Chapter 6: The Piano Key
1819 Words
Alexander Blake smiled at me.
I couldn’t move.
For six years, everyone had told me he was dead.
Yet there he stood.
Alive.
Watching me.
Wearing the same ring from the memory I couldn’t fully understand.
“Grace,” he said again.
His voice was calm.
Almost gentle.
That frightened me more than shouting would have.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“Run.”
Alexander’s smile disappeared.
“Don’t.”
A gunshot echoed through the corridor.
The wall beside us exploded.
I screamed.
Marcus pushed me down.
“Move!”
We ran toward the emergency staircase.
Evelyn stayed beside me, one arm around my waist.
“Can you keep going?”
“Yes.”
My ribs screamed with every step.
But fear was stronger than pain.
We reached the lower floor.
The hospital was chaos.
Patients were being rushed away.
Nurses screamed.
Security officers ran in different directions.
Marcus opened a side door.
“Through here.”
We followed him into a narrow service corridor.
Daniel came behind us.
Then—
“Grace!”
I stopped.
Diamond.
His voice.
I turned.
He was standing at the other end of the corridor.
His shirt was torn.
There was blood on his forehead.
He looked nothing like the controlled billionaire who had stood beside me that morning.
He looked terrified.
“Grace.”
My heart betrayed me.
For one second, I wanted to run into his arms.
Then I remembered falling.
I remembered his hand releasing mine.
I stepped backward.
“Don’t come closer.”
He stopped.
His eyes filled with pain.
“I knew you were alive.”
I stared at him.
“How long?”
“Since the night of the accident.”
My chest tightened.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t come for me?”
“I couldn’t.”
“You pushed me!”
His jaw tightened.
“I know.”
“You watched me fall!”
“I know.”
“You left me!”
His voice cracked.
“I thought the rescue team would find you.”
“They didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Because someone changed the coordinates.”
Silence.
Behind me, Marcus whispered,
“We need to go.”
Diamond’s eyes moved toward him.
“Take her.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Take Grace and leave.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re coming.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the corridor behind him.
“My father.”
My blood froze.
Alexander.
Diamond’s father.
The man who was supposed to be dead.
Diamond took one step toward me.
I immediately stepped back.
He stopped.
“I know you hate me.”
“You’re right.”
“You should.”
His eyes lowered.
“But I need you alive.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re the only person who can stop him.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“What does he want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
Diamond looked at me.
“Because your father left something behind.”
I froze.
“What?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to survive.”
Another gunshot sounded.
Diamond looked toward the corridor.
“Go.”
I shook my head.
“Not until you tell me the truth.”
He stepped closer.
“Grace…”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“You don’t get to protect me anymore.”
Something broke across his face.
“You’re right.”
Then he reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small object.
A key.
He held it toward me.
“Your father gave me this.”
I stared at it.
It looked old.
Brass.
Small.
With a strange symbol carved into the top.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why do you have it?”
“Because your father gave it to me the night he died.”
My heart stopped.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
The memory hit me.
A dark room.
My father’s voice.
Lillian crying.
A gunshot.
Diamond standing near the door.
I pressed my hands against my head.
“Grace!”
I heard my father’s voice.
If anything happens to me, remember the song.
I gasped.
“The song.”
Diamond looked at me.
“What?”
“My mother.”
“What about her?”
“She used to sing to me.”
I suddenly remembered the melody.
A lullaby.
The same one my mother had sung every night when I was a child.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What’s the song?”
“I don’t know the words.”
“Then hum it.”
I did.
Only a few notes.
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“What?”
He looked at Diamond.
Then at me.
“That melody.”
“What?”
“I’ve heard it before.”
“Where?”
“Lillian hummed it.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She said it was connected to something your father hid.”
Diamond’s expression changed.
“The piano.”
I looked at him.
“What piano?”
“Your mother’s piano.”
My breath caught.
It had been sitting untouched in my parents’ old house for years.
I hadn’t played it since I was seventeen.
“What about it?”
“Your father told me the key would lead to the truth.”
I stared at the key in his hand.
“The key is for the piano?”
“I think so.”
A loud crash came from upstairs.
Diamond looked toward the sound.
“They’re here.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Then we’re leaving.”
Diamond looked at me.
“Go to the Monroe estate.”
“You’re coming?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I need to slow them down.”
