Chapter 7 - The Child in the Yellow Dress.
No one moved while Isabelle’s voice filled the narrow passage.
Lorenzo had not heard her speak in two years.
The sound stripped away every layer of control he had built since the accident.
Mia looked up at him.
“Mommy.”
His throat closed.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“That recording could be fake.”
Lorenzo turned on him with a look that stopped him cold.
Marcus picked up the phone using gloves.
The recording continued.
“I don’t know how much time I have.”
“I found transfers from DeLuca Holdings into shell companies connected to Adrian.”
Adrian laughed sharply.
“This is insane.”
Isabelle’s recorded voice continued over him.
“He will say I misunderstood the accounts.”
“He will say I am paranoid.”
“He will say anything that keeps Lorenzo from opening the black envelope.”
Lorenzo felt the vault key against his palm.
The unopened envelope inside the vault suddenly seemed heavier than the entire house.
Celeste covered her mouth.
Marcus stared at Adrian.
Adrian’s face had gone gray.
The recording ended with one final sentence.
“Lorenzo, if something happens to me, protect Mia from anyone who needs you powerless.”
The phone went silent.
Mia began crying again.
Lorenzo knelt and held her.
Adrian walked backward toward the nursery.
“This proves nothing about tonight.”
“No,” Lorenzo said quietly.
“It proves my wife was afraid of you before she died.”
“She was wrong.”
“Then you should welcome the vault being opened.”
Adrian’s eyes shifted.
Lorenzo saw it.
For the first time, his brother looked genuinely afraid.
Marcus escorted everyone downstairs while Lorenzo kept Mia beside him.
He refused to send her away now.
The people targeting him had already entered her room once.
The safest place was where he could see her.
As they reached the grand staircase, every light in the house went out.
The chandeliers died.
The emergency lights failed with them.
Someone screamed below.
Marcus shouted for everyone to stay still.
Lorenzo immediately reached for Mia.
His hand found empty air.
“Mia?”
No answer.
His heart stopped.
“Mia!”
A tiny cry came from somewhere down the corridor.
Then footsteps ran in the darkness.
Lorenzo sprinted toward the sound.
He struck the wall, recovered, and kept moving.
“Turn the lights on!” Marcus shouted through his radio.
The radios answered only with static.
Lorenzo reached the entrance to the service corridor.
A flash of yellow disappeared around the corner.
“Mia!”
He followed.
The corridor smelled of dust and old wood.
Somewhere ahead, a door slammed.
Then the lights returned.
Lorenzo found Mia’s yellow bow on the floor.
There was no sign of her.
Celeste arrived behind him, barefoot now, holding the hem of her red dress.
“Oh my God.”
Lorenzo picked up the bow.
His hands shook for the first time that night.
Adrian appeared at the corridor entrance.
“What happened?”
Lorenzo stared at him.
“If she is hurt, there will be nowhere on earth you can hide from me.”
Adrian’s expression twisted with anger.
“You still think this is me?”
Before Lorenzo could answer, Mia screamed from somewhere below them.
May you like
“Daddy!”
The voice came from the old wine cellar.
