Chapter 3 - The Secret My Mother Took to Her Grave
The question should have been impossible.
It should have been something I could answer immediately.
Why is your name in my ledger?
But I couldn’t.
Because I had no answer.
I stared at Roman Coyle, waiting for him to explain that this was some kind of mistake.
A coincidence.
A misunderstanding.
Anything.
But he didn’t.
He simply watched me.
And somehow, that was worse.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I whispered.
Roman’s expression remained unreadable.
“Because I’m trying to understand how someone who works as a waitress at the Azure Hotel has a record in a ledger that should have nothing to do with you.”
My fingers tightened around the white handkerchief.
“A record?”
Roman looked down at the black book in his hand.
“This ledger contains names of people connected to certain events.”
“What events?”
He closed the book.
“That is the problem.”
The elevator continued its descent.
The numbers above the door changed.
But I barely noticed.
My entire world had narrowed down to that one sentence.
My name was inside his ledger.
A book belonging to a man I had never met.
A man whose reputation made people lower their voices.
A man who looked at secrets like they were currency.
“I think you have the wrong person.”
The words came out quickly.
Almost desperately.
“My name is Norah Bennett. I work here. I have no connection to whatever this is.”
Roman studied me.
“That’s exactly what concerns me.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone wanted you to believe you were ordinary.”
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
But nobody moved.
The bodyguard looked toward the hallway.
Roman did not.
He was still focused on me.
“You said your ex had a Calder Freight Services badge.”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“You understand what that company is?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Roman exchanged a look with his bodyguard.
A silent conversation.
One I didn’t understand.
“What?”
Roman stepped closer.
Not threatening.
Not aggressive.
But the air changed.
Some people carried authority without needing to show it.
Roman was one of those people.
“Calder Freight Services is not a simple delivery company.”
“What is it?”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“A front.”
The word made my stomach drop.
“For what?”
Roman didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at the elevator camera.
Then at the ceiling.
Then at the hallway outside.
“You can’t stay here.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You need to leave the hotel.”
My heart jumped.
“No.”
The answer came before I could think.
Roman looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because if I leave, he’ll find me.”
The words escaped.
Raw.
Honest.
For a second, I hated myself for saying them.
I hated admitting how afraid I was.
Roman’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Something colder appeared behind his eyes.
Not toward me.
Toward Trent.
“He has done this before?”
I looked away.
Silence answered for me.
Roman noticed.
Of course he did.
“You have injuries.”
I pulled my sleeve down instinctively.
A mistake.
Because he noticed that too.
“Norah.”
The way he said my name felt strange.
Not familiar.
Not romantic.
Just careful.
Like he understood the weight of it.
“You don’t have to protect him.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“You don’t know anything about him.”
“No.”
Roman looked at the elevator doors.
“But I know men like him.”
Something in his voice made me look at him.
For the first time, I wondered about Roman Coyle.
Not the rumors.
Not the newspapers.
Not the whispers.
The man standing in front of me.
What had he seen?
What had he survived?
The elevator doors closed again.
Roman pressed a button.
The elevator began moving upward.
I frowned.
“Where are we going?”
“My office.”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Roman looked at me.
“I’m not taking you somewhere private with a stranger.”
A pause.
Then, unexpectedly…
his mouth almost curved.
Not a smile.
Something close.
“You’re afraid of me.”
“Yes.”
The honesty seemed to surprise him.
“Good.”
I stared.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because people who aren’t afraid usually make careless decisions.”
The bodyguard looked away, but I noticed something.
He was trying not to react.
Roman looked back at me.
“Fear can keep you alive.”
I looked down.
“I’m tired of being afraid.”
The words were quieter.
Almost broken.
And for the first time, Roman didn’t respond immediately.
The elevator reached the top floor.
The doors opened.
A private executive level.
Dark wood walls.
Soft lighting.
A silent hallway.
Everything about it screamed money.
Power.
Isolation.
Roman stepped out.
Then stopped.
He looked back at me.
“You can walk away right now.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You can leave this elevator. Go anywhere you want.”
