Chapter 5 - The Mother Behind The Wall
The voice came from the hidden passage.
"Don't trust Michael."
My entire body went still.
I stared at the darkness behind the moving wall.
The voice was my mother's.
Not a recording.
Not a memory.
Her voice.
Alive.
Michael stepped back.
Elena grabbed my arm.
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone in that room understood the same impossible truth.
My mother was somewhere beneath the estate.
A place she had claimed she knew nothing about.
I slowly turned toward Michael.
His face was pale.
"You knew."
He shook his head.
"No."
"You knew there was another passage."
"I didn't."
"Then why does my mother know about it?"
Michael looked at the opening.
"I don't know."
For the first time since he appeared, I saw fear in his eyes.
Real fear.
Not the kind people show when they are caught.
The kind they show when they realize something is worse than they imagined.
The hidden passage was narrow.
The walls were covered with old stone.
A faint light flickered from inside.
Someone was there.
Someone had been waiting.
I pulled Elena behind me.
Michael stepped forward.
"Adrian, don't."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because whoever built these passages wanted them hidden."
"And?"
"And if someone wants something hidden for that long, they usually don't want anyone finding it."
I almost laughed.
"My wife was trapped under my house for two months."
I pointed toward the passage.
"My family built a prison beneath my home."
I stepped forward.
"I think we are past worrying about what they want."
I entered the hidden hallway.
Michael followed.
Elena stayed close behind me.
The deeper we walked, the colder it became.
The walls changed.
The old stone disappeared.
Replaced by smooth concrete.
Modern.
Recently built.
Someone had expanded these tunnels.
Not decades ago.
Recently.
I touched the wall.
Still clean.
Still maintained.
"This wasn't abandoned," Michael whispered.
I looked at him.
"No."
I continued walking.
"Someone has been using this place."
After several minutes, the passage opened into another room.
And there she was.
My mother.
Sitting at a small table.
Calm.
Perfectly dressed.
As if she wasn't hiding underground after imprisoning my wife.
As if she hadn't destroyed my family.
She looked at me.
No surprise.
No fear.
Only sadness.
"Adrian."
I stared at her.
"Explain."
She looked at Elena.
Then at Michael.
Her eyes changed.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
Not of me.
Of them.
"You shouldn't have brought him here."
I froze.
"Brought who?"
She looked at Michael.
"Your brother."
Michael stepped forward.
"What did you do to him?"
My mother looked away.
"Everything I did was to protect you."
I laughed.
A quiet, empty laugh.
"Protect me?"
I pointed toward Elena.
"She was locked in a room."
"I know."
Those two words shocked me.
She admitted it.
Just like that.
"You knew?"
My mother closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Elena looked at her with disbelief.
"You knew I was down here?"
My mother didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The silence was enough.
My hands curled into fists.
"How long?"
My mother whispered:
"From the beginning."
The room became silent.
Elena stepped backward.
I felt her pain.
Because she wasn't just betrayed by my family.
She was betrayed by everyone.
"I trusted you."
My mother's expression softened.
"I know."
"No."
Elena shook her head.
"You don't know."
Her voice cracked.
"You sat at my wedding."
"You held my hand when I told you I was pregnant."
"You called me your daughter."
My mother looked down.
"And then you locked me away."
The shame on my mother's face almost made me angrier.
Almost.
Because guilt didn't erase what she did.
"Why?"
I asked.
One word.
One question.
The question that had been destroying me.
Why?
My mother looked at the ground.
"Because your father told me what would happen."
I froze.
"My father?"
She nodded.
"He wasn't dead."
Michael stepped forward.
"I told you."
My mother looked at him.
"You know nothing about what happened."
Michael's eyes hardened.
"I know you helped him fake my death."
The room went quiet.
I looked at my mother.
"What?"
She closed her eyes.
Michael continued.
"The night I disappeared, mother helped father remove me from the family."
My mother's voice trembled.
"I was trying to save you."
Michael laughed bitterly.
"You watched them take me."
"I had no choice."
"You always had a choice."
I looked between them.
My family.
My entire life.
Built on secrets.
"Tell me the truth."
My mother looked at me.
"You want the truth?"
"Yes."
"Even if it destroys everything?"
I stepped closer.
"It already has."
She took a deep breath.
Then she walked toward the table.
She opened a drawer.
Inside was a small black box.
She placed it in front of me.
"I kept this because I knew one day you would find out."
I opened the box.
Inside was a key.
And a photograph.
The photograph showed my father.
Alive.
Standing beside a woman I didn't recognize.
And beside them...
Was a child.
A young boy.
My hands tightened around the picture.
"Who is this?"
My mother looked at Michael.
Then at me.
"That is the reason your father destroyed this family."
I stared at the child.
"Who?"
My mother whispered:
"Your father's first son."
I felt the room spin.
"My father's what?"
Michael looked away.
"He never told you."
I looked at him.
"You knew?"
He nodded.
"I found out before I disappeared."
The photograph shook in my hand.
A brother.
Another child.
Another secret.
My father had built an entire world of lies around us.
But why?
My mother pointed at the key.
"That opens your father's private archive."
"Where?"
"Below the old chapel."
I frowned.
"There is no archive."
"There is."
She looked directly at me.
"And inside it is the proof of why Elena was taken."
I looked at Elena.
She was holding her stomach.
Scared.
Confused.
But still standing.
I walked toward my mother.
"Why did they want my child?"
My mother didn't answer immediately.
That scared me.
Then she said:
"Because your child was never supposed to belong to you."
My blood went cold.
"What does that mean?"
She looked at the photograph.
"Your father planned the next heir before you ever became one."
I heard footsteps.
Above us.
Many footsteps.
My mother suddenly looked terrified.
"They found us."
Michael immediately reached for his weapon.
"Who?"
My mother whispered:
"The people your father left behind."
The lights flickered.
The entire underground room went dark.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
One sentence.
"Come to the chapel alone, Adrian."
I looked at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
My heart stopped.
Because the picture showed the old chapel.
And standing inside it...
Was my father.
May you like
Alive.
Waiting for me.
