Chapter 5 - The Room They Buried Beneath The House
The hidden passage door opened by itself.
Slowly.
Silently.
I stepped back.
My entire body wanted to run.
But I couldn't.
Not because I wasn't afraid.
Because Olivia was somewhere inside this house.
And she needed me.
The darkness behind the mirror seemed endless.
The phone flashlight only showed a few feet ahead.
Old wooden walls.
Dust.
A narrow path built between the rooms.
A place that should not exist.
I held my stomach with one hand and the phone with the other.
My breathing became uneven.
"Olivia?"
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then a weak voice answered.
"Emily..."
My eyes filled with tears.
I moved toward the opening.
"Where are you?"
"Don't come closer."
Her voice sounded terrified.
"Why?"
A pause.
Then she whispered:
"Because Daniel knows about this passage."
My blood went cold.
I turned toward the bathroom door.
Daniel was still outside.
Waiting.
Watching.
But how much did he know?
How long had he known about this hidden space?
I looked back into the passage.
"I need to get you out."
"No."
Olivia's voice cracked.
"Emily, listen to me. You need to leave first."
"I am not leaving you here."
"You don't understand."
Her voice became desperate.
"He didn't hide me because he was angry."
I froze.
"What do you mean?"
"He hid me because I found out why he married you."
The same words again.
Why he married me.
Six years of my life suddenly felt like a puzzle where someone had removed all the important pieces.
"What did you find?"
Silence.
Then Olivia answered.
"The baby."
I touched my stomach.
"What about my baby?"
Before she could respond, a loud crash came from the bathroom door.
Daniel.
"Emily!"
I jumped.
His voice was no longer calm.
He was panicking.
"Step away from the wall."
I stared at the door.
He knew.
He knew exactly where I was.
"How did you know about this?"
No answer.
Then Victoria spoke.
"Because this house belonged to Daniel's family before it belonged to you."
I felt my stomach tighten.
What?
The passage.
The hidden rooms.
The cameras.
They weren't new.
They had been here before me.
Victoria continued.
"You moved into this house without knowing anything."
I slowly looked around.
Every memory I had in this place changed.
The room where Daniel proposed.
The bedroom where I dreamed about raising our child.
The nursery we decorated together.
All of it.
Built on secrets.
"Emily."
Daniel's voice came again.
"Open the door."
I didn't move.
"You lied to me."
A long silence.
Then Daniel said:
"Everyone lies."
I stared at the door.
That sentence hurt more than anger.
Because he didn't deny it.
He didn't say I was wrong.
He accepted it.
I opened the passage wider.
Inside, I found another door.
A small metal door hidden behind the wooden wall.
There was a keypad beside it.
I looked at the phone.
Another message appeared.
Unknown number.
"Use Olivia's birthday."
My fingers froze.
Olivia's birthday.
How did they know?
I typed the numbers.
The lock beeped.
The door opened.
Inside was a small room.
And my heart almost stopped.
Because it wasn't a prison.
It was an office.
A secret office.
There were shelves filled with documents.
Photos.
Hard drives.
Files.
And on the center table was a folder with my name.
Emily Carter.
I walked closer.
My hands shook as I opened it.
The first page was a report.
My personal information.
My childhood.
My family.
My relationship history.
Everything.
Someone had been studying me.
I turned the page.
Then I saw something that made me stop breathing.
A photograph.
Daniel and me.
Taken before we met.
Impossible.
I picked it up.
The date was printed below.
Seven years ago.
One year before our first date.
How could Daniel have a photo of me before he knew me?
The door behind me suddenly moved.
I turned around.
Olivia stepped into the room.
I almost cried.
She looked exhausted.
Her hair was messy.
Her clothes were torn.
But she was alive.
I ran toward her.
We hugged.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
I didn't care about the questions.
I didn't care about the fear.
My sister was alive.
Then Olivia pulled away.
Her face was serious.
"Emily, we have to get out."
"What is this place?"
She looked around.
"This is where Daniel kept everything."
"Everything?"
She nodded.
"The evidence."
I looked at the files.
"What evidence?"
Olivia swallowed.
"The evidence that Daniel never married you by accident."
I waited.
She looked at my belly.
Then back at me.
"The baby isn't the reason he is leaving you."
My heart sank.
"Then what is?"
Olivia hesitated.
"The baby is the reason he chose you."
I felt dizzy.
"What are you saying?"
Before Olivia could answer, the hidden room lights suddenly turned on.
We both froze.
Someone had activated them.
The security cameras in the corner moved.
They were watching us.
Olivia's face went pale.
"No."
"What?"
She stepped backward.
"He knows we're here."
The phone in my hand vibrated.
A message appeared.
Not from the unknown number.
From Daniel.
I stared at the screen.
One sentence.
"Congratulations, Emily. You finally found the room I wanted you to find."
My hands went cold.
Another message arrived.
"Now you can see why I chose you."
I looked at Olivia.
She was terrified.
Because she knew something I didn't.
"What does he mean?"
Olivia didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the camera.
And whispered:
"Emily..."
Her voice broke.
"You were never his wife."
The room went silent.
Then she said the words that changed everything.
May you like
"You were his target."
At that exact moment, the hidden room door behind us locked from the outside.
