The billionaire secrete curse

Chapter 4: the secret floor

Nia’s POV

The elevator doors slammed shut behind us.

I jumped.

“Lucien.”

He didn’t move.

His eyes were fixed on the dark hallway in front of us.

“What is this place?”

“I don’t know.”

“You said this floor doesn’t exist.”

“It doesn’t.”

I looked at him.

“Then where are we?”

He didn’t answer.

The hallway was silent.

Too silent.

I held my pendant tightly.

It was warm again.

Lucien noticed.

“Don’t touch it.”

“Why?”

“Just don’t.”

I looked down at it.

The symbol was glowing faintly.

“What is happening to it?”

Lucien stepped closer.

Before he could answer, a door at the end of the hallway slowly opened.

I froze.

Someone was standing inside.

I couldn’t see their face.

“Who’s there?”

The person didn’t answer.

Instead, they turned and disappeared into the room.

Lucien grabbed my hand.

“Stay behind me.”

We started walking.

“Where are we going?”

“To find out who brought us here.”

We reached the door.

Lucien pushed it open.

The room was dark.

Then the lights came on.

I gasped.

The walls were covered with photographs.

Photographs of my father.

Photographs of Lucien.

And photographs of me.

My heart stopped.

“Why are there pictures of me?”

Lucien stared at the wall.

He looked shocked.

“I don’t know.”

I walked closer.

There were pictures of me at school.

Pictures of me walking home.

Pictures of my mother.

Pictures of my father.

Someone had been watching my family.

For years.

I felt sick.

“They’ve been watching us.”

Lucien’s face hardened.

“Apparently.”

I looked at him.

“You said you didn’t know who was behind this.”

“I didn’t.”

“Then how do you explain this?”

He had no answer.

I moved to another wall.

There was a large photograph of my father standing beside Lucien’s brother.

I stared at it.

“Your brother.”

Lucien came closer.

“That picture was taken before he disappeared.”

“When?”

“Ten years ago.”

I looked at the photograph again.

Something was written underneath it.

A date.

Then a name.

I read it quietly.

“Daniel Carter.”

Lucien looked at me.

“What?”

I pointed at the writing.

“That’s my father’s name.”

He stepped closer.

There was another line beneath it.

THE AGREEMENT WAS MADE.

I looked at Lucien.

“What agreement?”

He didn’t answer.

“Lucien.”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re lying again.”

“I said I don’t know!”

His voice echoed through the room.

I stepped back.

He closed his eyes and took a breath.

“I’m sorry.”

I had never seen him lose his temper like that.

Then I noticed something behind him.

A small table.

There was an envelope on it.

My name was written on the front.

I walked toward it.

“Nia.”

I picked it up.

“It’s for me.”

Lucien reached for it.

“No.”

I pulled it away.

“Why?”

“Because we don’t know who left it.”

“I need to know.”

I opened the envelope.

Inside was a single photograph.

My father.

But he wasn’t alone.

He was standing beside a woman.

I stared at the picture.

I knew that woman.

My heart dropped.

“That’s…”

Lucien looked at the photograph.

“Who is she?”

I couldn’t speak.

He looked at me.

“Nia?”

I finally whispered,

“My mother.”

Lucien’s expression changed.

“What?”

“My mother was there.”

I turned the photograph over.

There were words written on the back.

Ask Celeste what happened that night.

My hands started shaking.

Lucien took the photograph.

“Your mother knows something.”

I shook my head.

“No.”

“Nia—”

“My mother would never lie to me about my father.”

“Then why was she with him?”

I didn’t know.

For years, my mother had told me almost nothing about my father’s disappearance.

Maybe there was a reason.

Suddenly, we heard footsteps outside.

Lucien immediately put the photograph in his pocket.

“Someone’s coming.”

I looked toward the door.

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

The footsteps stopped.

Lucien stood in front of me.

The door slowly opened.

A man walked into the room.

He looked at Lucien.

Then at me.

“Mr. Vale.”

Lucien’s eyes narrowed.

“Who are you?”

The man smiled.

“You still haven’t figured it out?”

Lucien moved forward.

The man stepped back.

“You’ve been looking in the wrong place.”

“What do you want?”

The man looked at me.

“I don’t want anything from her.”

He paused.

“I want what she has.”

His eyes moved to my pendant.

I held it tightly.

Lucien stepped in front of me.

“You’re not getting it.”

The man smiled.

“That’s what your father said.”

My heart stopped.

“You knew my father?”

The man looked at me.

“Better than you ever did.”

Before I could ask another question, the room suddenly went dark.

I heard Lucien shout my name.

Then I felt someone pull me backward.

I screamed.

“Lucien!”

He grabbed my hand.

“Don’t let go!”

I held onto him.

But the person behind me pulled harder.

The pendant slipped from my fingers.

I heard it hit the floor.

Then everything went silent.

When the lights came back on…

The man was gone.

And so was the pendant.