Chapter 6 - The Secret Chamber
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Adrian completely stopped breathing.
Behind him, an elderly woman in a sequined gown gasped and covered her mouth with both hands.
Anthony Moretti had been Adrian’s father. The previous Don of the Chicago syndicate. Dead for twelve years.
Elena continued, unaware of the bomb she had just dropped. "I asked her who Anthony was. I thought maybe it was an old boyfriend."
"What did she say?" Adrian asked, his voice cracking slightly.
"She started crying," Elena said, her own voice thick with emotion.
Adrian's face tightened, a muscle jumping in his jaw. "She said…"
Elena hesitated, not wanting to share such a private, painful memory in a room full of strangers. But Adrian’s desperate, commanding stare pulled it out of her.
"She said, ‘He thinks I abandoned him.’"
The ballroom erupted into furious, uncontrollable whispers.
Adrian stared at her, completely stunned. His sister Isabella had disappeared after a violent, screaming family dispute when she was twenty-four. Their father, Anthony, had spent the rest of his life bitter and broken, fully believing his beloved daughter had simply chosen to walk away from the family and never look back.
But if Elena’s mother truly was Isabella Moretti—if she had been living in poverty just miles away on the South Side—then she had not forgotten them.
Something, or someone, had intentionally kept her away.
Cassandra violently grabbed Adrian’s arm, her perfectly manicured nails digging into his tuxedo jacket.
"Adrian, this is ridiculous!" Cassandra shouted over the murmurs. "You're letting a low-level employee manipulate you at our own engagement party! She is conning you!"
Adrian looked down at her hand gripping his arm. Slowly, deliberately, Cassandra removed it, stepping back from the cold fury in his eyes.
Adrian tilted his head. "Why are you so afraid, Cassandra?"
"I’m not afraid!"
"You are."
"I am angry because this lying woman is obviously trying to insert herself into your family for a payout!"
Elena shook her head vigorously. "I don't want anything from him. Or you."
Cassandra turned on her, her eyes flashing with pure malice. "Then why are you still here?"
Elena looked around at her cheap gray uniform, feeling incredibly small. "Because I work here. I was hired for the night."
A few guests lowered their eyes, suddenly ashamed to hide their reactions to the cruel treatment of the girl.
Cassandra’s face hardened into a sneer. "You expect us to believe this magical coincidence? That the lost princess's daughter just happens to serve us champagne?"
"No," Elena looked down at the broken necklace in her trembling hand. "I don't understand any of this either."
Adrian held out his large, scarred palm.
"May I?"
This time, it wasn't a command. It was a request.
Elena hesitated, then gently placed the open silver locket into his hand.
Adrian examined the intricate engraving of the crown and the 'M'. He traced the lines with his thumb. Then, he pressed his thumbnail against an almost invisible, microscopic groove along the bottom edge of the locket.
A tiny, hidden panel clicked open behind the photograph of Maria.
Elena gasped in genuine shock. "I didn't know it did that."
Inside the hidden compartment was a tiny, folded strip of paper, heavily yellowed with age.
Adrian carefully unfolded it. There were only three lines of text, written in tiny, elegant handwriting.
His expression changed drastically as he read them. The lingering hope vanished, replaced instantly by a dark, murderous rage.
"What does it say?" Elena whispered, terrified by the look on his face.
Adrian did not answer her.
Cassandra suddenly lunged forward, trying to snatch the paper from his hand.
Adrian swiftly pulled it away, stepping out of her reach. Her movement was far too quick. Far too desperate.
May you like
Adrian stared at his beautiful fiancée, his eyes narrowing into lethal slits.
"How did you know there was something hidden inside?"
