Chapter 7 - The Memory Sebastian Buried
Sebastian stared at the photograph.
His own name was written on the back.
Not a signature.
Not a label.
A warning.
Sebastian Vale.
The handwriting belonged to his father.
His fingers tightened around the picture.
For years, Arthur Vale had taught him that emotions were weaknesses.
Questions were dangerous.
And the past was something powerful men buried.
But now the past was standing in front of him.
In a photograph.
In a secret room.
In Lena’s broken life.
"Why is my name there?"
Lena’s voice was quiet.
Sebastian looked at her.
For the first time since they met, he didn’t have an answer.
And she noticed.
"You don’t know."
It wasn’t a question.
Sebastian looked away.
"No."
The honesty surprised her.
Because she expected a powerful man to lie.
To control the situation.
To pretend he knew everything.
But Sebastian Vale looked lost.
Just like her.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Sebastian."
He lowered his voice.
"You need to see something."
Sebastian handed him the photograph.
Daniel examined it.
Then his expression changed.
"What?"
Sebastian noticed.
"What did you find?"
Daniel pointed to the background of the picture.
Behind young Lena and her mother was a building.
An old building.
A sign above the entrance.
Vale Foundation Medical Center.
Sebastian froze.
The name was familiar.
Too familiar.
His father had donated millions to that center.
Everyone believed it was charity.
But now...
Sebastian looked at Lena.
"Your mother was there."
Lena stared.
"Why?"
Nobody answered.
Because the truth was becoming clearer.
But not complete.
Three hours later, Sebastian sat inside his private office.
The same room where he had first opened Lena’s file.
But everything felt different now.
The file wasn’t about a waitress.
It was about a missing woman.
A hidden family secret.
A lie that had lasted a decade.
Daniel placed another folder on the desk.
"We found records from the medical center."
Sebastian opened it.
Most files were normal.
Donations.
Patient information.
Employee records.
Then he found a missing section.
"Someone removed pages."
Daniel nodded.
"Years ago."
"Who had access?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Only three people."
Sebastian looked up.
"Names."
Daniel placed a paper down.
"Arthur Vale."
Sebastian’s eyes moved.
"Thomas Reed."
A pause.
"And..."
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
"Your mother."
Silence.
Sebastian leaned back.
"My mother?"
Daniel nodded.
"She was on the board of directors."
Sebastian stared at the document.
He had spent his entire life believing his mother was distant because she was cold.
Because she cared more about status than family.
But now another possibility appeared.
Maybe she was hiding something too.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone in the room became still.
Sebastian answered.
No greeting.
Only breathing.
Then a woman spoke.
A voice older than the one in the recording.
A voice that made Lena, standing across the room, suddenly freeze.
"Sebastian."
He stood immediately.
"Who is this?"
The woman was silent.
Then:
"You found my message."
Sebastian’s heart stopped.
Lena covered her mouth.
Because she recognized the voice.
"Mom?"
The line went quiet.
Then the woman whispered.
"Lena?"
A tear fell from Lena’s eye.
For ten years, she had imagined this moment.
She had imagined anger.
Questions.
Pain.
But hearing her mother’s voice again made everything disappear.
"Where are you?"
The woman didn’t answer.
Instead, she said:
"Listen carefully."
Her voice became urgent.
"Do not trust Thomas."
Sebastian looked at Daniel.
"He already knows."
The line crackled.
"What does he know?"
The woman breathed heavily.
"The truth about what happened that night."
Sebastian felt his chest tighten.
"What night?"
Silence.
Then the woman said:
"The night Sebastian saved you."
The call ended.
Lena looked at him.
Neither of them spoke.
Finally, she whispered:
"You saved me?"
Sebastian looked down.
"I don’t remember."
"But she said you did."
"I was ten."
Lena stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Sebastian closed his eyes.
The memory had always been broken.
Pieces.
Nothing more.
A dark road.
Rain.
His father’s voice.
A woman crying.
A child.
He had convinced himself it was a dream.
Because children remembered strange things.
But now...
It wasn’t a dream.
It was a memory.
"I remember a car."
Lena waited.
"My father was driving."
Sebastian’s voice became quieter.
"There was another car behind us."
Daniel listened carefully.
"What happened?"
Sebastian rubbed his forehead.
"I don’t know."
Then suddenly—
A flash.
A sound.
A scream.
Sebastian grabbed the edge of the desk.
Lena moved toward him.
"Sebastian?"
His breathing changed.
"I remember."
Everyone became silent.
"The car stopped."
His voice shook.
"My father got out."
A pause.
"He told me to stay inside."
Sebastian looked at Lena.
"Then I saw your mother."
Lena stopped breathing.
"She was there."
Sebastian swallowed.
"She was holding a little girl."
His eyes filled with confusion.
"And she gave that girl to my father."
Lena whispered:
"Me."
Sebastian nodded slowly.
"You."
The room went silent.
Then Sebastian said the words neither of them expected.
"Your mother didn't abandon you."
Lena looked at him.
"She gave you to my father because she was trying to save you."
They returned to Bellhaven before midnight.
The building was surrounded by security.
But Sebastian knew something was wrong.
Too quiet.
Too easy.
Thomas Reed had disappeared.
His office was empty.
His home was abandoned.
His records were erased.
Someone had prepared for this.
Daniel entered the restaurant carrying a laptop.
"We found Thomas’s last activity."
Sebastian looked up.
"Where?"
Daniel turned the screen.
A location appeared.
An old warehouse near the river.
Sebastian grabbed his coat.
Lena stood.
"I'm coming."
"No."
Her expression hardened.
"I spent ten years looking for answers."
Sebastian stopped.
"I’m not staying behind now."
For a moment, he wanted to argue.
Then he remembered something.
Lena had spent her entire life being told to stay quiet.
Stay hidden.
Stay afraid.
Not anymore.
"Stay close."
She nodded.
The warehouse was empty.
Too empty.
Sebastian entered first.
The air smelled old.
Dust.
Metal.
Time.
Daniel checked the rooms.
Nothing.
Then Lena stopped.
"What is that?"
On the wall was the same symbol.
The black circle.
The line through the center.
Her mother’s symbol.
Sebastian touched it.
A hidden panel opened.
Inside was a small box.
Lena stared.
"My mother’s."
Sebastian opened it.
Inside were letters.
A necklace.
And a small recording device.
Daniel picked it up.
"It still works."
They pressed play.
Static.
Then Arthur Vale’s voice.
Sebastian froze.
His father.
"If you are hearing this, then I am already gone."
Lena held her breath.
Arthur continued.
"I made a mistake."
A pause.
"I trusted the wrong person."
The recording became distorted.
Then his father said one name.
The name that changed everything.
"Thomas Reed."
Sebastian looked at Daniel.
But the recording continued.
"And if Thomas comes after Lena..."
Arthur stopped.
A long silence followed.
Then his voice became different.
Afraid.
"That means he knows about Sebastian’s real identity."
Sebastian froze.
The recording clicked.
Then one final sentence played.
May you like
A sentence that made the entire room go silent.
"Because Sebastian Vale was never my son..."
