Chapter 114 DOWN AT THE ATTIC

Chapter 114 DOWN AT THE ATTIC


~ELENA~

My chest tightens as I hold the key tight in my hands.

Sophia Romano. What really happened to you?

I move toward the closet on instincts. There are two closets in the room–one where my clothes are kept and the other that looks untouched, close to the shelf that was covered with a curtain.

It's surprising how I have been in this room for days but I'm just noticing these things now.

When I slide the door open, air rushes out—cold, stale, untouched.

Her clothes are still here.

A row of dresses. Some casual, some elegant.
All perfectly hung. No sign of decay. No sign of time. As if she’ll open the closet any minute now and pull one of them out.

My fingers trail along the fabric.

A white silk dress. A black velvet one. A red one that looks like it would fit her like a second skin.

The shoes remain lined up neatly at the bottom. Heels mostly. A few flats. Nothing out of place.

This room feels lived in yet abandoned. Loved yet locked away.

It’s… unsettling.

Why doesn't she have a room back at the mansion in Florence?? Was all her stuff moved here? Or she really has a room in Florence but I just haven't seen it??

A small tray at the corner of the closet holds Sophia’s earrings—three pairs arranged neatly: pearls, diamonds, and tiny gold hoops.

A hairbrush rests beside a bottle of perfume. I pick it up carefully.

The glass is cool. The scent—light jasmine and something deeper, fills my lungs.

I don’t know why it makes my chest tighten.

“Who were you?” I whisper to the empty room.

And then I see it, a small kiss on the tray.

I pick it up instantly and just like the first key, it also has initials, but this time it is the letter “S”

This is definitely a key for something. But what?

Is it the key to a door? Key to a box? What exactly is the key for??

I close the door when I see nothing odd again, and walk back to the bed sighing deeply.

I sit on the bed, feeling the slight indentation in the mattress where she must’ve slept.

I finger the keys and make up my mind to go to the attic….no matter what.

The door opens instantly.

I jump, heart pounding—only to find Vincenzo standing there.

The fuck! How did he open the door?? I thought I locked it from inside.

Vincenzo takes one quick glance at the room and his countenance changes instantly.

His eyes aren’t angry. They are terrified.

“What the hell are you doing?” he growls, advancing fast. “Elena, why did you pull off that curtain?”

I hide the keys behind my back.

“I was just… curious.”

“You don't get curious over things like this. What are you trying to do? Trigger painful memories??” he almost yell.

He snatches the box from the bed, his jaw flexing as he shoves everything back inside and slams the lid.

His voice drops to a dangerous whisper.

“You don’t go through her things. Ever. Do you understand me?”

“Why?” I whisper. “Why can’t I know about her? Why can’t anyone talk about her?”

His throat bobs.

For a moment, the unshakeable Vincenzo looks… broken.

“She’s gone,” he mutters. “And nothing good comes from digging up the dead.”

“How did you get in here?” I ask him.

“I have the key to every room in this house. I just needed to find the key, and yeah, thank you for stressing me on that,” he tells me. “But now I know why you stayed locked up in the room. So you could have the chance to go through her things. But you must never try it again.”

“And you better cover that shelf and closet back with the curtains before Riccardo walks in here and sees them.”

He shoves past me and storms out.

I stand still for a long time… then slowly open my hand.

The key is still there.

And I know I am definitely going to the attic.

No matter what it cost me. And nobody can ever stop me.



I come down for lunch and dinner after Vincenzo leaves my room so it doesn't look more suspicious. So Vincenzo doesn't think I'm still up in the room ransacking Sophia's things. And so that I don't catch the attention of the other brothers.

If I must go to the Attic without being caught, then I don't need too much attention on me. I don't need too many watching eyes on me.

And I am very sure that Vincenzo didn't tell what he saw to his brothers.

Dinner is very quiet and I am glad when it ends.

I return back to my room on the pretense of going to bed, but I don't sleep. I wait until everyone is asleep.

Then I creep down the hallway, clutching the tiny. keys, feeling like I am walking toward a punishment I deserve.

I am glad when I finally get to the basement door and find it unlocked. Vincenzo must have forgotten to lock it since he's the last person to leave there—Us rather.

The basement is dark and it's a good thing I came out with a small torch I found in Sophia's room.

I climb down the stairs of the basement after closing the door behind me, till I see the room the man at the club was being punished in.

I walk past it and keep walking till I see another room. It's locked and I instantly sense it must be the Attic. The attic door sits at the end of the darkest hallway, covered in dust and cobwebs.

It must have been a very long time since someone was here.

I am really scared and really want to go back to the room, but the curiosity in me keeps me going forward.

I open my palm and bring out the key with the “A” initials and insert it into the door padlock with my pulse thundering hard.

It clicks softly and unlocks immediately and I heave a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness!!

The door groans open as I push it.

Cold air slaps me in the face, the kind that smells like mold, old wood, and secrets.

I flick on the light to the highest and begin to walk into the room.

Every step feels like I am walking deeper into someone’s memory.

Her memory.

I take one look around the attic and take a deep breath.

“Now, let's find out what really happened to the late Sophia Romano” I say to myself.