Chapter 3 - The Voice That Knew My Secret
The voice on the phone whispered my name.
"Elena."
Cassian did not move.
Neither did I.
The entire hallway seemed to disappear.
There was only the sound of the call.
And my name coming from a stranger.
Cassian’s eyes stayed locked on mine.
"Who is this?"
The person on the other end did not answer immediately.
Then a man’s voice spoke.
Calm.
Cold.
Certain.
"You finally found the phone."
Cassian’s grip tightened.
"Where is my wife?"
A quiet laugh came through the speaker.
Not a happy laugh.
A warning.
"Your wife knew this day would come."
Cassian stepped away from everyone.
"Where is Isabella?"
The voice ignored the question.
Instead, it said:
"Ask Elena about the night her parents died."
My entire body froze.
I felt every guard in the hallway looking at me.
Cassian noticed.
He always noticed.
"How do you know about that?"
The man on the phone went silent.
Then:
"Because I was there."
The call ended.
Just like that.
No explanation.
No threat.
No demand.
Only silence.
Cassian lowered the phone slowly.
For the first time that night, I saw something I had never seen before.
Uncertainty.
Not fear.
Not weakness.
A man who had built his entire life around control had just discovered there was something he did not understand.
"Elena."
I looked at him.
"I don't know who that was."
"I believe you."
His answer surprised me.
I stared at him.
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
Cassian looked at the phone.
"Because someone spent six years making sure you forgot something."
I wanted to deny it.
I wanted to say he was wrong.
But deep inside...
I knew something had always bothered me.
A missing piece.
A memory that never felt complete.
The accident.
The funeral.
The months after.
Everything had been too simple.
Too clean.
Too easy.
My parents died.
The police closed the case.
I moved on.
That was what everyone told me.
Move on.
But nobody ever told me why there were no photos from the night they died.
Nobody ever explained why my father’s closest friend disappeared afterward.
Nobody ever explained why a stranger paid my hospital bills.
I had spent years ignoring those questions.
Until now.
Cassian turned toward the guards.
"Everyone leaves."
The guards looked surprised.
"Boss?"
"I said leave."
They obeyed immediately.
Within seconds, the hallway was empty.
Only me.
Cassian.
And Rosa.
The little girl was still holding my hand.
Cassian looked at her.
"Rosa, go upstairs with Maria."
The old housekeeper standing nearby stepped forward.
But Rosa shook her head.
"No."
Cassian sighed.
"Rosa."
"No."
She looked at him seriously.
"Mommy said I have to stay with Miss Elena."
That stopped him.
"Why?"
Rosa looked down.
"Because Mommy said Elena was the only person who could help you."
I looked at her.
"Help him with what?"
Rosa's eyes filled with sadness.
"I don't know."
Then she whispered:
"Mommy cried when she said your name."
Cassian closed his eyes for a second.
Like he was trying to put pieces together.
Then he picked up the burner phone again.
"We need to know what is on this."
He walked toward the private office.
I followed.
I don't know why.
Maybe because I wanted answers.
Maybe because I was tired of being the person everyone protected with lies.
The office door closed behind us.
Cassian placed the phone on the desk.
The room was massive.
Dark wood.
Leather chairs.
Shelves filled with documents.
A place where decisions were made.
A place where people’s lives changed.
And now, somehow, my life was sitting inside a cheap black phone.
Cassian opened the files again.
The first folder contained surveillance pictures.
Most of them were of me.
Walking through the mansion.
Cleaning rooms.
Talking to Rosa.
Leaving work.
I hated the feeling of being watched.
But then I noticed something.
The pictures were not taken to follow me.
They were taken to protect me.
Every image showed someone else in the background.
A man near the gate.
A car parked outside.
Someone standing too close.
Cassian noticed it too.
"Someone was monitoring threats around you."
I stared at the screen.
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
Because neither of us knew.
The second folder contained documents.
Shipping records.
Dates.
Locations.
Names.
Cassian opened one file.
Then another.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He turned the screen toward me.
There was a shipping record.
Six years old.
A shipment connected to the night my parents died.
I read the information slowly.
My hands became cold.
Because the location listed was impossible.
It was the same city.
The same night.
The same hour.
But the name attached to the shipment was not my father.
It was Renzi.
Cassian’s family name.
I looked at him.
"Your family was involved?"
His jaw tightened.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"No."
The answer came immediately.
Too quickly.
I stepped back.
"How can you not know?"
Cassian looked at me.
"Because there are things even I was not told."
That sentence shocked me more than anything.
Cassian Renzi.
A man who knew everything about everyone.
A man who controlled an entire organization.
And there were secrets hidden from him.
The phone suddenly vibrated.
Both of us looked down.
A new message appeared.
One photo.
No text.
Cassian opened it.
The image loaded.
My breath stopped.
It was a picture of my parents.
Not from the accident.
Not from the funeral.
A picture taken inside this mansion.
Six years ago.
They were standing beside Isabella.
And beside them was a young Cassian.
But there was one more person in the picture.
Someone standing behind them.
Someone whose face had been scratched out.
Cassian stared at it.
"Who did this?"
I moved closer.
Then I saw something in the corner of the image.
A small detail.
A bracelet.
I knew that bracelet.
Because I had seen it every day for two years.
My hand slowly moved to my wrist.
The old silver bracelet I never removed.
The one my mother gave me before she died.
The one she told me to keep forever.
I whispered:
"That was mine."
Cassian looked at me.
"What?"
"The bracelet."
I pointed at the picture.
"That person was wearing my bracelet."
The room became silent.
Cassian zoomed in.
The image became clearer.
Then he saw something written on the back of the photo.
A message.
Only four words.
"She is still alive."
My heart stopped.
"Who?"
Cassian looked at me.
Before he could answer, the office lights suddenly turned off.
Darkness covered the room.
Rosa screamed softly from the doorway.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
Inside the office.
Not outside.
Someone was already there.
Cassian reached for his weapon.
I grabbed Rosa.
The footsteps stopped.
A voice came from the darkness.
A voice I had never heard before.
But Cassian recognized it immediately.
May you like
Because his face changed when the person said:
"Elena, you finally remembered me."
