Chapter 6: The Stranger Who Knew My Mother
“They said they were sent by your mother.””
The guard’s words remained in the air.
Nobody reacted immediately.
It was as if the entire room had forgotten how.
Luca stared at him.
The necklace in the guard’s hand reflected the dim emergency lights, a small piece of silver carrying eighteen years of unanswered questions.
“My mother is dead.””
The sentence came out automatically.
A habit.
A belief repeated so many times that it had become part of him.
The guard looked uncomfortable.
“I understand, sir.””
“No.””
Luca stepped closer.
“You don’t understand.””
His eyes moved to the necklace.
“My mother died when I was a child.””
The guard swallowed.
“Sir, the person downstairs insisted.””
“Who is this person?””
“We don’t know yet.””
Luca’s expression hardened.
“Then why are we standing here?””
He turned toward the hallway.
“Take me there.””
Two guards immediately moved.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“No.””
Everyone looked at her.
She seemed to realize too late that she had spoken.
Luca looked at her.
“Why not?””
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
“Vanessa.””
Her face tightened.
“You don’t know what you’re walking into.””
Luca gave a cold smile.
“That seems to be the theme tonight.””
He started walking.
I followed before I even realized I had moved.
“Emma.””
I stopped.
Luca looked back at me.
For a second, I thought he would tell me to stay.
Instead, he said:
“You’re coming?””
The question surprised me.
“Yes.””
Vanessa looked at me like I had lost my mind.
“She’s staff.””
Luca didn’t even turn toward her.
“She’s the person who noticed what everyone else ignored.””
The words made Vanessa silent.
I followed Luca through the mansion.
The elegant rooms disappeared behind us.
The polished floors.
The expensive artwork.
The carefully designed image of perfection.
We entered the lower level.
The air changed immediately.
The basement of the Moretti mansion didn’t look like the rest of the house.
It was older.
Colder.
The walls were stone.
The lights flickered overhead.
And at the end of the hallway was an open door.
The old storage room.
Two guards stood outside.
Luca stopped.
“What happened?””
One guard stepped forward.
“We heard movement around midnight. When we checked, we found the intruder inside.””
“Alone?””
“Yes.””
“Armed?””
“No.””
That surprised Luca.
“Then why was security alarmed?””
The guard hesitated.
“Because of what they found.””
He opened the door.
Inside, the room looked disturbed.
Boxes had been moved.
Old furniture had been pushed aside.
And in the center of the floor was a large section of broken wood.
Someone had lifted the floorboards.
Searching underneath.
Luca stared.
“What was here?””
Nobody answered.
Then Teresa spoke.
“A hiding place.””
Everyone turned.
She stood behind us.
Luca’s expression changed.
“You knew?””
She looked ashamed.
“Your father showed me.””
“What was hidden here?””
Teresa looked at the empty space.
“Something he said could only be opened by you.””
Luca stepped closer.
“But it’s gone.””
The guard nodded.
“Yes.””
“Who took it?””
The guard looked toward another door.
“The person who broke in.””
Luca turned.
“Where are they?””
The guard hesitated.
“In the interrogation room.””
Vanessa appeared behind us.
“You brought them upstairs?””
The guard looked at Luca.
“We didn’t know what else to do.””
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“Take me there.””
The interrogation room was a small office near the security area.
Not because Luca needed a place to question people.
Because his father had built the mansion with layers of protection.
Every room had a purpose.
Every hallway had a secret.
And now I understood something.
The Moretti mansion wasn’t just a home.
It was a fortress.
Inside the room sat a woman.
She looked around forty.
Dark hair.
Tired eyes.
A small cut on her cheek.
She wasn’t scared.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Most people brought into that room would have been terrified.
But she sat calmly.
Waiting.
When Luca entered, she looked up.
And smiled.
Not warmly.
Sadly.
“Luca.””
His entire body froze.
The woman stood.
“You look like him.””
Nobody spoke.
Luca stared.
“Who are you?””
The woman’s eyes moved to the necklace in his hand.
Then back to him.
“I was hoping you would ask a different question.””
His jaw tightened.
“Who are you?””
She took a breath.
“My name is Elena.””
The name meant nothing to me.
But it meant something to Luca.
Because he stepped back slightly.
“Why?””
The woman looked confused.
“Why what?””
“Why do you know my name?””
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then said:
“Because I knew you before you could walk.””
Silence.
Luca’s expression became unreadable.
