**Chapter Four: Behind the metal door**

**Celine's POV**

I waited until the house grew completely quiet.

After what I saw in the trunk, I couldn’t sit still. His dying words kept repeating in my head.

Metal door… east wing.

I slipped out of the bedroom. The east wing of the mansion felt different from the rest of the house. The air was colder. The hallways seemed longer and quieter. I had never come this far before. I moved slowly, listening for any sound.

Every creak of the floor made me freeze. I thought I heard footsteps behind me once and quickly hid behind a large vase. I waited, barely breathing. Nothing. It was probably just my mind playing tricks on me. I was already terrified enough.

Before I left my room, I had gone into our bathroom like Marcus told me. I lifted the toilet tank lid and found a key exactly where he said Diego hid it. I dried it and kept it in my pocket.

At the end of a long corridor I found a heavy metal door. It looked completely out of place among the expensive wood and paintings. I remembered asking Diego about this door once when I first moved in. He told me it led to some old childhood storage room of his. Nothing important. I believed him back then.

I slid the key in and turned it slowly. The lock clicked. I pushed the heavy door open carefully and stepped inside.

The room was dark.

Really dark.

The air smelled strange. Like strong chemicals and blood, that turned my stomach. I turned on the flashlight on my phone. The light shook in my hand when everything came into view.

There were metal tables in the center of the room. Refrigerated units lined the walls. One of the units was slightly open. I didn’t want to look, but I forced myself to step closer. Inside were sealed bags and containers of parts… Human parts. Carefully labeled and stored like supplies in a freezer.

I covered my mouth with my hand so I wouldn’t make any noise. This wasn’t just crime. This was something much worse. The real face of the Salvatore family.

I moved deeper into the room. There were filing cabinets and computers on a long desk. I opened the top drawer of the nearest cabinet. The papers inside talked about controlled disappearances. Names of people who had been murdered brutally.

Records of how the family erased people who became problems — politicians, journalists, business rivals. They didn’t just kill them. They removed them completely and used some of their body parts as business.

Then I saw my own name.

Marked for future reassignment or erasure… What's all this?

I felt cold all over. This was bigger than cheating. Bigger than the family I thought I knew. This was a whole system built to control death itself.

I didn't let myself look for long. I started recording with my phone, my hands barely steady enough to hold it level. I filmed the units, the files stacked on a metal table nearby, anything that looked like it mattered. I needed proof. Real, undeniable proof, because if I ever tried to say any of this out loud without it, no one would believe a word.

I felt my legs locked in place, like my body hadn't caught up to what my eyes were seeing. I didn't feel brave. I didn't feel like someone who was about to fix anything.

I felt small, scared, and very alone in a mansion that used to feel safe.

That’s when I heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway outside.

I turned off the flashlight quickly and hid behind one of the tall filing cabinets. My heart was beating so loud I felt it in my teeth. I held my breath and tried to stay completely still.

The door opened.

Someone walked into the room.

“I told you we need to speed things up with her father.”

It was Diego.

His voice was low and calm, like he was talking about normal business. “The old man is starting to ask too many questions. We can’t let him dig any deeper.”

“You’re right darling, and that journalist? The one they put in the trunk?”

“I guess he suffocated,” Diego replied. “Died sometime before they reached the drop point. His body will be dumped at the usual location tonight and the current will carry it far away. No trace. Just another missing person who will be forgotten.”

Marcus… He was right about Diego being ruthless.

They kept talking. More plans. How the family had been running this system for generations. How they controlled politicians, police, and records to make sure nothing ever came back to them.

I kept recording. This was the main proof I needed.

I waited until they walked to the other side of the room. Then I started moving slowly toward the door. I needed to get out. I needed to get this video somewhere safe. But my foot caught the edge of a metal tray on the floor. It fell with a loud crash, the sound bouncing off the walls of the room.

My whole body went cold.

I looked back, and this time Diego stood at the center, staring at me like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"Celine?" His voice cracked on my name, disbelief written all over his face.

A gasp caught in my throat. Whatever was left of my nerves gave out completely, and I turned and ran, phone still clutched in my hand.

I didn't make it far.

He was faster than I expected. His hand closed around my arm and yanked me back hard, pulling me off balance. I stumbled, and the phone slipped out of my grip, clattering onto the floor between us.

I watched his face change as he looked at me.

The anger in his eyes was something I'd never seen from him before, and it scared me more than seeing Marcus die.

“What the fuck is this?”

I tried to move away from him. “I know everything,” I said. My voice was shaking but I forced the words out. “The disappearances. I have it all on video. If you hurt me, I’ll send it to the police. I swear I will.”

He stared at me for a long second. Then he laughed. A cold, angry sound that echoed in the dark room.

Bianca stood beside him, smiling like it was entertaining.

“You think you can threaten me?” He said quietly. His voice was full of rage. “You think you’re smart enough to destroy this family? You think you can expose us?”

“I’d thought you were my husband, but turns out you're a monster."

He slapped me hard across the face.

The force knocked me completely to the ground. Pain exploded in my head. I tasted blood in my mouth.

“You stupid bitch,” he shouted. “I’ll make you disappear tonight. No one will ever find you. No one will even look.”

“Do it then,” I gasped, looking up at him through the pain.

“Erase me like all the others. Go ahead. Do it.”