Chapter 5: The Masked Truth
The chill of the underground room clung to Ava's skin long after they had left it. Her fingers still tingled from touching the cold metal of the mask Dominic had handed her—an artifact that now felt like the key to a story far darker than she had ever imagined.
They walked back toward the manor in silence, Dominic's steps heavy, burdened with unspoken truths. Ava's heart pounded with every beat, as if warning her that something irreversible had just been set in motion. She wasn't the same woman who had walked into that garden. She had seen a fragment of the truth, and now, she couldn't look away.
Once inside, Dominic disappeared into his study without a word. Ava stood frozen in the grand foyer, her thoughts racing. Questions swirled in her mind, but one rang louder than the rest: What had Dominic's first wife truly uncovered?
And more importantly—was Ava already too close to repeating her fate?
Unable to rest, Ava waited until the house had gone still. When she was certain no one was watching, she slipped out of the bedroom and made her way through the darkened halls. Her fingers trailed along the cold marble walls, grounding her, as her thoughts drifted back to the look in Dominic's eyes—anger, regret, and something else. Was it fear?
She knew where she had to go.
Back to the underground room.
It didn't take long to find it again, tucked behind a veil of ivy and memory. She stepped inside cautiously, the thick silence greeting her like a specter. The ornate chest still sat in the center of the room, the mask now gone.
She scanned the walls, her eyes catching on a faint outline in the stone. A hidden door.
Her breath caught.
Hands trembling, she pushed against the stone. It shifted with a low groan, revealing a narrow passageway. Heart in her throat, Ava stepped inside. The air grew colder, thicker, and the scent of aged parchment and dust filled her lungs.
She followed the corridor until it opened into a chamber—lined with shelves upon shelves of leather-bound ledgers, photographs, and aged scrolls. Secrets.
Her eyes landed on a photograph.
A woman with familiar eyes. Eyes like hers.
The first wife.
Clutching the photo, Ava turned to the nearest ledger and flipped it open. Names, dates, transactions. Bloodlines. Symbols etched in ink that pulsed with some unspoken legacy.
A name jumped out at her.
Valemortis.
She had seen it before—on a crest in Dominic's study. On the mask.
The word echoed in her mind like a curse. What was it? A family? A society?
She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the door close behind her.
"Curiosity," came Dominic's voice from the shadows, "is what killed her."
Ava spun around.
Dominic stood in the doorway, the dim light casting his face in eerie shadows. He looked almost... haunted.
"I knew you'd come back here," he said. "You couldn't stay away."
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" she whispered, raising the photo. "About her? About this... place?"
"Because some truths don't set you free, Ava," he said coldly. "They bury you."
He stepped forward slowly. "Everything here," he gestured to the chamber, "is a legacy built on silence. On obedience. My first wife broke the rules. She believed love would save her."
Ava felt her stomach twist. "Did you love her?"
Dominic's expression cracked, pain flickering across his features. "I thought I did. Until she turned the truth into a weapon."
A long pause. The tension crackled in the air like static.
"Do you trust me, Ava?"
Her voice barely came out. "I don't know."
"Then let me show you something else."
He led her down another tunnel, deeper into the estate's hidden skeleton. They reached a chamber filled with symbols carved into the walls, glowing faintly. In the center was a circular table, and on it, another velvet-covered box.
"Open it," Dominic said.
Ava hesitated.
"What is this?"
"The truth. And the test."
Hands shaking, she opened the box. Inside were three documents. A marriage certificate. A sealed letter. And a will.
The name on the marriage certificate wasn't hers.
It was Dominic's.
Married to someone else.
Two weeks before their own wedding.
"No," she whispered, stepping back. "This... this can't be real."
Dominic's face was unreadable. "It's real. I married her for protection. A contract. But it didn't matter. She died anyway."
Ava stared at the documents. "You're still married?"
"The marriage was annulled in secret. But the consequences… didn't end there."
Her world tilted. Everything she thought she knew about Dominic, about her marriage, shattered in an instant.
He reached for her, but she stepped back.
"You lied to me."
"I protected you."
"From what?"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"From them."
Suddenly, the lights in the chamber flickered. A sound echoed in the hall. Voices. Not just one. Many.
Dominic turned sharply, eyes narrowing. "They've found us."
"Who?" Ava demanded.
Dominic looked at her with something close to panic.
"The ones who killed her. And now... they're coming for you."