Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The woman standing outside Adrian Vale’s penthouse looked exactly like my mother.
Not similar.
Not familiar.
Exactly.
For twenty years, I had carried one image in my mind.
A woman smiling beside a birthday cake.
A woman holding my hand.
A woman who disappeared from my life before I was old enough to understand what losing someone meant.
My mother.
Claire Hart.
Dead.
That was the truth I had been given.
But the woman standing behind the glass security door was looking directly at me.
Alive.
My first thought was that my mind was protecting itself.
That grief had created something impossible because the truth was too painful.
But then she lifted her hand.
A small movement.
A gesture I remembered.
Something she used to do when I was afraid.
Three fingers pressed lightly against her chest.
Then her palm opened.
The same way she used to promise me everything would be okay.
My breath disappeared.
"Selena..."
Adrian looked at me.
"Do you know her?"
I couldn't answer.
Because answering meant accepting something impossible.
The security guard looked between us.
"Should I let her in?"
"No."
Adrian's voice was immediate.
Cold.
The woman outside heard him through the speaker.
Her expression changed.
Not anger.
Pain.
"Adrian."
The sound of his name from her mouth made him freeze.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
He knew her.
"You know her," I whispered.
Adrian didn't look at me.
"Everyone leave the room."
The security team hesitated.
"Now."
They moved.
Within seconds, the massive living room became empty.
Only three people remained.
Me.
Adrian.
And the woman who shouldn't exist.
The door opened.
She walked inside slowly.
Her eyes never left mine.
I wanted to run toward her.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to ask why she abandoned me.
Why she let me grow up believing she was gone.
Instead, I stood there frozen.
Because the woman I missed my entire life was standing in front of me.
And she looked afraid of me.
"Selena."
Her voice broke.
I closed my eyes.
I hated that I recognized it.
I hated that a part of me still knew her.
"Don't call me that."
The words came out before I could stop them.
Her face fell.
"My baby..."
"No."
I stepped back.
"Don't."
The pain in her eyes almost made me feel guilty.
Almost.
"You died."
She looked down.
"I know."
"Everyone told me you died."
"I know."
"Then why are you standing here?"
She didn't answer.
And that silence hurt more than any explanation could have.
Adrian stepped between us.
"Claire."
My mother looked at him.
"You kept your promise."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"What promise?"
Her eyes moved toward me.
"The promise you made twenty years ago."
I looked at Adrian.
"What is she talking about?"
He didn't respond.
That was when I knew.
There was more.
Something bigger than a hidden paper.
Bigger than Ethan.
Bigger than anything I had imagined.
"You knew my mother."
Adrian stayed silent.
"You knew she was alive."
"No."
His answer was immediate.
"I thought she was dead."
My mother looked at him.
"You believed what they wanted you to believe."
The room became colder.
"Who is they?" I asked.
Neither of them answered.
I laughed softly.
Not because it was funny.
Because I was exhausted.
"Of course."
I looked between them.
"Everyone knows something except me."
"Selena—"
"No."
I looked at my mother.
"You don't get to come back after twenty years and tell me to be patient."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I never left because I wanted to."
"Then why?"
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
That hurt.
Because even now, she had secrets.
Adrian noticed.
"Claire."
She looked at him.
"You need to tell her."
My mother looked afraid.
"Not yet."
"There's no more time."
"What happened?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, he walked to the table and picked up the photograph.
"The file was accessed tonight."
My mother's face changed.
"By who?"
"We don't know."
She looked at me.
Then at Adrian.
"They found her."
My stomach dropped.
"Who found me?"
My mother reached for my hand.
I pulled away.
Not because I hated her.
Because I didn't know who she was anymore.
"Selena, listen to me."
Her voice became desperate.
"The man you were with tonight—"
"Ethan?"
She shook her head.
"No."
A pause.
"Adrian."
The room went silent.
I looked at Adrian.
"What?"
My mother looked at him.
"You never told her."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"Told me what?"
My mother took a breath.
"The reason you were able to find her."
I looked at Adrian.
"What does that mean?"
He didn't answer.
And that scared me.
Because Adrian Vale always had an answer.
Always.
Except now.
My mother walked toward the photograph.
"You think this started tonight."
She touched the picture.
"It didn't."
Her finger moved toward me.
"It started before you were born."
I felt my chest tighten.
"What are you saying?"
She looked at Adrian.
"Tell her."
He looked away.
"No."
"Adrian."
"No."
The fear in his voice surprised me.
Not anger.
Fear.
I had never seen him afraid before.
"What are you hiding?"
Adrian looked at me.
For a moment, I thought he would tell me.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed instantly.
"What?"
A pause.
"Repeat that."
Another pause.
Then he looked toward the windows.
"The cameras?"
I heard a faint voice through the phone.
Adrian's hand tightened.
"How long?"
Silence.
Then:
"Get everyone out."
My heart started racing.
"What happened?"
He didn't answer.
He walked to the security monitor.
The screen showed the outside entrance.
Empty.
Then another camera.
The hallway.
Empty.
Then the elevator.
Empty.
Then the final camera.
The one facing the private parking area.
A black car was parked there.
Someone stood beside it.
Watching.
I couldn't see the face.
But I saw the person holding something.
A photograph.
Adrian zoomed in.
The image became clearer.
My blood turned cold.
Because the person outside was holding a picture of me.
As a child.
And written on the back of it were four words.
"She was never yours."
My mother covered her mouth.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then whispered:
"They found the person who took you."
May you like
The elevator at the end of the hallway opened.
And someone stepped out holding a file with my name on it.
