Before You Found Me

THE HIDDEN ROOM

While wandering through the mansion, Isla noticed a door hidden behind a bookshelf.

It was slightly open.

Curious, she stepped inside.

The room was filled with old photographs.

Awards.

Family portraits.

Newspaper clippings.

Everything inside seemed untouched by time.

A layer of dust covered some of the shelves, while other photographs looked as though someone had recently handled them.

Isla slowly walked farther into the room.

She had been exploring the mansion because she couldn't sleep.

The house was too quiet at night.

Every small sound seemed louder than it should.

She had tried reading.

She had tried watching television.

Eventually, she had decided to walk around.

She never expected to find this.

Her eyes moved across the walls.

There were photographs of Adrian as a child.

Adrian standing beside his father.

Adrian sitting on his mother's lap.

Adrian receiving an award at school.

Adrian smiling beside a birthday cake.

She smiled at the younger version of him.

"He really did smile more."

Then she noticed several newspaper clippings arranged beneath the photographs.

She stepped closer.

Some were about Hale Industries.

Others were about Adrian's father.

One headline caught her attention.

HALE INDUSTRIES ANNOUNCES MAJOR EXPANSION

Another read:

BUSINESSMAN RICHARD HALE NAMED ONE OF THE CITY'S MOST INFLUENTIAL LEADERS

Isla continued reading.

Then she noticed something strange.

Several clippings had been deliberately removed.

Only empty spaces remained on the wall.

She frowned.

"Why would someone remove them?"

She reached toward one of the empty spaces.

Then stopped.

A photograph caught her attention.

A younger Adrian stood beside his parents.

And beside them was Victor.

They looked happy.

Like a real family.

"So what happened?" she whispered.

"You found the room."

Isla spun around.

Adrian stood in the doorway.

She placed a hand over her chest.

"You scared me."

"Sorry."

"You should make more noise when you walk."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"I'll remember that."

She looked back at the photograph.

"I didn't know this room existed."

"Most people don't."

"Why?"

Adrian stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"I come here when I miss them."

He picked up one of the framed photographs.

His parents stood on either side of him.

They looked happy.

Young.

Untouched by whatever had happened afterward.

"My father trusted the wrong person."

His eyes settled on Victor's face.

"And it destroyed everything."

Isla turned toward him.

"Victor?"

Adrian nodded.

"What did he do?"

Adrian placed the photograph back on the table.

"It's complicated."

"That's what people say when they don't want to tell the truth."

He looked at her.

"You really don't know how to leave things alone."

"Not when something doesn't make sense."

Adrian gave a quiet laugh.

Then his expression became serious again.

"My father and Victor built the company together."

"Your uncle helped him?"

"Yes."

"Then what happened?"

"Money."

Isla waited.

"Victor became obsessed with expanding the company."

Adrian walked toward the newspaper clippings.

"My father believed in building slowly. Victor believed in taking every opportunity, no matter the cost."

"And they disagreed?"

"Constantly."

He picked up another clipping.

"Eventually, Victor made a deal behind my father's back."

"What kind of deal?"

"I don't know everything."

Isla frowned.

"You don't?"

"I was young."

"How young?"

"Seventeen."

She looked at him.

"You remember what happened?"

"Some things."

His voice became quieter.

"I remember my parents arguing."

"About Victor?"

"Yes."

"What were they saying?"

Adrian stared at the floor.

"My father told Victor that he couldn't continue."

"Continue doing what?"

"Using company money for private deals."

Isla's eyes widened.

"Was he stealing?"

"I never proved it."

"But you suspect it."

"I know my father did."

He paused.

"And I know he trusted Victor enough to give him access to things he should never have had."

Isla looked at the photographs again.

"So Victor betrayed him?"

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"That's what I believe."

"What happened to your parents?"

Adrian was silent for several seconds.

Then he spoke.

"They died ten years ago."

"I know."

"Officially, it was an accident."

Isla's eyes narrowed.

"Officially?"

Adrian looked at her.

"There were too many unanswered questions."

