Chapter 6: The Door That Should Never Have Opened
The darkness came instantly.
One second, the mansion was glowing beneath the soft kitchen lights.
The next, everything disappeared.
No lamps.
No security screens.
No quiet hum from the appliances.
Only silence.
The kind of silence that made every small sound feel dangerous.
I stood frozen.
Vanessa moved first.
“Don’t move.””
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
I hated that my body listened immediately.
“Why?”” I asked.
“Because whoever turned off the power knows this property.””
I looked toward the windows.
The valley outside had disappeared into darkness.
The city lights below still shined.
Only my house was black.
Someone had cut the power intentionally.
My heart started pounding.
“How do you know?””
Vanessa reached into her bag and pulled out a small flashlight.
“Because your mother installed a backup system.””
The beam of light crossed her face.
“And it shouldn’t have failed.””
A cold feeling spread through me.
“What does that mean?””
“It means someone accessed the control panel.””
I looked toward the hallway.
The security room was on the other side of the house.
The same place I had never bothered exploring.
Because why would I?
I had spent years thinking this mansion was just a place my mother left me.
Not a battlefield.
Not a secret.
Not a place people would break into.
Vanessa walked carefully toward the kitchen drawer.
“Do you have anything for protection?””
I almost laughed.
“Like what?””
“A flashlight. A heavy object. Anything.””
“This is a gated estate.””
“That’s not an answer.””
Her tone was sharper than before.
I understood why.
She wasn’t scared of the dark.
She was scared of what the dark meant.
I grabbed the nearest thing I could find.
A marble candle holder.
Not exactly a weapon.
But better than nothing.
Vanessa glanced at it.
“Good enough.””
I followed her through the hallway.
Every step echoed.
The mansion suddenly felt different.
Earlier, it had felt peaceful.
Now every reflection in the glass walls looked like a person standing behind me.
We reached the security room.
The door was slightly open.
I stopped.
“I didn’t leave it open.””
Vanessa looked at me.
“You’re sure?””
“Yes.””
I had walked through this hallway earlier.
Every door was closed.
Every light was on.
Someone had been here.
Vanessa slowly pushed the door open.
Inside, the monitors were dark.
She checked the control panel.
Then she frowned.
“What?””
“The system wasn’t shut down.””
“What do you mean?””
She pointed.
“The cameras are still recording.””
I looked at the screens.
A small red light blinked.
Recording.
Someone had cut the house lights.
But the cameras were still working.
“Can we see who did it?””
Vanessa pressed a few buttons.
The monitor flickered.
A video appeared.
The timestamp showed just two minutes earlier.
The front gate.
Empty.
The driveway.
Empty.
The entrance.
Empty.
Then the image changed.
The back entrance.
My breath caught.
A figure stood near the door.
A person wearing dark clothing.
The face was hidden.
But the person was holding something.
A key.
Vanessa leaned closer.
“That’s impossible.””
“What?””
She didn’t answer.
The person on the screen opened the back door.
Without forcing it.
Without breaking anything.
They used a key.
A key that should not exist.
The figure disappeared inside.
Then the screen went black.
I stared.
“Who has access to this house?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“Your mother.””
I waited.
“Yourself.””
Another pause.
“And one other person.””
I already knew the answer before she said it.
“Who?””
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“Your father.””
My stomach dropped.
“No.””
“Paige—”
“No.””
The word came out faster.
Stronger.
Because I couldn’t accept it.
Not after everything.
Not after the phone call.
Not after finally admitting he had failed me.
But letting someone into my home?
That was different.
Vanessa looked at me carefully.
“Your father might not be the person you think he is.””
I stared at her.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
“Because it’s true.””
“No.””
My voice cracked.
“I spent ten years defending him.””
I looked at the screen.
“At school. To friends. To myself.””
My grip tightened around the candle holder.
“I told myself he was just quiet.””
Vanessa didn’t speak.
“I told myself he was trying.””
A bitter laugh escaped.
“I told myself he loved me even if he didn’t know how to show it.””
The silence that followed hurt.
