Chapter 2: The Name He Said Into the Dark
The ambulance came in twelve minutes.
While we waited, Alessio stood at the window with his back to me.
He hadn't spoken since turning the key.
Leo had quieted against my chest, his breathing still uneven but steady.
Then the door handle moved.
Someone tried it from the outside.
Alessio turned.
"Who's there?"
Silence.
He crossed the room and opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
But at the far end, near the top of the stairs, a light was on that hadn't been on before.
"Which staff are in the house tonight?" I asked.
"Two.
My housekeeper, Mrs.
Ferrante.
And Marco — he manages the gate."
"Anyone else?"
He didn't answer immediately.
That pause told me everything.
"Alessio."
"My sister arrived this evening.
Unannounced."
I looked down at Leo.
Then back at him.
"Where is she now?"
He pulled out his phone and dialed.
It rang seven times.
No answer.
He walked to the nursery camera and looked up at it.
His jaw tightened.
"You said it might be pretending to record."
"Yes."
"What does that mean?"
"It means someone may have cut the feed.
Or looped it." I kept my voice level.
"The green light stays on either way."
He stared at the lens for a long moment.
Then, quietly — so quietly I almost missed it — he said her name.
Not into the phone.
Just into the air.
Like he already knew.
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May you like
What Alessio found on that camera changed everything — and his sister's reaction was something no one in that house expected.
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