Chapter 7 - THE ROOM UNDER THE STAIRS
I found the hidden room beneath the western staircase that night.
There was no door.
Only a false wall.
Inside were boxes.
Photographs.
Contracts.
Passports.
Letters.
And a photograph of my father standing beside Isabella Rossi.
Vivien's mother.
My hands went cold.
Behind the photograph was a letter.
I opened it.
My father's handwriting.
Isabella,
If anything happens to me, protect Vincent from the people inside this family.
Don't trust Dante.
And never let Vivien know where the original trust documents are.
I read the sentence again.
Never let Vivien know.
But why?
I searched the room further.
Then I found another photograph.
Vivien as a child.
Standing beside Dante.
They were smiling together.
My heart stopped.
They had known each other long before she met me.
The entire relationship had been manufactured.
The wedding.
The trust.
The safe.
Everything.
I called my attorney.
“Come to Ravenwood.”
“Tonight?”
“Immediately.”
Then I looked at the photograph again.
There was one detail I couldn't explain.
Vivien's mother was standing beside my father.
And both of them were holding the same blue folder.
The folder Vivien had photographed from my safe.
May you like
Whatever was inside it had been important to my father.
Important enough to destroy a family.