“Maybe I was wrong.””
Vanessa’s expression softened.
“Maybe.””
I looked at her.
The honesty surprised me.
She didn’t defend him.
She didn’t excuse him.
She simply accepted the possibility.
A sound interrupted us.
A faint noise.
From upstairs.
A floorboard.
Someone was moving.
Inside my house.
Vanessa immediately turned off the flashlight.
The room went dark again.
I held my breath.
Another sound.
Slow footsteps.
Coming from the second floor.
My bedroom.
The room I had never slept in.
The room my mother had prepared.
The room someone was searching.
Vanessa leaned close.
“Stay here.””
“No.””
“Paige.””
“No.””
My voice was quiet.
But firm.
“I’m done hiding.””
She looked at me.
For a moment, she saw something different.
Not the scared eight-year-old my mother tried to protect.
Not the daughter who stayed silent.
Someone else.
Someone who was finally tired of being moved aside.
Vanessa nodded.
“Then stay behind me.””
We moved upstairs.
The hallway was completely dark.
Only moonlight came through the windows.
As we approached my bedroom, I saw the door.
Open.
My hand tightened.
That room had been untouched for hours.
Someone had entered it.
Vanessa stepped forward.
Then stopped.
There was something on the floor.
A piece of paper.
She picked it up.
Her face changed.
“What?””
She handed it to me.
I read the words.
*You should have asked your father sooner.*
My blood ran cold.
“This is from him?””
“I don’t know.””
“But he was here.””
“Maybe.””
I looked around the room.
Nothing was missing.
Nothing obvious.
The closet was open.
The drawers were pulled out.
The mattress had been lifted.
Someone wasn’t looking for jewelry.
They weren’t looking for money.
They were searching for something hidden.
Something like the suitcase.
Then I noticed something.
The old wooden floorboard near my bed.
One board was slightly raised.
I walked closer.
Vanessa grabbed my arm.
“Wait.””
I looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because your mother hid things carefully.””
She knelt beside the floorboard.
Slowly, she touched the edge.
Then she pulled it upward.
Inside was a small compartment.
Empty.
Except for one thing.
A tiny envelope.
My name was written on it.
Again.
But this time, there was something different.
A second name.
*For Paige. And only Paige.*
My hands shook as I opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Not of my mother.
Not of the house.
Of my father.
Standing outside a building I didn’t recognize.
And beside him…
was Gwendolyn.
They were younger.
Before the marriage.
Before the family.
Before everything.
On the back of the photograph were words.
*The truth started before you knew her name.*
I looked at Vanessa.
“What does this mean?””
She didn’t answer.
Because she was staring at the photograph.
Not confused.
Not surprised.
Terrified.
“You know this place.””
Vanessa slowly nodded.
“Yes.””
“Where is it?””
She swallowed.
“Your mother’s old office.””
I frowned.
“My mother’s office?””
“Yes.””
“But she never had an office.””
Vanessa looked at me.
“She did.””
A pause.
“And that’s where she found the first evidence against Gwendolyn.””
I looked back at the picture.
My father.
Gwendolyn.
Together.
Before anyone knew.
Before I knew.
Then my phone buzzed.
Another unknown message.
This time, it wasn’t a picture.
It was a location.
An address.
Below it were seven words.
*Ask your father why he was there.*
I stared at the screen.
Because the address was familiar.
I had seen it before.
On my mother’s documents.
The place where everything began.
And then Vanessa whispered something that made my entire body go cold.
“Paige…”
“What?””
“That address isn’t just where your mother worked.””
She looked at the photograph.
“It’s where your father met Gwendolyn for the first time.””
The floor beneath us creaked.
Not from upstairs.
Not from outside.
From the hallway behind us.
Someone was standing there.
I turned slowly.
A figure stepped into the moonlight.
And when I saw the face, my heart stopped.
My father was standing at the end of the hallway.
But he wasn’t looking at me.
He was looking at the photograph in my hand.
May you like
And the first words out of his mouth were:
“Your mother never wanted you to find that.””
