The Hidden Room
892 Words
The passage was narrow and completely dark.
Aria followed Dante, one hand against the wall and the other gripping the silver necklace she'd found in the box.
Behind them, shouting erupted inside the study.
“They're coming after us,” Aria whispered.
“I know.”
“Who are they?”
“People who don't want you finding out who your father really is.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It will have to be for now.”
Dante pushed open a steel door.
They stepped into a small underground room.
A single light flickered above them.
Aria looked around.
The walls were covered with photographs.
Her photographs.
Her childhood.
Her school.
Places she'd lived.
People she'd known.
Her stomach dropped.
“You've been watching me.”
Dante didn't deny it.
“I was protecting you.”
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
Aria turned sharply.
“Three years?”
“I was ordered to find you.”
“By your father?”
“No.”
Dante looked at her.
“By my mother.”
Aria stared at him.
“Your mother was supposed to be dead.”
“She was.”
“Then how could she order you to find me?”
Dante walked toward one of the photographs.
“She left instructions before she died.”
He pointed to a picture of Aria as a teenager.
“She knew someone would eventually come looking for you.”
Aria's voice softened.
“Why?”
Dante looked at her.
“Because she believed you were the only person who could expose what happened between the Romano and Vale families.”
Aria shook her head.
“I don't understand.”
“You weren't just hidden from your father's enemies.”
He paused.
“You were hidden from your own family.”
Before Aria could ask another question, the steel door rattled.
Someone was trying to open it.
Dante immediately moved in front of her.
“Stay behind me.”
The door shook again.
Then stopped.
Silence.
Aria held her breath.
A voice came through the other side.
“Dante.”
He froze.
Aria recognized the voice.
It was the man from the photograph.
The man she'd been told was dead.
“Adrian?”
Dante's jaw tightened.
The door opened.
A man stepped into the room.
Older than the photograph.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
Aria couldn't move.
Her eyes filled with tears.
The man looked at her.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then he whispered,
“Aria.”
Her voice trembled.
“Dad?”
Adrian Vale nodded.
“I've waited a long time to hear you call me that.”
Aria took a step forward.
Then stopped.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you leave me?”
Adrian looked down.
“Because staying would have gotten you killed.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice!”
Her voice echoed through the room.
Adrian flinched.
Aria wiped her tears.
“You could have found me.”
“I did.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“I watched from a distance.”
She shook her head.
“That doesn't make it better.”
“I know.”
Dante stepped between them.
“Tell her the truth.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You sound like your mother.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“Don't talk about her.”
“She trusted you.”
“And she died because of this.”
Adrian's face darkened.
“She died because your father betrayed us.”
Silence.
Aria looked between them.
“What betrayal?”
Adrian reached into his coat and pulled out an old photograph.
He handed it to her.
It showed Isabella Romano, Adrian Vale and Daniel Bennett standing together.
But this time, there was another person in the picture.
A woman.
Aria's mother.
Aria's breath caught.
“That's my mother.”
Adrian nodded.
“She was the reason everything started.”
“Who was she?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Her name was Elena.”
Aria's eyes filled again.
“Why have I never heard that name?”
“Because Daniel erased her from your life.”
Aria stared at the photograph.
“Why?”
Adrian's voice dropped.
“Because Elena discovered that Daniel wasn't protecting you.”
He looked at Dante.
“He was hiding you.”
“From who?”
Adrian's eyes returned to Aria.
“From the people who knew what you were capable of inheriting.”
Aria frowned.
“What am I supposed to inherit?”
Adrian took a small key from his pocket.
He placed it in her palm.
“The Vale empire.”
Aria stared at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I don't want it.”
“You don't get to choose.”
A sudden explosion shook the underground room.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Dante grabbed Aria.
“Everyone move!”
Adrian rushed toward the opposite door.
“They found us.”
Dante looked at him.
“Who?”
Adrian's face went pale.
“The Romano family.”
Dante froze.
“My family?”
Adrian nodded.
“And they're not here to kill you.”
He looked at Aria.
“They're here to take their heir back.”
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