Chapter 6 - The Unearthing
The air in the ballroom became heavy enough to suffocate. Dominic’s eyes shifted from Lucinda’s sneering face down to the corner of the room Maisie had pointed toward. Underneath a massive, hand-carved mahogany display table draped in white lace, lay another hidden section of the floorboards.
Dominic walked slowly toward the table. With a single, fluid motion of his broad arm, he flipped the heavy mahogany table onto its side. Crystal vases smashed against the hardwood, scattering red roses and shattered glass across the floor. Guests scrambled backward, terrified to breathe.
Dominic dropped to one knee. His large hands found the seam hidden beneath the decorative border of the flooring. Unlike the parlor trapdoor, this panel was secured with an antique iron padlocked latch—a lock that Dominic had never authorized, a lock installed in secret.
Lucinda watched him, her smile widening with sadistic delight. "Go ahead, Boss. Tear it open. Let everyone see what your beloved late brother was doing behind your back. Let them see who really ran this family."
Dominic didn't give her the satisfaction of a response. He looked up at Frank. "Bolt cutters."
Frank immediately pulled a heavy set of tactical bolt cutters from a security case near the entrance and rushed forward, handing them to his lord. Dominic took the steel handles, placed the jaws against the iron shackle, and squeezed. The steel groaned, then snapped with a loud CLANG.
Dominic tossed the tool aside and pulled the heavy floorboard up.
A dark, deep cavity opened beneath the ballroom floor. Unlike the small space where Maisie had been trapped, this was a larger, reinforced cellar, reeking of damp earth, rust, and old blood. A flickering battery-powered light illuminated a figure huddling in the corner of the pit.
Dominic leaned down, his massive frame blocking the chandelier light.
Bound in heavy iron chains, wearing ragged, filthy clothes, was a woman. Her long, matted hair hid her face, but as the light struck her, she raised her head fearfully. Her skin was fair, bruised, and pale from years away from the sun.
Dominic’s breathing stopped completely. His eyes widened—a rare, terrifying sign of total shock on a man who had seen everything.
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"Julianna?" Dominic breathed, his voice barely a whisper.
It was Julianna Valenti—Dominic’s younger sister, whom Lucinda and her late husband had claimed had died in a tragic car accident eight years ago.
