Chapter 10 – The Trap Inside The Bellamy
Chapter 10 – The Trap Inside The Bellamy
The Bellamy had always been a place where secrets felt safe.
That was why powerful people loved it.
Behind its golden doors and crystal chandeliers, conversations disappeared.
Promises were made quietly.
Deals were completed without witnesses.
Names were exchanged like currency.
The rich believed luxury created privacy.
They were wrong.
Luxury only made people careless.
And careless people always left evidence behind.
Grace Miller had learned that lesson the hard way.
For years, she walked through The Bellamy carrying trays, collecting empty glasses, and listening to conversations nobody thought she could hear.
She was invisible.
That was the advantage nobody understood.
People lowered their guard around invisible people.
They spoke freely.
They laughed.
They revealed themselves.
But now The Bellamy was different.
Now Grace was walking through those same halls knowing something she never knew before.
The people she served had been connected to her mother's suffering.
The people who ignored her might hold pieces of the truth.
And the place where she had always been unseen...
Might be the place where everything began.
"You're sure about this?"
Dominic asked.
They stood outside The Bellamy's employee entrance.
Grace looked at him.
"You're asking me that after following me here?"
"I didn't follow you."
"You have two security cars parked across the street."
A pause.
"They are for safety."
Grace rolled her eyes.
"That's your version of not following?"
For a second, Dominic almost smiled.
Almost.
"I need to know what happened here."
Grace said.
Dominic became serious.
"And you think The Bellamy has answers?"
"I think people forget employees exist."
She looked through the glass doors.
"They talk around us."
Dominic understood.
Information.
That was always the difference.
Powerful people controlled what was recorded.
Invisible people remembered what wasn't.
Inside, The Bellamy looked exactly the same.
The same marble floors.
The same gold decorations.
The same people pretending their world was untouchable.
But Grace saw it differently now.
She noticed the cameras.
The private rooms.
The staff-only corridors.
The places where people disappeared from public view.
Marcus, the banquet manager, saw her immediately.
"Grace?"
His face changed.
Surprise.
Concern.
Fear.
"You shouldn't be here."
Grace stopped.
"Why?"
Marcus looked around.
Then lowered his voice.
"Because someone has been asking about you."
Dominic stepped forward.
"Who?"
Marcus froze when he saw him.
Everyone knew Dominic DeLuca.
"Mr. DeLuca."
"Answer."
Marcus swallowed.
"Vivian Whitmore."
Grace felt cold.
"What did she ask?"
Marcus hesitated.
"She wanted to know if you had ever mentioned your mother."
Dominic's expression darkened.
"Anything else?"
Marcus looked at Grace.
"She wanted your employee records."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
But Grace knew.
Vivian wasn't investigating her.
She was building a picture.
Finding weaknesses.
Finding pressure points.
They went to the staff office.
Marcus unlocked the cabinet where old records were stored.
Grace searched through files.
Employment forms.
Schedules.
Emergency contacts.
Then she found something strange.
A missing folder.
"What happened to this?"
Marcus looked.
"That's impossible."
"What?"
"Those records never leave."
Grace pointed.
"Someone removed mine."
Dominic examined the empty space.
"Who has access?"
Marcus hesitated.
"The owner."
"Who?"
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
"The Whitmore Foundation owns the building."
Another connection.
Another thread.
Then Grace noticed something.
A small mark on the inside of the cabinet.
A symbol.
A white rose.
Her breath caught.
"Dominic."
He saw it.
His expression changed.
"What is it?"
Grace asked.
He touched the mark.
"Not a symbol."
"What then?"
"A warning."
They searched deeper.
Behind old employee records, Grace found a hidden compartment.
Inside was a small recording device.
Old.
Dusty.
But intact.
Dominic looked at her.
"Where did you find that?"
Grace shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Someone wanted it found."
They played the recording.
Static.
Then voices.
A man's voice.
Thomas Vale.
"I don't think we can keep doing this."
A woman's voice answered.
Vivian.
"You don't get to decide when it ends."
Grace covered her mouth.
Thomas continued:
"Anthony knows."
Silence.
Then Vivian:
"Then Anthony becomes a problem."
Dominic went completely still.
His father's name.
The recording continued.
"You promised nobody would get hurt."
Thomas said.
Vivian laughed softly.
"Thomas."
"Everyone gets hurt."
Then another voice.
A voice Dominic recognized.
His father.
"You made one mistake, Vivian."
"What mistake?"
Anthony DeLuca answered:
"You underestimated ordinary people."
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Grace looked at Dominic.
His face had changed.
Not anger.
Pain.
"He knew."
Dominic whispered.
"My father knew everything."
Then the lights went out.
Again.
Just like Grace's apartment.
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Multiple people.
Dominic immediately moved in front of Grace.
She noticed.
Not because he protected her.
Because he didn't think.
He simply did it.
The emergency lights turned red.
A voice came through the speakers.
Calm.
Familiar.
Vivian Whitmore.
"Dominic."
His jaw tightened.
"You always were dramatic."
Vivian continued.
"But I have to admit..."
A pause.
"Bringing the waitress was unexpected."
Grace felt a chill.
"You know what I find interesting?"
Vivian said.
"People like Grace believe being unnoticed makes them safe."
The speakers crackled.
"It doesn't."
Dominic looked around.
"Where are you?"
Vivian laughed.
"Somewhere you've been many times."
A door opened at the end of the hallway.
A monitor turned on.
And there she was.
Vivian.
Sitting in a private dining room.
Beside her...
Was Noah Miller.
Grace stopped breathing.
"Noah."
He was sitting in a chair.
Not tied.
Not injured.
But terrified.
Vivian looked directly into the camera.
"Every empire has a weakness."
She smiled.
"Yours is that you still believe people can be saved."
Dominic's voice became dangerous.
"Let him go."
Vivian tilted her head.
"No."
Then she placed a file on the table.
A file with Grace's name.
"I want something first."
"What?"
Vivian smiled.
"The truth."
She opened the folder.
"The truth about what your father and Ellen Miller hid."
Dominic stared.
Because Vivian wasn't trying to escape.
She wasn't trying to destroy evidence.
She was searching for something.
Something even bigger than the accident.
And Grace finally understood.
The trap inside The Bellamy was never designed to catch Dominic.
It was designed to bring him here.
Because Vivian needed one thing.
She needed the only person powerful enough to uncover the truth...
May you like
To willingly walk into it.
End of Chapter 10
