Part 3: The Locked Basement
That night, Elena couldn't sleep.
Ethan's frightened expression haunted her.
More disturbing were the words he had spoken.
"I wasn't supposed to open the basement door."
At two o'clock in the morning, she quietly stepped into the hallway.
The mansion felt strangely alive.
Floorboards creaked.
A grandfather clock echoed through empty corridors.
Then she heard voices.
They came from downstairs.
Keeping to the shadows, Elena followed them.
The sound led her to a large wooden door hidden behind the library staircase.
The basement.
A heavy steel lock secured it from the outside.
Inside, someone was crying.
A woman.
Elena's heartbeat quickened.
Before she could move closer, another voice spoke.
"She's getting suspicious."
It was Victoria.
A man's voice answered.
"Replace the nanny."
"No."
Victoria sounded calm.
"Ethan trusts her."
"Then make sure she never learns the truth."
Footsteps approached.
Elena slipped behind a nearby statue, barely breathing.
Richard Hawthorne emerged first.
Powerful.
Confident.
One of Connecticut's most respected businessmen.
He adjusted his expensive suit as though discussing ordinary business instead of imprisoning someone beneath his own home.
Victoria followed.
"What about the woman downstairs?" Richard asked.
"She'll remain where she belongs."
"And Ethan?"
"He must never know she's alive."
The words struck Elena like lightning.
Alive?
Who was hidden below the mansion?
The couple walked away.
When the hallway became silent again, Elena hurried toward the basement door.
She placed her hand against the cold steel.
A weak voice answered from inside.
"Who's there?"
Elena whispered,
"I'm Elena."
Silence.
Then came seven words that changed everything.
"I'm Ethan's real mother. Please help."
Elena staggered backward.
Her mind refused to believe it.
If the woman beneath the mansion was Ethan's mother...
Then who exactly was Victoria Hawthorne?
Before Elena could think further, bright lights flooded the hallway.
Security guards.
May you like
Someone had activated the alarm.
And every camera inside the mansion was now pointing directly at her.
