Chapter 4 - The Woman I Was Before
The photograph fell from my hand.
I whispered: "Who is that man?"
Adrian Voss stared at the picture like he had just seen a ghost.
But he didn't look surprised.
He looked like he had finally found something he had been searching for.
And that scared me more.
Because if Adrian Voss knew something about my past...
Then my past was something dangerous.
The power suddenly returned.
The apartment lights flickered back on.
But the darkness inside me remained.
I looked down at the photograph again.
A younger version of myself stared back.
I was smiling.
Standing beside a man wearing a dark suit.
His arm was around me.
Not like a stranger.
Not like someone I had just met.
Like someone who knew me.
Like someone I trusted.
But I had no memory of him.
None.
Not even a small feeling.
Nothing.
"Clara."
Adrian's voice pulled me back.
I looked up.
He was watching me carefully.
"Do you recognize him?"
I shook my head.
"No."
Daniel laughed quietly.
It wasn't a happy laugh.
It was the laugh of someone who knew something terrible was coming.
"She really doesn't remember."
Adrian turned toward him.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel looked at the floor.
"It means everything I told you was true."
My chest tightened.
"You told me what?"
Daniel didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"No."
My voice became stronger.
"You don't get to stay silent anymore."
For three years, Daniel had decided what I knew.
What I didn't know.
What I was allowed to believe.
That ended tonight.
"Tell me who I was."
Daniel looked at me.
And for a moment, I saw the man I married.
The man who held my hand.
The man who promised me forever.
Then it disappeared.
Because the truth was standing right there.
And he was afraid of it.
"You were not a waitress when I met you."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"You were hiding."
I shook my head.
"No."
"You were running."
My heart started beating faster.
"From who?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Adrian did.
"From him."
He pointed at the photograph.
I looked back at the man beside me.
"Who is he?"
Adrian took a breath.
Then he said:
"His name is Marcus Hale."
The name meant nothing.
But Adrian's expression told me it should.
"He was one of the most powerful people in New York's underground world."
I looked at him.
"Like you?"
Adrian didn't respond.
That was an answer.
Daniel walked toward the table.
"He wasn't like Adrian."
His voice was low.
"He was worse."
The room became quiet.
I looked between them.
"Why was I with him?"
Nobody answered.
That silence hurt.
Because everyone knew except me.
Adrian picked up the notebook again.
He flipped through the pages.
"There are missing sections."
Daniel immediately looked up.
"What?"
Adrian showed him the notebook.
"Someone removed pages."
Daniel's face changed.
"I didn't remove anything."
Adrian studied him.
"Then who did?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Adrian's phone rang again.
He answered.
This time, he put it on speaker.
A man's voice came through.
"Boss."
Adrian listened.
"Say it."
The voice hesitated.
"We found the original file."
My stomach tightened.
"What file?"
The voice continued.
"The Clara Bennett file."
Adrian became completely still.
"What did you find?"
A pause.
Then:
"She wasn't protected."
Silence.
"She was hidden."
I felt like the room moved.
Hidden.
That word stayed in my mind.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody answered me.
Adrian ended the call.
Then he looked at Daniel.
"You knew."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"I knew enough."
"Enough to marry her?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Enough to keep her alive."
I felt anger rising.
"By lying to me?"
Daniel didn't defend himself.
Because he knew he couldn't.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Three years ago, Marcus Hale disappeared."
I looked at him.
"And?"
"Everyone believed he took his secrets with him."
He looked at the photograph.
"But one person survived."
My voice was barely a whisper.
"Me."
Adrian nodded.
I stepped backward.
"No."
The memories were coming.
Small pieces.
A hallway.
A black car.
A woman's voice.
Someone telling me:
"Forget your name."
I grabbed my head.
"Stop."
Adrian immediately noticed.
"Clara."
"I remember something."
Everyone looked at me.
I closed my eyes.
"I was running."
The room went silent.
"Someone was chasing me."
My breathing became faster.
"There was a woman."
Adrian's expression changed.
"What woman?"
I tried to remember.
But it was blurry.
"She said..."
I swallowed.
"She said I couldn't trust anyone."
Daniel whispered:
"Who?"
I opened my eyes.
"I don't know."
Then I saw something.
On the table.
The envelope.
The one with the message.
Ask Clara what happened three years ago.
I picked it up.
Something about the paper felt familiar.
I turned it over.
There was a symbol.
The same symbol from Daniel's notebook.
But now I noticed something else.
A small number.
Written beneath it.
Adrian saw it.
His face changed.
"What?"
I asked.
He took the envelope from my hand.
"Where did you get this?"
"I told you. It was here."
Adrian looked at Daniel.
"Who knows about this number?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Adrian's voice became colder.
"Daniel."
"I don't know."
For the first time, Adrian looked uncertain.
That frightened me.
Because a man like Adrian Voss wasn't supposed to look uncertain.
"What is 17?"
I asked.
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"It's a location."
My stomach dropped.
"What location?"
He looked at me.
"The place where Marcus Hale kept his secrets."
I stared at him.
"And why would someone send it to me?"
Nobody answered.
Because we all knew the answer.
Someone wanted me to find it.
The question was why.
A few minutes later, Adrian ordered his men to leave.
Daniel stayed.
I didn't want him near me.
But Adrian stopped me when I tried to walk away.
"Clara."
I looked at him.
"Don't go alone."
I almost smiled.
"After everything tonight, you think I'm going anywhere alone?"
For the first time, Adrian almost smiled back.
Almost.
Then his phone buzzed.
He checked the screen.
The color disappeared from his face.
"What?"
I asked.
He turned the phone toward me.
There was a message.
From an unknown number.
Attached was a photo.
A photo taken moments ago.
Inside this apartment.
Inside this room.
It showed me standing beside Adrian.
And behind us...
Someone was standing in the doorway.
Someone who had been watching us.
Below the picture were five words:
"She remembers more than you think."
I looked toward the bedroom.
The door was still open.
But now I noticed something I hadn't noticed before.
A shadow moving inside.
Adrian reached for his weapon.
Daniel whispered:
"No..."
I looked at both men.
"Who is that?"
Adrian stepped forward.
Then a woman's voice came from the dark bedroom.
"Clara."
I froze.
Because I knew that voice.
I had heard it before.
Three years ago.
May you like
The bedroom door slowly opened wider.
And the woman standing behind it said my forgotten name.