“You’re lying.””
“I’m not.””
“My mother died.””
The woman’s eyes softened.
“No.””
She whispered:
“She didn’t.””
Everyone went still.
Luca looked at Teresa.
Then Vanessa.
Then the woman.
“What is this?””
Elena looked down.
“Your father wanted to tell you.””
“Then why didn’t he?””
“Because he was trying to keep you alive.””
Luca laughed.
A painful sound.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
“Because it’s true.””
“Then explain.””
Elena sat down again.
“I worked with your father.””
“Doing what?””
Her eyes moved toward the floor.
“Protecting information.””
Luca stared.
“You were part of his security?””
“No.””
A pause.
“I was part of his past.””
That answer clearly frustrated him.
“I don’t have time for riddles.””
“You have spent eighteen years believing the wrong story.””
She looked directly at him.
“Your father didn’t die because he was sick.””
Nobody moved.
“He was murdered.””
The words hit harder than I expected.
Even though we had suspected it.
Hearing it made it real.
Luca’s voice became quiet.
“Who killed him?””
Elena looked at Vanessa.
Only for a second.
But everyone saw.
Luca turned.
“Vanessa?””
She immediately shook her head.
“No.””
Elena looked away.
“It wasn’t her.””
The room exhaled.
Then she added:
“But she knows who it was.””
Luca looked at Vanessa.
“Is that true?””
Vanessa didn’t answer.
That was enough.
His face changed.
Not anger.
Betrayal.
“Tell me.””
Vanessa looked exhausted.
“I didn’t know everything.””
“You knew enough.””
“I knew someone wanted the evidence.””
“What evidence?””
She looked at Elena.
Then at the necklace.
Then finally at Luca.
“The evidence your father hid before he died.””
Luca stepped closer.
“What evidence?””
Elena spoke.
“The original company records.””
Nobody understood.
Except maybe Luca.
“What records?””
“The ones proving who really built Moretti Holdings.””
Luca frowned.
“My father built it.””
Elena shook her head.
“No.””
A pause.
“He built part of it.””
The room became silent.
“Your mother helped him.””
Luca looked stunned.
“My mother?””
“Yes.””
Elena looked at the necklace.
“She wasn’t just your father’s wife.””
“Then what was she?””
Elena took a breath.
“The person who knew where all the bodies were buried.””
The words sent a chill through the room.
Not literally.
But enough.
Because suddenly the mystery wasn’t about a hidden letter.
It wasn’t about a restaurant.
It wasn’t even about a dead man.
It was about a woman who had disappeared.
A woman who knew secrets powerful enough to make people destroy buildings and threaten families.
Luca looked at Elena.
“Where is she?””
Elena’s expression changed.
Fear returned.
The same fear Vanessa had shown earlier.
“She’s closer than you think.””
“What does that mean?””
Elena looked toward the mansion above us.
Then whispered:
“It means she never really left.””
Nobody spoke.
Luca stared.
“What?””
Elena looked directly at him.
“Your mother has been watching you for years.””
A cold silence followed.
Then Luca asked the question everyone was thinking.
“Why?””
Elena hesitated.
And when she finally answered, her voice was barely audible.
“Because she wasn’t hiding from your father’s enemies.””
A pause.
“She was hiding from your father.””
Luca’s face changed.
Impossible.
Painful.
Confused.
“My father?””
Elena nodded.
“Your father wasn’t the man you think he was.””
Before anyone could respond, a guard rushed into the room.
“Mr. Moretti.””
Luca turned.
“What now?””
The guard looked terrified.
“We checked the security footage.””
“And?””
The guard held out a tablet.
“We found out how the woman got inside.””
Luca took it.
The screen showed the mansion entrance.
A woman walking through the front gate.
No disguise.
No attempt to hide.
She moved like she belonged there.
Like she had walked those halls before.
Luca watched.
Then froze.
Because the woman on the screen was older.
But he recognized her.
Everyone did.
Teresa covered her mouth.
Vanessa whispered:
“No…”
Luca stared at the image.
The woman turned toward the camera.
And for one second, it felt like she was looking directly at him.
His mother.
Alive.
Standing inside his home.
And beneath the video timestamp was the detail that made Luca’s blood run cold.
The footage was recorded.
Not tonight.
Not yesterday.
But six months ago.
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Which meant one thing.
She had been inside the Moretti mansion long before anyone knew she was alive.
