Chapter 4 - Elena's Warning
The video lasted less than two minutes.
But it destroyed every assumption I had made.
Elena looked directly into the camera.
“I don't know how long this recording will remain safe.”
She paused.
Then continued.
“Someone has been using your organization to move money through companies you don't control anymore.”
My eyes narrowed.
“I discovered it three weeks ago.”
She looked frightened for the first time.
“The transfers aren't random. They're paying someone.”
Gabriel leaned closer to the screen.
Elena continued.
“I don't know who the final recipient is.”
Then she looked toward something outside the frame.
Her voice dropped.
“But I know the person helping them has access to the estate.”
The video ended.
No location.
No name.
No rescue instructions.
Just silence.
Mia whispered:
“Mommy?”
I knelt beside her.
“Mommy is alive.”
“How know?”
“She told us.”
Mia looked at Bunny.
“She said Bunny was safe.”
I touched her hair.
“Yes.”
Across the room, Vittorio finally spoke.
“Alessandro, I swear I had nothing to do with this.”
I looked at him.
“Then explain the photograph.”
“I don't know why I'm there.”
“Explain the payments.”
“I can't.”
“Explain why Elena warned me about someone inside this house.”
He said nothing.
That silence was enough.
I ordered Gabriel to secure every digital system.
Then I ordered my men to lock down the estate.
No one entered.
No one left.
But before I could question Vittorio again, the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the entire house went dark.
Mia screamed.
I grabbed her immediately.
Emergency lights came on in the hallway.
Red.
Dim.
Cold.
Gabriel looked at his laptop.
“Someone just accessed the security system.”
“From where?”
He stared at the screen.
“Inside the estate.”
I felt Mia's fingers tighten around mine.
A second later, every monitor in the study turned on.
One by one.
Each showed the same image.
Our front gate.
Snow falling.
An empty driveway.
Then a message appeared across the screen.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE RABBIT ALONE.
Vittorio stared at it.
And whispered:
May you like
“They know.”
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