Chapter 4 - The Door Behind My Missing Memories
The darkness lasted only a few seconds.
But those few seconds felt longer than the last two years of my life.
One moment, I was standing in the middle of a luxury shopping mall surrounded by strangers.
The next...
Everything disappeared.
No lights.
No music.
No voices.
Only silence.
And the strange feeling that someone had planned this.
My first instinct was to reach for Adrian.
I didn't know why.
Maybe because even though I barely knew him, some forgotten part of me trusted him.
My fingers found his hand.
He immediately held onto mine.
"Stay close to me."
His voice was calm.
But I could feel the tension in his grip.
Adrian Vale wasn't afraid of many things.
I could see that now.
The darkness wasn't what scared him.
It was what the darkness represented.
Someone had just sent us a message.
Someone who knew exactly where we were.
Someone who knew exactly what to say to break us.
"Everyone stay where you are," a security guard shouted.
People began whispering.
Some used their phone flashlights.
Others started moving toward the exits.
But Adrian didn't move.
He was staring at the phone screen.
At the message.
"Your husband never told you who locked you away."
I looked at him.
"Who wrote that?"
He didn't answer.
"Adrian."
His eyes finally met mine.
And the expression I saw there made my heart sink.
Regret.
Not anger.
Not confusion.
Regret.
"You know who did this."
It wasn't a question.
Adrian looked away.
"I have an idea."
"An idea?"
My voice shook.
"You've been hiding things from me since the moment you found me."
"I was trying to protect you."
I laughed softly.
But there was no humor in it.
"Everyone says that."
I looked at Claire.
Then Trevor.
"Everyone keeps saying they are protecting me."
My eyes burned.
"But nobody tells me what I need protection from."
Nobody spoke.
Because they knew I was right.
For years, I had lived with the feeling that something was missing.
A piece of my life.
A piece of myself.
And now, within one afternoon, I discovered that my entire past might have been a lie.
The emergency lights finally turned on.
A dim red glow filled the mall.
And in that strange light, Adrian looked different.
Not like the powerful man everyone feared.
Like a man carrying guilt.
"Take us somewhere private," Claire said quietly.
Adrian looked at her.
"You don't give orders anymore."
Claire didn't react.
"Then stop wasting time."
The two of them stared at each other.
There was history there.
Painful history.
I noticed Trevor slowly backing away.
I turned.
"Where are you going?"
He stopped.
For a second, the old Trevor returned.
The arrogant man.
The man who thought he could control everything.
Then he looked at Adrian.
And all confidence disappeared.
"I need to leave."
"No."
Adrian's voice stopped him.
Trevor froze.
"You are not leaving until she knows the truth."
Trevor looked at me.
"I was trying to keep you alive."
My stomach tightened.
"By humiliating me?"
His face fell.
"I didn't know what else to do."
The words made me angry.
Because they sounded like an excuse.
"You made me believe I was worthless."
"I had to make you stay away from people who were looking for you."
I stared at him.
"What people?"
Trevor looked toward Adrian.
And Adrian answered.
"The Vale family enemies."
The words meant nothing.
But the way he said them made them feel dangerous.
I crossed my arms.
"So now I'm involved in some kind of war?"
Adrian looked at me.
"You always were."
My breath caught.
Always?
That word hurt.
Because it meant there was a life I had lived.
A life I couldn't remember.
Claire walked toward us.
"She needs to see the truth."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"No."
"She deserves to."
"Claire."
"She deserves to know what happened the night she disappeared."
I looked at Adrian.
"The night I disappeared?"
He closed his eyes for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Yes."
My chest felt heavy.
"Tell me."
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he reached into his jacket and pulled out another photograph.
This one was older.
Much older.
He handed it to me.
I looked down.
It showed a house.
A large house surrounded by trees.
At first, I didn't recognize it.
Then my fingers started shaking.
Because I did.
I had seen it before.
Not in real life.
In dreams.
The same locked door.
The same hallway.
The same feeling of fear.
"This place..."
My voice disappeared.
Adrian watched carefully.
"You remember."
"No."
I shook my head.
"I don't remember."
But my body did.
My hands were trembling.
My breathing changed.
My heart was reacting to a place my mind had forgotten.
Claire whispered:
"That was your home."
I looked at her.
"My home?"
She nodded.
"You lived there before you disappeared."
I looked at Adrian.
"With you?"
A painful silence followed.
Then Adrian said:
"Yes."
The answer broke something inside me.
Because suddenly the pieces started connecting.
The necklace.
The wedding photo.
The memories.
The fear.
The locked door.
I looked at my own hands.
"Why can't I remember you?"
Adrian's voice became quiet.
"Because someone wanted you to forget me."
"Who?"
He looked at Claire.
Claire looked away.
And that told me everything.
She knew.
I stepped toward her.
"You know who did this."
Claire remained silent.
"Tell me."
Her eyes filled with sadness.
"Your sister."
The world seemed to stop again.
"I don't have a sister."
Claire looked at me.
"You did."
I shook my head.
"No."
"Sadie..."
"No!"
My voice echoed through the empty mall.
"I would remember having a sister."
Claire slowly approached.
"Not if she was the person who helped erase your memories."
My entire body went cold.
Before I could respond, Adrian's security team arrived.
Several men in black suits entered the mall.
They immediately surrounded Adrian.
"Sir."
One of them handed him a tablet.
Adrian looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
"What?"
I moved closer.
"What happened?"
He didn't answer.
The man beside him spoke carefully.
"Someone accessed the old Vale residence."
My heart started racing.
"The house in the picture?"
Nobody answered.
Because I already knew.
Adrian looked at me.
"Sadie, listen to me."
His tone scared me.
"What?"
"You cannot go there."
"Why?"
His eyes locked with mine.
"Because whoever opened that door..."
He stopped.
A sound interrupted him.
My phone.
I hadn't heard it ring all day.
I looked down.
Unknown number.
One new message.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
There was only a picture.
A picture of a room.
A room I recognized.
The room from my dreams.
And beneath the image were five words:
"Come home, little sister."
I looked up at Claire.
Her face had gone completely pale.
Because she knew something I didn't.
Then another message appeared.
This time from the same number.
Three words.
May you like
Three words that made Adrian reach for his weapon.
"She is awake."
