CHAPTER 3 — The Maid's Secret Identity
Vincent stared at the photograph for what felt like an eternity.
It wasn't the threat that terrified him.
It was the angle.
The picture had been taken from inside his bedroom.
Whoever snapped it had stood less than six feet away while he slept.
Someone had entered the mansion...
Walked past dozens of armed guards...
Opened the bedroom door...
And left without anyone noticing.
Or worse...
Without anyone trying to stop them.
His phone vibrated again.
Another message appeared.
"Trust no one wearing your family name."
Vincent slowly raised his eyes.
Only one person remained in the room.
Elena.
She quietly swept up the broken pieces of the vase as though nothing extraordinary had happened.
No fear.
No panic.
Just calm precision.
Finally, Vincent spoke.
"Who are you?"
She stopped sweeping.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Then she closed the bedroom door, pulled the curtains shut, and placed a small electronic device on the table.
The lights on the device flashed blue.
"It blocks hidden microphones," she said.
Only then did she look directly into Vincent's eyes.
"My name isn't Elena."
Silence filled the room.
"My real name is Elena Rossi."
Vincent's expression hardened.
He knew that surname.
Years ago, the Rossi family had controlled the eastern side of the city before mysteriously disappearing almost overnight.
Officially, they had fled the country.
Unofficially...
They had been wiped out.
"My father," Elena continued quietly, "was Alessandro Rossi."
Vincent's face lost all color.
Alessandro...
His oldest rival.
The man who had vanished twenty-five years earlier.
"I know what you're thinking," Elena said.
"You believe your organization killed my family."
Vincent didn't answer.
Because that was exactly what he believed.
Elena reached into her apron and removed an old silver pocket watch.
Inside was a faded photograph.
A little girl...
Standing beside a smiling man.
"I was nine years old when my father died."
"My mother was murdered two days later."
"I spent years believing you ordered it."
Vincent remained silent.
"But six months ago..."
She swallowed hard.
"I found the truth."
She placed another object on the table.
A flash drive.
"I hacked into records your enemies thought had been destroyed."
Vincent frowned.
"You hacked them?"
Elena gave a faint smile.
"I never worked as a maid before coming here."
"I worked for military intelligence."
Vincent blinked.
The quiet woman who had served coffee every morning...
...had once been an intelligence operative.
"I came here to kill you."
The words echoed through the bedroom.
"But after three years..."
"I realized you weren't the man responsible."
Vincent's heartbeat quickened.
"Then who was?"
Elena hesitated.
Before she could answer—
BOOM!
A massive explosion shook the entire mansion.
Windows shattered.
The chandelier crashed onto the marble floor.
Smoke poured through the hallway.
Screams erupted downstairs.
Emergency alarms blared throughout the estate.
Vincent instinctively reached for his gun.
Elena grabbed his arm.
"No!"
"That explosion wasn't meant to kill you."
May you like
"It was meant to separate you..."
"...from the only people still loyal to you."
