Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The door opened.
I stopped breathing.
A woman stood outside the office.
She looked around fifty years old.
Her dark coat was wet from the rain outside.
Her eyes moved directly toward me.
Not Adrian.
Me.
"Sofia..."
The way she said my name made my entire body freeze.
Because there was something familiar in her voice.
Something I had forgotten.
Something buried deep inside my childhood memories.
Adrian raised his weapon.
"Who are you?"
The woman didn't look afraid.
Instead, she looked at me with tears forming in her eyes.
"I can't believe she actually kept her promise."
I stepped backward.
"What promise?"
The woman looked at Adrian.
"She never told you everything, did she?"
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Answer my question."
The woman smiled sadly.
"My name is Evelyn Carter."
The name meant nothing to me.
But Adrian reacted immediately.
His face changed.
Like he had just heard the name of a ghost.
"No."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Yes."
Adrian lowered his gun slightly.
"You died."
The room became silent.
I looked between them.
"What?"
Evelyn slowly entered the office and closed the door behind her.
"I was supposed to."
Those words made my skin crawl.
Nobody spoke.
The woman standing in front of me was impossible.
Just like the message.
Just like the photograph.
Everyone connected to this mystery was someone who should not exist.
Adrian stared at Evelyn.
"My father spent twelve years believing you were the person who betrayed him."
Evelyn looked down.
"Your father believed many things that were not true."
"You were there the night he died."
Her expression changed.
Pain.
Regret.
"I was."
I looked at Adrian.
His jaw tightened.
"Then explain."
Evelyn looked at me.
"No."
She shook her head.
"She deserves to know first."
I felt my heartbeat getting faster.
"Know what?"
Evelyn reached into her coat.
Adrian immediately raised his gun again.
But she only pulled out an old envelope.
The paper was damaged.
Yellowed with age.
My name was written on the front.
Sofia.
My hands became cold.
"Your mother wrote this."
I stared at the envelope.
"My mother?"
Evelyn nodded.
"She asked me to give it to you only if Adrian Moretti found you."
I looked at Adrian.
"Why?"
Evelyn looked at him.
"Because she trusted him."
That sentence seemed to hurt Adrian more than anything else.
He looked away.
"My father destroyed everything because he thought trust was a weakness."
Evelyn stepped closer.
"Your father died because he trusted the wrong person."
The room became tense.
I slowly took the envelope.
I didn't open it.
I couldn't.
Because some part of me was afraid.
Afraid that once I knew the truth, my entire life would disappear.
For twenty years, I had believed my mother left me.
I had believed I wasn't enough for her to stay.
But now everyone was telling me something different.
She didn't leave.
She was taken away.
I looked at Evelyn.
"Why did everyone lie to me?"
Her eyes softened.
"Because your mother wanted you alive."
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
The handwriting was familiar.
I had seen it before.
On birthday cards.
On notes hidden inside my lunch when I was young.
My mother's handwriting.
My hands shook as I read.
"Sofia,
If you are reading this, it means the people I trusted failed to keep you away from this world.
I am sorry.
I wanted you to have a normal life.
I wanted you to grow up believing your biggest problem would be ordinary things.
Not secrets.
Not enemies.
Not the people who wanted to use your name.
But there is something you need to know.
Your father was not the man you were told he was.
And Adrian Moretti was never your enemy."
I stopped reading.
I looked at Adrian.
He looked away.
Like he already knew what came next.
I continued.
"The night I disappeared, I did not run.
I was trying to protect you.
Someone inside our family betrayed us.
Someone who knew everything.
Someone who knew where you were.
Someone who knew Adrian's father."
My fingers tightened around the paper.
The letter continued.
"The person responsible is still alive."
I stopped.
The words felt impossible.
Still alive.
Evelyn watched me carefully.
Adrian walked toward the window.
"Who?"
My voice barely came out.
"Who did this?"
Nobody answered.
That silence told me everything.
They knew.
But they were afraid to say it.
I looked at Adrian.
"You know."
He didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"Tell me."
His eyes met mine.
"It won't change anything."
"It changes everything."
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Adrian finally spoke.
"The person who destroyed your family..."
He paused.
"...is someone you have known your entire life."
My stomach dropped.
"No."
I shook my head.
"That's impossible."
Adrian didn't look away.
"I wish it was."
Before I could ask another question, Evelyn suddenly looked toward the security monitor.
Her face changed.
"What is it?"
Adrian immediately moved beside her.
On the screen was the hallway outside.
Empty.
But the security system showed something strange.
Someone had entered the building.
Someone without being recorded.
Adrian checked the time.
Then he froze.
"What?"
I asked.
He didn't answer.
He zoomed in on the screen.
A figure appeared at the end of the hallway.
Walking slowly toward us.
The person's face was hidden.
But the way they walked...
Adrian knew them.
Evelyn knew them.
Both of them became completely silent.
I looked at the screen.
"Who is that?"
Adrian whispered:
"No one should know this place exists."
The figure stopped outside the office.
Then the hallway lights turned off.
Again.
Just like before.
The door handle moved.
Adrian stepped in front of me.
Evelyn backed away.
For the first time, she looked terrified.
The door opened slightly.
A hand appeared.
Holding an old photograph.
The same photograph from my mother's letter.
The person pushed it through the opening.
Then a voice spoke from the darkness.
"I think it's time Sofia learns who her real father was."
May you like
The door opened wider.
And the person standing outside was someone Adrian had buried twelve years ago.
