Chapter 6 - The Last Person She Expected to See
Richard's gun was pointed at Norah.
But Adrian didn't look at the weapon.
He looked at Richard's face.
Because the man standing in front of him was not a stranger.
Not an enemy.
Not someone he could simply remove.
Richard Cross had been there before anyone else.
He was the person who taught Adrian how to survive.
How to read people.
How to recognize lies.
And now he was the lie Adrian had never seen.
"Richard."
Adrian's voice was quiet.
Almost calm.
That made Richard more nervous than anger would have.
"Put the gun down."
Richard tightened his grip.
"You don't understand what you're dealing with."
Adrian took one step forward.
"I understand enough."
Norah looked between them.
Her breathing became faster.
"You're the doctor?"
Richard didn't answer.
That was all the confirmation she needed.
"You erased his memories."
Richard looked at her.
"I saved his life."
Norah shook her head.
"No."
Her voice became stronger.
"You stole it."
For a moment, Richard looked guilty.
Only for a moment.
Then the emotion disappeared.
Adrian noticed.
Because that was Richard's old trick.
Show weakness.
Then hide the truth.
"How long?" Adrian asked.
Richard looked at him.
"What?"
"How long have you been lying to me?"
Silence.
Then Richard lowered his eyes.
"Fifteen years."
The answer landed harder than any weapon.
Adrian had expected denial.
An excuse.
A complicated explanation.
Not the truth.
Not so easily.
"You were my friend."
Richard looked at him.
"I was."
Adrian laughed softly.
A cold, empty sound.
"Past tense?"
Richard looked away.
"Because I failed you."
Norah watched them.
For the first time, she saw something different in Richard.
Not a villain.
Not exactly.
A broken man who had spent years carrying a secret too heavy for him.
But that didn't change what he had done.
"You helped them," Adrian said.
Richard shook his head.
"I helped you survive."
"You don't get to decide that."
"I did when you were lying on that hospital bed."
Adrian froze.
Richard continued.
"You were dying."
The room became silent.
"Your father disappeared. Elena was being hunted. Victor had people everywhere."
Richard looked at him.
"You had two choices."
"What choices?"
"Forget everything and live."
A pause.
"Or remember everything and die."
Adrian stared at him.
"And you chose for me."
Richard nodded.
"Yes."
Richard slowly lowered the gun.
Not because he trusted Adrian.
Because he knew Adrian no longer needed it.
The damage was already done.
Thomas stepped forward.
"You should have told him."
Richard looked at him.
"You think I didn't want to?"
"You had fifteen years."
"And every year I waited, more people survived."
Adrian looked between them.
"Who else knows?"
Nobody answered.
That was the answer.
Too many.
Adrian walked toward the table.
The old documents were still there.
The photographs.
The files.
Pieces of a life that had been hidden from him.
"Where is Victor Hale?"
Richard looked at him.
"Closer than you think."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?"
Richard looked at Norah.
Then at Thomas.
Then back at Adrian.
"It means you never inherited the empire."
A pause.
"You were placed in charge of it."
Adrian understood.
Someone had chosen him.
Not because he was the strongest.
Because he was controllable.
Or at least they thought he was.
"Why me?"
Richard answered quietly.
"Because Victor knew one thing."
"What?"
"You were the only person who could destroy him."
Adrian said nothing.
Richard continued.
"Your father created a way to expose everything. Every account. Every name. Every illegal operation."
Thomas nodded.
"Elena found the location."
"And she told me," Adrian said.
Richard shook his head.
"No."
That surprised him.
"Then why did she write my name?"
Richard looked at him.
"Because she believed you already knew."
Adrian frowned.
"I didn't."
Richard looked at him.
"You did."
A pause.
"Before they erased your memory."
The sentence stayed in Adrian's mind.
Before they erased your memory.
A hidden part of him.
A missing piece.
Something he had been searching for without knowing it.
He closed his eyes.
And then it happened.
A memory.
Not a dream.
Not imagination.
A real memory.
A hospital room.
Bright lights.
Pain.
His father standing beside him.
Elena crying.
Richard holding a syringe.
And a voice.
Victor Hale.
"You don't need to remember this."
Adrian opened his eyes.
His breathing changed.
Norah noticed.
"What did you see?"
Adrian looked at her.
"I remembered."
Nobody moved.
"What?"
He looked at Richard.
"You weren't the only one there."
Richard's face changed.
Because he knew.
Adrian remembered something he wasn't supposed to.
"My father was there."
Thomas looked shocked.
"What?"
Adrian looked at him.
"He didn't disappear after the accident."
A pause.
"He was there."
Thomas stepped back.
"That's impossible."
"No."
Adrian's voice became colder.
"It's the truth."
Another memory appeared.
His father holding his hand.
Whispering something.
A warning.
Something Adrian had forgotten.
Something hidden beneath fifteen years of silence.
Trust nobody wearing the Vale ring.
Adrian looked at Richard's hand.
The silver ring.
The same symbol.
The same one from the rooftop.
His expression changed.
Richard noticed.
Slowly.
He removed the ring.
And placed it on the table.
"I didn't choose that symbol."
Adrian stared at it.
"Then who did?"
Richard didn't answer.
Thomas did.
"Victor."
They left the archive room twenty minutes later.
Adrian's world had changed.
Again.
But this time, he wasn't confused.
He was angry.
The kind of anger that came from understanding.
Someone had stolen his past.
Someone had used his name.
Someone had turned his life into a carefully designed story.
And now he wanted every page.
Every secret.
Every person involved.
They moved toward the private elevator.
Norah walked beside him.
"You really remember everything?"
Adrian looked at the elevator doors.
"No."
She looked at him.
"Then what do you remember?"
He answered honestly.
"Enough to know someone is still lying."
The elevator arrived.
The doors opened.
Nobody was inside.
Adrian stepped forward.
Then stopped.
Something was wrong.
The elevator floor was wet.
Not from rain.
From water dripping from someone's clothes.
Norah noticed it too.
"Adrian..."
Inside the elevator was a phone.
The screen was on.
A video was waiting.
Adrian picked it up.
The file name appeared.
ELENA_FINAL_MESSAGE.
Norah covered her mouth.
"No."
Adrian pressed play.
The screen showed Elena.
But this time, she wasn't scared.
She was angry.
"Adrian."
Her voice shook.
"If you found this, then I need you to listen carefully."
She looked behind her.
Like she was afraid someone was nearby.
"The person who betrayed us wasn't Richard."
Adrian froze.
Richard looked confused.
Elena continued:
"Richard was trying to protect you."
A pause.
"But the person who gave Victor access to everything..."
The video glitched.
The image distorted.
Then Elena looked directly into the camera.
"...was the person you trusted after your father disappeared."
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Because there was only one person who matched that description.
Adrian's phone vibrated.
A new message.
One sentence.
You finally remembered me.
Then another.
A photo.
A woman standing outside the building.
A woman Adrian knew.
A woman who had been missing for fifteen years.
Norah looked at the picture.
Her face went pale.
Because behind the woman stood Elena.
Alive.
May you like
And the message beneath the photo appeared:
Come alone if you want your sister back.
