Chapter 7 - The Key Beneath the Floor
Dante ordered a full search of the north wing the next morning.
The search was conducted by the independent estate manager, not Stefano's old staff. Every drawer, panel, and storage compartment was photographed before it was opened. Rocco supervised the security team, while Lívia stayed with Theo.
The boy was unusually quiet.
He sat on the rug with the blue blanket spread across his knees. Every few minutes, he looked toward the corridor.
“Are you waiting for someone?” Lívia asked.
Theo nodded.
“Flor?”
He nodded again.
“Do you think she will come today?”
He touched the blanket.
“Key.”
Lívia remembered the drawing: a door, a black rectangle, a red line. She also remembered the secret passage behind the bed.
“Can you show me where the key is?”
Theo stood and walked to the wall panel. He pressed the seam, and the hidden door opened.
Dante appeared in the doorway.
“Don't go in there without me.”
“We won't,” Lívia said.
He crouched beside Theo. “Can you show us?”
The boy crawled into the passage. Lívia followed, and Dante came behind her. The corridor opened into the maintenance room. Theo moved toward the old radiator and pointed to a loose floorboard.
Rocco fetched a tool.
The board lifted with a soft crack.
Beneath it lay a small brass key wrapped in blue cloth.
Dante picked it up.
“Do you know what it opens?”
Theo shook his head.
The key was old, with a tiny flower engraved on the bow. It did not match any of the current locks.
They searched the north wing until they found a small cabinet in Isabella's bedroom. The lock was hidden behind a carved wooden panel. The key turned.
Inside was a bundle of letters, a flash drive, and a photograph.
The photograph showed Isabella, Flor, and Theo in the garden. Behind them stood Stefano, his black ring visible as he rested a hand on the back of a chair.
On the reverse, Isabella had written: The day Flor told me the truth.
Dante opened the letters.
The first was from Flor to Isabella. It described strange deliveries to the estate and unexplained payments to security contractors. Flor had noticed that Stefano's men were entering the north wing after midnight. She believed they were searching for documents belonging to Dante's father.
The next letter was from Isabella.
She wrote that Stefano had been pressuring her to sign a power-of-attorney document while Dante was away. She had refused. She suspected he wanted control of the family trust and the companies held in Theo's name.
A third letter described an argument. Isabella wrote that Stefano had threatened to remove Theo from the estate if she told Dante.
Dante's hands began to shake.
He read the final letter.
If anything happens to me, Flor knows where the original records are. She promised to take Theo somewhere safe. I don't know whether I can trust the police in this city. Stefano has friends everywhere.
Dante lowered the page.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
Lívia's voice was gentle. “Maybe she tried.”
He looked at her.
“You were away often,” she continued. “Maybe she was afraid that telling you would put you in danger. Maybe she thought she had to protect Theo first.”
Dante turned away.
The flash drive was taken to a forensic specialist. It contained scanned financial records and a short audio file. The audio was damaged, but the specialist recovered enough to hear Isabella's voice.
“Stefano, you cannot keep moving money from the trust. Theo is a child. That money is for his future.”
A man's voice answered. “You don't understand how this family works.”
“I understand enough.”
Then a crash.
The audio ended.
Dante listened without moving.
Rocco stood beside him. “We have enough to bring this to the authorities.”
“Not yet. We need to find Flor.”
A message arrived from the priest in the town outside the city. He had received a recent donation from a woman using the name Flora Alvarez. The donation had been made in person. The priest remembered her because she asked whether the Montenegro child was safe.
The priest agreed to meet.
Dante decided to go himself.
Lívia asked whether she could come.
“No.”
Theo heard the exchange and began to cry.
Dante looked at his son.
The boy reached for Lívia.
Dante closed his eyes. “You can come. But you stay with Rocco.”
The priest's church was small, built from pale stone beside a quiet road. A woman in her sixties waited in the courtyard. Her hair was streaked with gray, and she wore a blue scarf.
When she saw Theo, she covered her mouth.
“My little bird,” she whispered.
Theo stared at her.
Then he stepped out of Lívia's arms.
“Flor.”
The woman began to cry.
She knelt and opened her arms. Theo ran to her.
Dante stood frozen.
Florentina Alvarez was alive.
And she had been waiting two years for the boy she had promised to protect.
The journey to the church took nearly two hours. Theo sat beside Lívia in the back of the car, watching the fields pass. He had asked three times whether they were going to see Flor. Each time, Lívia answered yes.
