Chapter 2 - The Object From the Shadows
Every head in the banquet room snapped toward the entrance.
Elena, the family’s head maid for over a decade, stood framed in the doorway. Her brunette hair was pulled back in a neat bun, but her apron was rumpled, her chest heaving as if she had sprinted across the entire estate grounds. Her face was flushed, tears glistening on her cheeks.
In her trembling hands, she clutched an old, dusty VHS cassette tape.
"Elena?" Victor’s voice instantly turned sharp, laced with venomous irritation. "What is the meaning of this insolence? We are in a closed executive meeting. Get back to the servants' quarters before I have security throw you out into the street."
Elena didn't retreat. Her eyes locked onto Luca. Ignoring Victor completely, she walked briskly down the length of the dining table, her black work shoes clicking against the polished marble floor.
"Mr. Moretti," Elena choked out, her voice quivering with raw terror. "Do not sign those papers. Please... for the love of God, do not give him your wife’s legacy."
Before Victor could rise from his seat, Elena reached the head of the table. With a sharp clatter that echoed like a gunshot beneath the crystal chandeliers, she slammed the dusty VHS tape onto the white tablecloth right in front of Luca.
The tape was caked in grey cellar dust. Across its peeling white label, faded blue ink spelled out a chilling message in hurried handwriting:
*October 12... 11:43 P.M... Do not let them erase this.*
Luca’s breath caught in his throat. That date was burned into his soul. October 12, eight years ago, was the exact night Alessandra had driven down the winding mountain pass—and plummeted into the ravine.
Beside him, little Sophie leaned closer, her soft brown eyes fixed on the mysterious plastic box.
Across the table, the color instantly drained from Victor Hale’s face.
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👉 Why did the sight of an eight-year-old plastic tape turn Victor's smug face ghost white?
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