Chapter 4 - THE SECRET BURIED UNDER THE MANSIONEthan could barely breathe.
“My family?”
Victoria nodded.
“Your father.”
“No.”
“You don't know him as well as you think.”
“My father loved me.”
“He loved his reputation.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because I don't want to die.”
He stared at her.
“You're afraid?”
“Yes.”
“Of whom?”
Victoria's eyes moved toward the ceiling.
“Your grandmother.”
Ethan laughed.
“My grandmother has been dead for fifteen years.”
Victoria whispered:
“No.”
Silence.
“She isn't.”
The mansion suddenly felt colder.
Ethan searched every room.
Nothing.
No sign of his grandmother.
But the security cameras showed something strange.
At 3:17 a.m., an unknown woman entered the house.
She wore a long black coat.
Her face was hidden.
She walked directly to the basement.
Then the footage ended.
Ethan called the police.
But before they arrived, Maria stopped him.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because the police were here the night Rebecca died.”
“And?”
“They didn't protect her.”
Maria pointed toward the basement.
“They helped hide what happened.”
Ethan stared.
“What is down there?”
Maria shook her head.
“I've never been allowed inside.”
Ethan opened the basement door.
A staircase descended into darkness.
He turned on the lights.
Nothing happened.
Then he noticed an old brass key hanging beside the fuse box.
He took it.
The key fit a steel door at the bottom.
Behind it was a narrow room.
Empty except for a wooden table.
On the table sat a tape recorder.
And a cassette labeled:
FOR ETHAN.
His hands shook.
He pressed play.
His father's voice filled the room.
“If you're hearing this, then I'm probably dead.”
Ethan froze.
The recording continued.
“I know you will eventually discover Rebecca.”
A pause.
“She wasn't the first.”
Ethan's eyes widened.
“She was the third.”
The tape clicked.
Then his father said:
“The first two were women who tried to expose the family.”
Another pause.
“The fourth will be someone you love.”
Ethan stopped the tape.
His heart pounded.
Then he heard footsteps behind him.
He turned.
Victoria stood in the doorway.
“Ethan.”
“What are you doing here?”
She looked terrified.
“You need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because I know who the fourth woman is.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Who?”
Victoria looked toward the nursery.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“Maria.”
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