Chapter 115: SOPHIA'S DIARY

~ELENA~

The attic is a frozen shrine.

Boxes stacked against the walls, an old sofa, a broken mirror, a typewriter, doll houses with missing parts… but what makes my stomach twist is the wall covered in photos.

Not ordinary photos.

Photos of the triplets’ mother….with her face scratched out.

Scratched out violently, over and over, deep enough to tear the paper.

“What the hell…” I whisper.

A chill trickles down my spine.

Something glimmers in the corner of the room—an old wooden chest with a metal latch.

I go closer to it and take a good look at it. The letter “S” is written on it.

It must be her box and the key with the letter “S” I am holding in my hands must be the key to the box.

I crouch beside the box, take the key from my hands and insert it into the padlock hole.

It click open immediately.

Wow!

How long have these keys been in Sophia's room without nobody finding out about it?

I take a look at the contents of the box.

Inside are diaries. At least ten of them, all labeled with her initials.

S.R.

My hands shake as I pick up the one on top.

When I open it, dust flies off the pages like trapped breath being released.

And then I read, even when my fingers trembled. Even when the pages felt like they were burning.

The diary began innocently.

April 7

“Mama braided my hair today. She says it makes me look like a princess. Papa didn’t come home last night…”

June 12

“Nico broke my doll again. I think he did it on purpose.”

Then it shifted.

September 4

“Mama and Papa fought again. I heard something break. Mama cried all night.”

September 21

“I saw Papa with a gun today. He said it’s for ‘business.’ Mama looked scared.”

By the time she was fifteen, the tone had changed completely.

February 18

“I think mama doesn't like my brothers. She never wanted them to be born after me, but papa forced her into getting pregnant because he wanted an heir. Now, she's being cold towards my brothers and it's affecting them, and me also.”

I mouthed a “wow”

February 20

“Mama is being maltreated by papa. I have heard him hitting and beating her so many times. Why did she agree to marry him in the first place?”

“Mama is planning to escape with me. I asked her about my brothers and if she's not leaving with them and she said no. What should I do with my brothers??”

“Mama says she wants to leave him. I think Papa heard her.”

February 26

“Dear diary, I just rejected escaping with mama because I can't leave my brothers behind because I love them so much. I want to stay behind and protect them from Father. Now I am confused, did I do the right thing or not??”

I sigh deeply. No wonder the brothers really like her. She must have protected them and taken good care of them. She must have shown them the motherly love they never received.

And then she ended up dying. I can only imagine how the brothers must have felt.

This explains why they are always so worked up, tensed and sad at the mention of her name.

I sigh again and continue reading and reading.

With each line, my stomach drops more.

By the time I reach the middle, my knees buckles, and I sit on the cold floor.

March 2

“Mama is gone. They say she fell down the stairs. But she never went near the stairs at night.”

March 3

“Papa didn’t cry.”

My heart pinched.

Her pain leaked through every word.

April 10

“I know he killed her. He’s different now. He watches us like we’re pieces on a chessboard.”

April 17

“I heard him on the phone. He said, ‘She should have kept her mouth shut.’ He couldn’t mean Mama… right?”

The last legible line makes my blood turn to ice.

Her handwriting started neat. Then messy. Then frantic.

May 1

“If I die, it won’t be an accident. If someone finds this… know that papa killed our mama. And now he’s watching me.”

I shut the diary, my heart pounding so violently I thought I might faint.

The house wasn’t just dangerous. It was rotting from the inside.

And Lorenzo was the mold.

I grabbed the next diary. The entries grew darker, filled with fear and desperation.

July 12

“I found something. Something Papa hid. I think it belongs to Mama.”

July 13

“He knows I know. I can feel it. I’m going to hide the evidence somewhere he can’t find it.”

Her handwriting became almost unreadable.

July 15

“I told Riccardo something, just in case. I hope he remembers.”

July 16

“I’m scared of the pool. I told Papa I don't want to swim. He insisted.”

My breath caught. Was this how she did? By drowning in a pool??

July 17

“If anything happens to me… tell my brothers that I tried. I tried to save them from him.”

The ink trailed off.

Like she was interrupted. Like she didn’t get to finish the sentence.

That was her last entry.

Tears blurs my vision, and I know instantly that Sophia didn't drown.

She was murdered. And she was murdered by her father—Lorenzo Romano.