Chapter 10

ISABELLA’S POV.

I sat on the edge of my bed still clutching the brass key with the carved “N.”

I wondered what to do with the information the maid gave me. I didn’t know whether to trust her or not.

One part of me just wanted to go to the north wing and see if I could get some truth and answers to my questions.

The room felt smaller now, I was suffocated with thoughts of uncertainty and betrayal.

“When the lights go off…” The maid’s words replayed in my head.

What did she mean? Because it was almost impossible for a power outage to happen here.

This was the ever luxurious Romano’s mansion.

I stood up from the bed and walked to the window.

I saw the guards just walking about with flashlights pointed to the ground and occasionally on the walls too.

As I said earlier, the security here was top-notch.

Soon, the lights began to flicker, could this be the moment?

The moment the maid referred to as “Light off?”

I knew I had to make up my mind now.

I didn’t have time on my side anymore.

Was I going to continue being the prey and not the hunter?

I swallowed my fear he decided that the risk was what taking as long as I got the truth.

The huge chandelier placed high, right in the center of my room finally went dark.

I looked outside again and saw that everywhere was dark, the guards’ only source of light was the flashlight with them.

They looked confused, wondering what had happened to the power source.

I had to act fast now I had the opportunity.

I immediately wore a socks because I had seen it somewhere that wearing socks to sneak around makes one make less noise.

I also lit a candle because I also needed a source of light.

Gently and quietly, I placed my palm on the door handle and unlocked it.

My heart began to beat faster but I just had to control my emotions.

Finally, I was out of my room.

The hallway was long and cold.

There was no guard in sight too. I could only here the sound of radios trying to connect. I just guessed they were all wondering what had happened to the power source.

I tiptoed and of course I was extremely careful and as sneaky as I could be.

I followed all the directions and descriptions the maid had given to me carefully so as not to miss my way or just wonder around unproductively.

Finally, I reached the north wing.

I had never set my eyes on this part of the mansion ever.

I soon saw a camera but luckily for me it wasn’t turned on but I still needed to be fast and careful because I knew that if I was unlucky and the lights came on, I was going to be downfall.

The environment felt cold and dusty.

I noticed that there were also large portraits on the wall and so I moved my candle closer so that I could see better.

There were portraits pictures of people who seemed to be members of Matteo’s family who probably had passed away.

I continued to walk and it was almost as if the paintings were alive. It was just how boldly the eyes were painted.

I passed the first door, then the second, and finally the third door.

The third door had a small bronze plate engraved with the later N on the door.

My hand began to tremble as I tried to fit the key in.

When I finally got a hold of myself and opened the door, I froze for a second wondering whether a security alarm was going to ring.

Nothing happened, I guess I was just overthinking the whole situation.

I pushed the door open and with my candle held up high, I entered into the dark and dusty room.

My eyes soon met with tall shelves filled with files, photographs and ledgers covered in dust.

I saw a huge map on a table, with red strings connecting places across Italy.

On the same table, a lot of documents were scattered all over.

I began to loose hope. What if I didn’t find anything here?

I just had a limited amount of time to search this whole place.

I stopped worrying and got to work immediately.

A file caught my eye, it was labeled Juliet. My fake name.

I wanted to ignore it thinking that it was not for me.

But I just picked it up to be sure.

My heart began to rave as I opened it. Inside of it were pictures of me from my old apartment. Even one of when I was shopping with Gabi, my younger sister.

There was another file there, with was labeled with my aunt’s name, Carla.

I opened it hurriedly and began to scan through it.

A line stood out and it read, “payment for introduction completed.”

She sold me to him?

I asked myself in shock.

Why?

We were family. We had been through together.

Why did she have to take me when she knew she just hated me?

Why did she have to pretend all these years?

My eyes began to feel teary. I felt betrayed, the one I had loved and trusted dearly had made me look like a fool.

I wished I didn’t come this far. I wished I had refused to her plan all a long.

I began to hear footsteps faintly, it became clearer really quick.

I hid behind a tall pillar and blew out my candle.

I shut my eyes in fear and hoped I wasn’t caught.

After a while, I stopped hearing the footsteps and so I decided to come out of hiding.

As soon as I tried to lit my candle back on, sharp bright light was blasted on my face from a flashlight.

“You shouldn’t be here Isabella.”