"Like what?"

"The car."

She immediately remembered his own accident.

Her expression changed.

"What about it?"

"My father's car had been inspected before they left."

"And?"

"Everything was fine."

Isla felt a chill.

"Then how did the accident happen?"

"That's the question I've been asking for ten years."

She looked at him carefully.

"Do you think someone caused it?"

Adrian didn't answer.

He didn't need to.

His silence told her everything.

"Victor?"

"I don't know."

"You said your father trusted the wrong person."

"Yes."

"And you think that person was Victor."

"I think Victor knows what happened."

"That's different from believing he caused it."

Adrian nodded.

"I know."

Isla walked closer.

"Have you ever confronted him?"

"Many times."

"What did he say?"

"That my father made mistakes."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

She shook her head.

"That's suspicious."

Adrian almost smiled.

"You're becoming a detective."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

He looked at the wall.

"There was one thing my father said the night before he died."

"What?"

Adrian's eyes moved toward her.

"He told me never to trust anyone who wanted the company more than they wanted the family."

Isla's heart sank.

"Did he mean Victor?"

"I don't know."

"Did you tell the police?"

"I was seventeen."

"I mean later."

"I did."

"And?"

"They said there wasn't enough evidence."

Isla looked around the room.

"That's why you kept all this?"

Adrian nodded.

"Every photograph. Every article. Every document I could find."

"You're still searching."

"Every day."

She walked toward a desk in the corner.

Several folders were stacked on top of it.

One was labeled with a date.

Another contained financial documents.

She looked at Adrian.

"Can I?"

He hesitated.

Then nodded.

Isla opened the first folder.

Most of the pages were financial records.

She didn't understand everything.

But one name appeared repeatedly.

Victor Hale.

Then she noticed another name.

A company she didn't recognize.

"What's this?"

Adrian walked toward her.

His expression changed the moment he saw the document.

"Where did you find that?"

"Here."

He took it from her.

For several seconds, he simply stared at it.

"Adrian?"

He didn't respond.

"What is it?"

"This company shouldn't exist anymore."

"Why?"

"Because it was dissolved ten years ago."

Isla looked at the document.

"Then why is it here?"

"I don't know."

He turned another page.

There were transactions.

Large amounts of money.

Dates.

Account numbers.

And Victor's signature.

Adrian's face became pale.

"This was never in the records."

"What does that mean?"

"It means someone hid this."

Isla looked at him.

"Who?"

Before Adrian could answer, a sound came from outside.

Footsteps.

Both of them froze.

Someone was walking down the hallway.

Adrian quickly closed the folder.

"Stay here."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know who's outside."

He moved toward the door.

The footsteps stopped.

Silence.

Adrian opened the door.

The hallway was empty.

Isla stepped beside him.

"Did you see anyone?"

"No."

They looked down the corridor.

Nothing.

Then Adrian noticed something on the floor.

A small black object.

He picked it up.

A button.

Not from his clothes.

Not from Isla's.

It looked like it had fallen from a suit.

Adrian stared at it.

Isla noticed his expression.

"What?"

"I know this button."

"From where?"

He looked toward the staircase.

"Victor's suit."

Isla's eyes widened.

"You think he was here?"

"I don't think."

He closed his hand around the button.

"I know."

Neither of them spoke.

Somewhere downstairs, a door quietly closed.

Adrian looked at Isla.

"Stay close to me."

She nodded.

They returned to the hidden room.

Adrian locked the door.

Isla looked at the old photographs again.

The happy family in the pictures suddenly seemed different.

Not peaceful.

Not perfect.

Just people who had trusted each other.

And perhaps that had been their greatest mistake.

Adrian looked at the photograph of his parents one last time.

"I spent ten years trying to find the truth."

He turned toward Isla.

"Now I think someone just handed it to me."

Outside the hidden room, footsteps slowly moved away.

Neither of them noticed the small security camera hidden above the hallway.

Its red light blinked once.

Then twice.

Someone had been watching.

And whoever it was...

Now knew that Adrian had found the missing evidence.