Episode 5: the secret behind the door

The Secret Behind the Locked Door

The whisper came again.

"Adrian… please."

Isabella stood frozen in the dark corridor.

Someone was inside that room.

Someone who knew her husband.

Someone who, according to Adrian, should not exist.

She glanced toward the staircase. The mansion was silent, and every sensible thought told her to return to her bedroom.

But curiosity was stronger.

She reached for the doorknob.

Locked.

Then she noticed something glinting beneath a small table beside the door.

A silver key.

Her heart pounded as she picked it up.

Just one look, she told herself.

The key slid into the lock.

Click.

The door opened slowly.

"Hello?" Isabella whispered.

Moonlight spilled through a tall window, illuminating a room filled with old furniture, covered paintings, and photographs.

Then she saw it.

A wedding dress hanging inside a glass cabinet.

And beside it, a photograph of Adrian kissing the same woman Isabella had seen downstairs.

But there was something different about this photograph.

Written across the bottom were three words.

FOREVER YOURS, ADRIAN.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind her.

"You're not supposed to be here."

Isabella spun around.

Adrian stood in the doorway, his expression darker than she had ever seen it.

"Who is she?" Isabella demanded.

He said nothing.

"Why do you have her wedding dress? Why are you keeping this room locked?"

"Get out, Isabella."

"Not until you tell me the truth!"

For several seconds, neither moved.

Then Adrian spoke.

"Her name was Eleanor. She was my wife."

Isabella's breath caught.

"Your wife?"

"Yes."

"But you told me she was dead."

"She is."

"Then why did I hear someone speaking to you from inside this room last night?"

Adrian's face changed.

For the first time since she had met him, he looked genuinely afraid.

"You heard a voice?"

Before Isabella could answer, footsteps echoed from the corridor.

A woman appeared behind Adrian.

Victoria Blackwood.

She held a document in her hand and wore a smile that made Isabella's stomach turn.

"Oh, Adrian," Victoria said sweetly. "You really should have told your new bride about Eleanor."

Adrian turned sharply.

"Victoria, leave."

"Why? Afraid she'll discover what happened three years ago?"

Victoria looked directly at Isabella.

"Your husband isn't the man you think he is."

She held out the document.

"Look at the date."

Isabella took it with trembling fingers.

It was a marriage certificate.

Adrian Blackwood's name appeared at the top.

And beneath it was another name.

Eleanor Grace Blackwood.

The date was three years earlier.

Isabella looked up.

"How is this possible? You married me yesterday!"

Victoria laughed softly.

"That's the interesting part, darling."

She leaned closer.

"According to this certificate, Eleanor was still legally married to Adrian when you signed your contract."

Isabella turned toward Adrian.

"Tell me she's lying."

He remained silent.

"Adrian!"

His eyes finally met hers.

"The marriage certificate is real."

Isabella felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her feet.

"Then our marriage—"

"May not be legally valid," Victoria finished triumphantly.

Adrian stepped forward.

"But there's something Victoria hasn't told you."

His voice was cold enough to silence the entire room.

"Three years ago, Eleanor disappeared. Everyone believed she was dead, but her body was never found."

He looked at the locked room.

"And last week, someone sent me a message."

Isabella swallowed.

"What message?"

Adrian reached into his pocket and showed her his phone.

The message contained only one sentence.

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO YOUR WIFE.

Below it was a photograph.

A woman standing outside the gates of Blackwood Mansion.

The picture had been taken just seven days earlier.

Isabella stared at the screen.

The woman was Eleanor.

Alive.

Victoria's smile vanished.

For the first time, she looked frightened.

Adrian closed his hand around the phone.

"Now do you understand why you must stay away from that room?"

Isabella shook her head.

"No. I understand that everyone in this house is lying to me."

She removed her wedding ring and placed it on the table.

"I came here to save my family. I never agreed to become part of a murder mystery."

Then she walked toward the door.

Adrian caught up with her in the corridor.

"Isabella, wait."

She turned.

"Give me one reason to stay."

He stared at her, and when he finally spoke, his words changed everything.

"Because the person who sent me that photograph knows your name, too."

Isabella went still.

"What?"

Adrian pulled another photograph from his pocket.

It showed Isabella leaving her family home two days before their contract marriage.

On the back, someone had written:

SHE IS NEXT.