The offer surprised me.
“But?”
“But if you walk away, whoever put your name in that ledger will know you were found.”
My blood went cold.
“How would they know?”
Roman looked at the hallway camera.
“Because someone accessed my restricted elevator tonight.”
I felt a chill.
“You think someone was watching?”
“I know someone was.”
The silence that followed was terrifying.
Because suddenly I understood.
My escape into this elevator…
wasn’t random.
I thought I had accidentally found safety.
But maybe…
I had walked directly into another dangerous world.
Roman entered his office.
After a moment of hesitation, I followed.
The room was enormous.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city.
A massive desk sat near the center.
But what caught my attention was not the luxury.
It was the wall.
Photos.
Documents.
Files.
A map.
A hidden investigation.
Roman noticed where I was looking.
“Don’t.”
I immediately turned away.
“Sorry.”
“You should be.”
The sharpness in his voice made me freeze.
Then he sighed.
“Not because you looked.”
He walked toward the desk.
“Because what you saw confirms something.”
“What?”
Roman opened the ledger again.
He placed it on the desk.
The page with my name faced me.
Below my name was a date.
Six years earlier.
And another line.
A line I hadn’t noticed.
My hands went cold.
Because beneath my name were the words:
Subject connected to Project Eden.
I looked at Roman.
“What is Project Eden?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he asked:
“Where were you six years ago?”
The question confused me.
“I was twenty-one.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
His voice became more serious.
“Where were you?”
I swallowed.
“I was in Chicago.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“Doing what?”
I hesitated.
“College.”
“What college?”
I told him.
Roman’s expression changed.
“That’s impossible.”
“What is?”
He turned the ledger toward himself.
Then toward me.
“The date beside your name…”
He pointed.
“Matches the night someone destroyed every record connected to Project Eden.”
I stared.
“I don’t understand.”
Roman looked at me.
And for the first time…
he looked genuinely concerned.
“Norah, six years ago, someone tried to erase an entire operation.”
“An operation involving what?”
Roman was silent.
Then:
“People.”
The answer made no sense.
But somehow…
it frightened me more.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Roman didn’t answer.
Instead, he reached into a locked drawer.
He pulled out a photograph.
A photograph that looked old.
He placed it on the desk.
My breath stopped.
Because the woman in the picture…
was me.
No.
Not me.
Someone who looked exactly like me.
A younger version.
Standing beside another woman.
A woman I recognized instantly.
My mother.
But that was impossible.
My mother had died when I was thirteen.
And the picture…
was dated six years ago.
I stepped backward.
“No.”
Roman watched my reaction.
“You know her?”
My voice shook.
“That’s my mother.”
The room became silent.
Roman looked at the photograph.
Then at me.
“Norah…”
His voice was quieter.
“There’s something you need to know.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He looked toward the city outside.
Then back at me.
“Your mother didn’t die when you were thirteen.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Roman’s eyes met mine.
“She disappeared.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I wish I was.”
The photograph trembled in my hand.
Because every memory I had built my life around suddenly felt uncertain.
Roman continued.
“And whoever hid the truth about your mother…”
He looked down at the ledger.
“Is the same person who put your name here.”
The room felt smaller.
The city outside disappeared.
Everything I believed was gone.
Then Roman’s phone rang.
He answered.
A few seconds passed.
His expression darkened.
“What happened?”
Silence.
Then:
“Are you certain?”
Another pause.
Roman looked at me.
And I knew immediately.
Something had changed.
“What is it?”
He ended the call.
Then said the words that made my blood run cold.
“Trent Miller was never here for you.”
I stared.
“What?”
Roman picked up the ledger.
“He was here because he knew your name was in this book.”
A pause.
“And he was sent to make sure you never found out why.”
The door behind us suddenly locked.
The sound echoed through the office.
Click.
Click.
Someone was outside.
Roman moved instantly.
The calm businessman disappeared.
And the dangerous man everyone whispered about appeared.
“Stay behind me.”
I froze.
Because for the first time that night…
May you like
I wasn’t sure if I was running from danger.
Or standing beside it.