I stared at him.
“You’ll die.”
His eyes softened.
“Maybe.”
I hated the fear that rose inside me.
“Diamond…”
He smiled sadly.
“There you are.”
“What?”
“The woman I married.”
My eyes burned.
“I don’t know you anymore.”
“I know.”
He turned away.
Then stopped.
Without looking back, he said,
“Grace.”
“What?”
“If you find your sister…”
He hesitated.
“Don’t trust her completely.”
My heart tightened.
“Why?”
“I saw what she did six years ago.”
Before I could ask what he meant, he disappeared down the corridor.
Marcus pulled me toward the exit.
We escaped through the service tunnel and reached an underground parking area.
A black SUV was waiting.
We climbed inside.
As we drove away, I looked through the rear window.
Diamond was nowhere to be seen.
I hated myself for worrying about him.
Evelyn squeezed my hand.
“You still love him.”
I looked away.
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
I didn’t answer.
Because she was right.
⸻
Two hours later, we reached the Monroe family estate.
The house looked exactly as I remembered it.
Beautiful.
Silent.
Dead.
I hadn’t returned since my father’s death.
The moment I entered, memories attacked me.
My mother’s piano stood in the corner.
Dust covered its surface.
I approached it slowly.
My fingers touched the wood.
The melody returned to my mind.
I hummed it again.
Three notes.
Then five.
Something clicked.
I stopped.
“Did you hear that?”
Evelyn came closer.
“What?”
I pressed one of the piano keys.
Nothing.
Then I pressed another.
A hidden compartment opened beneath the keyboard.
Everyone froze.
Marcus pulled out his flashlight.
Inside was a small metal box.
My hands trembled as I lifted it.
There was a lock.
I looked at the brass key Diamond had given me.
It fit.
I turned it.
Click.
The box opened.
Inside were documents.
A flash drive.
And a photograph.
I picked up the photograph.
My father stood in the center.
Beside him was Lillian.
A younger Diamond stood on the other side.
And behind them…
My mother.
But there was another man in the photograph.
A man I had never seen before.
I turned the photograph over.
Four words were written on the back.
Four people knew the truth.
Below them were four names.
Thomas Monroe.
Lillian Monroe.
Diamond Blake.
Grace Monroe.
My breathing stopped.
“Why am I on this?”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“Because your father knew you would eventually remember.”
I picked up the flash drive.
“What is on it?”
Marcus connected it to his laptop.
A video appeared.
My father’s face filled the screen.
He looked older than I remembered.
Tired.
Afraid.
He stared directly into the camera.
“Grace, if you’re watching this, then I’m already dead.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“I need you to understand something.”
He paused.
“Diamond did not kill me.”
I froze.
“What?”
My father’s voice continued.
“He knew who did.”
The video suddenly distorted.
Then returned.
“Trust no one from the Blake family.”
My heart raced.
“Especially the man who—”
The screen went black.
Marcus checked the laptop.
“The file is damaged.”
“No.”
I grabbed the computer.
“Play it again.”
He did.
The same interruption.
Then another file opened automatically.
A woman’s voice whispered:
“Grace…”
Lillian.
My sister.
“If you’ve found the piano, then they already know.”
I stopped breathing.
“The truth isn’t in the box.”
The screen flickered.
“It’s inside your memory.”
Then the video ended.
A sound came from outside.
A car engine.
Marcus looked through the window.
His face changed.
“What?”
“There are three vehicles.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Then the estate lights went out.
Evelyn grabbed my arm.
A gunshot shattered the window.
Everyone dropped.
Marcus shouted,
“Get down!”
Another shot.
Then another.
I crawled toward the piano.
My fingers touched the hidden compartment.
And beneath the documents, I found one final object.
A small envelope.
My name was written on it in my father’s handwriting.
For Grace — open only when you remember the night I died.
I stared at it.
My hands shook.
Then I heard a voice outside.
Diamond.
“Grace!”
I rushed toward the window.
He was standing in the darkness.
Blood covered his shirt.
He looked up at the house.
“Get out!”
A gunshot rang out.
Diamond dropped to his knees.
I screamed.
“DIAMOND!”
Then another figure stepped from behind him.
A man wearing a black suit.
Silver-edged ring.
Black stone.
Alexander Blake.
He looked toward the house.
And smiled.
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