Chapter 1: The House That Lied
The Prisoner Beneath the Marble Floors
Alejandro’s hand closed around Vivian’s wrist before she could escape.
The wine glass fell from her fingers and shattered against the marble.
Every servant in the foyer flinched.
Vivian stared at Alejandro’s hand, then slowly raised her eyes to his.
“Let go of me.”
Alejandro’s voice remained dangerously calm.
“You kept my wife imprisoned in my house for three years.”
Vivian’s fear vanished behind a practiced smile.
“Imprisoned?” she repeated. “Is that what she told you?”
Elena pushed herself upright, using the overturned bucket for support. Her bare feet slipped against the wet floor.
“She locked me in the east wing,” Elena whispered. “She drugged my food. She threatened the servants.”
Vivian laughed.
It was too loud.
Too forced.
“You should be careful, Alejandro. Elena has been unstable for years.”
She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a folded document.
Alejandro released her wrist long enough to take it.
The papers appeared to be medical records from a private psychiatric hospital. Elena’s name was printed across the top.
According to the documents, Elena had experienced hallucinations, violent outbursts, and severe memory loss.
At the bottom was Alejandro’s signature authorizing long-term treatment.
He stared at it.
“I never signed this.”
Vivian’s expression sharpened.
“Are you sure?”
Alejandro looked more closely.
The signature was nearly perfect.
Nearly.
But the final stroke curved left instead of right.
A forgery.
Behind him, Elena suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t call mansion security,” she whispered.
Alejandro glanced at her.
“Why?”
Her terrified eyes moved toward the men stationed beside the entrance.
“Because they work for her.”
The two guards reached inside their jackets.
Alejandro reacted immediately.
He pulled Elena behind him and shoved Vivian toward the nearest column. One of the older servants screamed as the guards rushed forward.
Before they could reach Alejandro, a woman stepped from the servants’ hallway holding a heavy brass candlestick.
Rosa Alvarez had worked for the Castillo family since Alejandro was a child.
She swung the candlestick into the first guard’s arm. His weapon skidded across the floor.
“Run!” Rosa shouted.
Alejandro grabbed Elena’s hand.
They raced through the kitchen as shouting erupted behind them.
Elena stumbled twice, but she refused to stop. Alejandro could feel how thin her fingers had become inside his grip.
Rosa followed and slammed the kitchen door shut.
“There’s a service tunnel beneath the pantry,” she said breathlessly. “The old wine cellar connects to the east wing.”
Alejandro stared at her.
“You knew Elena was here?”
Rosa’s face crumpled.
“I suspected. Vivian replaced most of the staff and kept the east wing locked. Every time I asked questions, she threatened my grandchildren.”
Elena knelt beside a row of shelves and pulled loose a small iron ring hidden beneath a sack of flour.
A trapdoor opened.
Cold air rose from the darkness.
Alejandro turned to Elena.
“How many times did you try to escape?”
“I stopped counting.”
The sound of boots thundered through the kitchen.
Rosa pushed them toward the opening.
Alejandro climbed down first, then helped Elena into the tunnel. Rosa lowered herself behind them and pulled the trapdoor closed just as the kitchen door burst open.
They stood in total darkness.
Alejandro turned on the flashlight on his phone.
The narrow tunnel smelled of mold and rust.
As they moved deeper beneath the mansion, Alejandro saw scratches carved into the stone walls.
Lines.
Hundreds of them.
Elena’s record of every day she had survived.
Then he noticed words carved beneath the final group of marks.
SOFIA IS ALIVE.
Alejandro stopped.
“Who is Sofia?”
Elena covered her mouth as a broken sound escaped her.
Tears filled her eyes.
When she finally answered, her words nearly brought Alejandro to his knees.
“Our daughter.”
He stared at her.
Elena placed a trembling hand over her stomach, as though remembering something that had been taken from her.
“I was pregnant when Vivian locked me away.”
Alejandro could barely breathe.
“She told me the baby died,” Elena continued. “But I heard her crying. Vivian took her from me.”
A metallic click sounded behind them.
The trapdoor at the far end of the tunnel slowly opened.
A man stepped into the darkness and aimed a gun directly at Alejandro.
Alejandro recognized him instantly.
It was his younger brother, Gabriel.
May you like
Gabriel smiled.
“You were never supposed to find either of them.”
