Chapter 8: The Cellar Beneath the Greenhouse
Chapter 8: The Cellar Beneath the Greenhouse
The cold air rising from the open hatch carried the scent of damp earth and rust.
Valeria looked at Alejandro.
Then back into the darkness below.
"We should call your guards."
Alejandro slowly shook his head.
"If someone inside this mansion is betraying us, I don't know which guard I can still trust."
Valeria couldn't argue with that.
She reached for a lantern hanging on the greenhouse wall while Alejandro switched on a powerful flashlight he carried on his belt.
"Stay close," he said.
Together, they descended the narrow stone staircase.
Each step creaked beneath their weight.
The temperature dropped noticeably.
The walls were built of old limestone, their surfaces stained by decades of moisture.
After nearly thirty steps, the staircase ended at a heavy steel door.
The brass key fit perfectly.
Click.
The lock released.
Alejandro slowly pushed the door open.
The beam from his flashlight swept across a surprisingly large underground room.
It wasn't a cellar.
It was a hidden archive.
Metal filing cabinets lined the walls.
Wooden shelves held dozens of carefully labeled storage boxes.
A long worktable stood in the center of the room, covered with maps, folders, and notebooks that had been protected beneath clear plastic covers.
Everything was covered with a thin layer of dust.
Everything...
Except the chair behind the desk.
Someone had used it recently.
Valeria noticed it immediately.
"The dust is disturbed."
Alejandro walked closer.
"You're right."
A coffee mug sat beside the chair.
The coffee inside had long since dried, but the cup itself wasn't dusty.
Someone had been here within the past few weeks.
Maybe even days.
Valeria carefully opened the nearest storage box.
Inside were family photographs.
Dozens of them.
Most showed ordinary moments.
Birthday parties.
Christmas dinners.
Vacations.
Then she found something unusual.
A stack of photographs taken with a telephoto lens.
Alejandro's office.
His meetings.
His vehicles.
His daily schedule.
Someone had been secretly documenting his movements.
Alejandro stared at the pictures in disbelief.
"Who would do this?"
Valeria quietly answered,
"Someone close enough to know your routine."
Across the room stood a locked gray filing cabinet.
Unlike the others, it had Elena's initials engraved on a brass plate.
E.R.
Valeria tried the brass key again.
It opened.
Inside were neatly organized folders.
One was labeled:
Financial Records
Another:
Security Reports
A third:
Private Correspondence
But one thin folder immediately caught Alejandro's attention.
Its label simply read:
If You're Reading This, I Didn't Survive.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
The first page was a handwritten letter.
Dear Alejandro,
If this letter reaches you, then I was right.
Someone we trusted has betrayed us.
Please don't blame yourself.
You were never the target.
I was.
Alejandro stopped reading.
His breathing became uneven.
Valeria gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to do this tonight."
He shook his head.
"I have to."
He continued.
I found evidence that someone inside our organization has been secretly providing information to the people trying to destroy our family.
I don't yet know who it is.
But I know they are closer than we think.
If anything happens to me, protect Mateo.
He's seen something.
Even if he can't tell you.
Alejandro lowered the letter.
His eyes filled with tears.
"My God..."
Valeria continued searching the cabinet.
Behind the folders she discovered a small metal box.
Inside lay several flash drives.
A digital voice recorder.
And a sealed envelope.
The envelope was addressed in Elena's handwriting.
For Mateo
Valeria carefully picked it up.
"We shouldn't open this."
Alejandro nodded.
"It's his."
He placed it gently inside his jacket.
"When he's ready."
Suddenly—
A sharp metallic click echoed somewhere behind them.
Valeria froze.
"Did you hear that?"
Alejandro slowly turned.
The steel door at the top of the stairs slammed shut.
Boom.
The sound echoed through the underground chamber.
They rushed back toward the staircase.
Alejandro grabbed the handle.
It wouldn't move.
"It's locked."
Valeria looked up.
"Someone closed it."
Alejandro pounded against the door.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
Then...
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Walking away above them.
Someone had trapped them underground.
The emergency light in Alejandro's flashlight flickered.
Its battery indicator flashed red.
"We need another exit."
Valeria quickly unfolded the estate blueprint.
She spread it across the table.
"There."
She pointed toward a faded line behind the archive shelves.
"A maintenance tunnel."
Alejandro grabbed another flashlight from an emergency cabinet mounted on the wall.
Fortunately, it still worked.
Together they pushed several heavy shelves aside.
Behind them stood an old brick wall.
Half-hidden beneath years of dust.
Valeria noticed something unusual.
One brick was cleaner than the rest.
She pressed it.
A section of the wall slowly slid sideways.
Revealing a narrow tunnel.
Alejandro looked at her with genuine admiration.
"How did you know?"
She smiled faintly.
"My grandfather was a mason."
"He taught me that old walls always leave clues."
The tunnel was barely wide enough for one person at a time.
Alejandro insisted Valeria walk behind him.
After nearly ten minutes, they reached another wooden door.
It opened into...
The mansion's wine cellar.
They climbed upstairs unnoticed.
Everything appeared quiet.
Too quiet.
Then Alejandro's phone vibrated.
He answered immediately.
"What is it?"
The voice on the other end belonged to one of his guards.
"Sir... you need to come upstairs."
"Why?"
"It's Mateo."
Alejandro's face instantly changed.
"What happened?"
"He's speaking."
Alejandro froze.
"So far..."
"...he's only repeated one sentence."
"What sentence?"
The guard hesitated.
Then quietly answered,
"He keeps saying..."
'The man with the silver watch killed Mommy.'
Alejandro slowly lowered the phone.
His eyes widened.
Silver watch.
Valeria's mind raced.
Earlier that day...
Ricardo Salazar had adjusted the cuff of his sleeve during the staff meeting.
She had noticed the expensive silver watch on his wrist.
At that exact moment, footsteps echoed from the hallway outside the wine cellar.
Someone was approaching.
Alejandro instinctively switched off the flashlight.
Through the narrow crack beneath the cellar door, they watched polished black shoes come to a stop.
The person outside didn't knock.
Didn't speak.
They simply stood there.
Listening.
Then a familiar male voice quietly said,
May you like
"I know you're in there."
It was Ricardo Salazar.
