recording named one person.
Gideon.
Arnulfo went still.
Gideon had been his most trusted lieutenant for fifteen years.
“No.”
Sadi looked at him.
“You don't want to believe it.”
“I know him.”
“So did Elena.”
Arnulfo said nothing.
They found a ledger showing payments from Gideon to an offshore company.
Then another recording.
Gideon's voice.
Arnulfo Bess is predictable.
He'll destroy anyone who threatens his son.
That's why the boy is leverage.
Sadi felt sick.
Another voice answered.
And the waitress?
She's dangerous.
Gideon replied:
She doesn't know it yet.
Sadi stared.
“What do they mean?”
Arnulfo looked at her.
“We find out.”
They returned to the mansion.
Gideon was waiting.
He stood in the hallway with four armed men.
Luciano stood at the top of the staircase.
Gideon smiled.
“Put your weapon down.”
Arnulfo refused.
Gideon pointed upward.
“Your son first.”
Luciano didn't understand the words.
But he saw the guns.
He froze.
Sadi moved toward him.
“Luciano.”
Gideon looked amused.
“You really think a waitress can save him?”
Sadi ignored him.
She used the hand signs she had taught Luciano.
Stay.
Hide.
Trust me.
Luciano nodded.
Then disappeared behind the railing.
Gideon looked surprised.
Arnulfo smiled for the first time.
“You've underestimated him.”
Gunfire erupted.
Arnulfo and his guards returned fire.
Sadi grabbed Luciano and pulled him into a hidden passage.
The boy held tightly onto the music box.
They moved through the walls.
Sadi knew the house had secrets.
Every mansion like this did.
She found an old service stairwell.
At the bottom was a room.
Inside were photographs.
One of them showed Elena holding Luciano as an infant.
Behind her stood a man Sadi didn't recognize.
Mateo.
He looked directly at the camera.
On the back was a note.
If he is ever threatened, trust Lena Miller.
Sadi's heart stopped.
Lena.
Not Sadi.
She looked at the date.
The photograph had been taken five years earlier.
Three weeks before Elena died.
Her real name hadn't been Sadi Miller then.
She had used Lena Miller professionally.
That meant Elena had known her.
She had chosen her.
Before any of this happened.
Luciano touched Sadi's hand.
He pointed at the photograph.
Then at himself.
Sadi nodded.
“Yes.”
She realized something else.
Elena had known the attack would come.
She had prepared a chain of protection.
And Sadi was part of it.
Upstairs, an explosion shook the house.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Sadi shielded Luciano.
Then Arnulfo appeared.
Blood ran down his forehead.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Gideon?”
“Gone.”
“Your men?”
“Some are hurt.”
Luciano ran to his father.
Arnulfo crouched.
The boy touched the blood on his face.
His expression changed.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small music box.
He placed it against Arnulfo's chest.
Turned the crank.
Thrum.
Thrum.
Thrum.
Arnulfo closed his eyes.
It grounded him.
The father and son shared the vibration.
Sadi watched.
Then Gideon's voice came through the intercom.
You don't understand.
He has the wrong father.
Arnulfo looked up.
“What?”
Gideon laughed.
“Luciano doesn't belong to you.”
Everything stopped.
Sadi looked at Arnulfo.
Arnulfo's face drained of color.
Gideon continued.
“Elena never told you.”
Arnulfo shouted toward the speakers.
“Tell me!”
“Luciano is Mateo's son.”
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Sadi looked at Luciano.
The child looked at her.
He understood none of the words.
But he understood their faces.
Fear.
Pain.
Confusion.
Arnulfo closed his eyes.
Gideon continued.
“And once the boy becomes heir, Mateo controls everything.”
The speaker clicked off.
Sadi looked at Arnulfo.
“Do you believe him?”
Arnulfo's answer was immediate.
“No.”
“How can you be sure?”
He looked at Luciano.
“Because he's my son.”
Even if the blood belonged to another man, the love didn't.
May you like
But the question remained.
What had Elena hidden?