Dante sat in the front passenger seat. He checked his phone only when it vibrated, and every time he did, Theo watched him.
“Daddy come too?” the boy asked.
Dante turned around. “I'm right here.”
Theo looked at him for a moment, then leaned against Lívia again.
When they arrived, the priest came out to greet them. He recognized Dante from the photographs in the newspapers but did not bow or flatter him.
“Florentina has been waiting for this day,” he said.
“Why didn't she contact me through you?” Dante asked.
“She was afraid. She believed your uncle controlled the people around you. She did not know who she could trust.”
Dante lowered his eyes.
The priest led them to the courtyard. Flor was standing beside a stone bench, holding a small blue scarf. She looked older than the photograph, but her eyes were the same.
When Theo said her name, she covered her mouth.
“Flor.”
She knelt.
“My little bird.”
Theo approached slowly, then placed his hand against her cheek. Flor began to cry.
Dante stayed back. He wanted to ask why she had not returned, why she had not trusted him, why she had allowed him to believe she had abandoned the child. But he could see that Theo needed the reunion more than he needed answers.
Only after the boy had settled beside her did Dante speak.
“I believed you had left him.”
Flor looked up. “I believed you would never forgive me if I came back.”
“Why?”
“Because Stefano told me you had signed a statement saying I was responsible for Isabella's death.”
Dante stared at her.
“I never signed that.”
“I know that now.”
The priest brought them inside, where Flor gave her account. She explained that Stefano had used the confusion after Isabella's fall to control the household. He ordered the guards to keep the police away from the north wing until he had removed the documents. He then told the staff that Flor had stolen from the estate and fled.
Flor had escaped through the service passage with the papers Isabella had hidden. She left Theo in the nursery because she believed Stefano's men were watching the gates. She had hoped to return with help, but the threats followed her.
“I thought if I stayed away, he would stop looking for the boy,” she said.
Instead, Theo had spent two years waiting for her.
Dante bowed his head. “I am sorry.”
Flor shook her head. “We all thought we were protecting him.”
Lívia looked at Theo. “Now he knows you came back.”
Flor kissed his hair. “I will never disappear without telling you again.”
The journey to the church took nearly two hours. Theo sat beside Lívia in the back of the car, watching the fields pass. He had asked three times whether they were going to see Flor. Each time, Lívia answered yes.
Dante sat in the front passenger seat. He checked his phone only when it vibrated, and every time he did, Theo watched him.
“Daddy come too?” the boy asked.
Dante turned around. “I'm right here.”
Theo looked at him for a moment, then leaned against Lívia again.
When they arrived, the priest came out to greet them. He recognized Dante from the photographs in the newspapers but did not bow or flatter him.
“Florentina has been waiting for this day,” he said.
“Why didn't she contact me through you?” Dante asked.
“She was afraid. She believed your uncle controlled the people around you. She did not know who she could trust.”
Dante lowered his eyes.
The priest led them to the courtyard. Flor was standing beside a stone bench, holding a small blue scarf. She looked older than the photograph, but her eyes were the same.
When Theo said her name, she covered her mouth.
“Flor.”
She knelt.
“My little bird.”
Theo approached slowly, then placed his hand against her cheek. Flor began to cry.
Dante stayed back. He wanted to ask why she had not returned, why she had not trusted him, why she had allowed him to believe she had abandoned the child. But he could see that Theo needed the reunion more than he needed answers.
Only after the boy had settled beside her did Dante speak.
“I believed you had left him.”
Flor looked up. “I believed you would never forgive me if I came back.”
“Why?”
“Because Stefano told me you had signed a statement saying I was responsible for Isabella's death.”
Dante stared at her.
“I never signed that.”
“I know that now.”
The priest brought them inside, where Flor gave her account. She explained that Stefano had used the confusion after Isabella's fall to control the household. He ordered the guards to keep the police away from the north wing until he had removed the documents. He then told the staff that Flor had stolen from the estate and fled.
Flor had escaped through the service passage with the papers Isabella had hidden. She left Theo in the nursery because she believed Stefano's men were watching the gates. She had hoped to return with help, but the threats followed her.
“I thought if I stayed away, he would stop looking for the boy,” she said.
Instead, Theo had spent two years waiting for her.
Dante bowed his head. “I am sorry.”
Flor shook her head. “We all thought we were protecting him.”
May you like
Lívia looked at Theo. “Now he knows you came back.”
Flor kissed his hair. “I will never disappear without telling you again.”
