Chapter 6 - The Place Where My Past Was Hidden
The pharmacy had never looked dangerous before.
That was the first thought that crossed my mind when Dominic’s car stopped across the street.
Fourth and Elm Pharmacy.
The same faded sign.
The same narrow windows.
The same little bell above the door that always made a soft sound whenever someone entered.
For years, this place had been my escape.
My routine.
My normal.
I had spent countless nights behind the counter here, helping strangers with headaches, prescriptions, and problems much bigger than mine.
I knew every shelf.
Every corner.
Every broken drawer that refused to close properly.
I knew this place better than anywhere else.
And yet, standing outside now, I realized something terrifying.
I had never really known it at all.
“This is where your mother worked?”
Dominic asked quietly.
I nodded.
“Before me.”
He looked at the building.
“What do you remember?”
The question surprised me.
Not what did I know.
What did I remember.
I looked through the window.
“My mother used to bring me here when I was little.”
A small smile appeared despite everything.
“She would let me sit in the back office and color while she worked.”
Dominic listened.
“She said this place was safe.”
The smile faded.
“Maybe she was wrong.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
His answer came immediately.
“She was right.”
I frowned.
“How can you know that?”
“Because she chose this place.”
I looked away.
“I don’t understand.”
“Your mother was smart.”
A pause.
“She knew people would search the obvious places.”
“My house.”
“Yes.”
“Her belongings.”
“Yes.”
“But not here.”
Dominic nodded.
“Because nobody would think she would hide something where she created your happiest memories.”
I stared at the pharmacy.
And suddenly, I understood.
My mother had not hidden the truth in a place connected to danger.
She had hidden it in a place connected to love.
That was exactly the kind of thing she would do.
“Are you coming inside?”
I asked.
Dominic looked at me.
“I am.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Gemma told me not to let you come.”
A small silence.
Then he nodded.
“I know.”
“You’re not going to argue?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
“Because Gemma was protecting you.”
He looked at the pharmacy.
“But she also trusted me.”
The answer was complicated.
Everything about Dominic was complicated.
I hated that.
And maybe I was starting to understand it.
We entered through the side door.
The pharmacy was closed.
The lights were off.
The familiar smell of medicine and clean counters filled the air.
For a second, everything felt normal.
Then I remembered.
Nothing was normal anymore.
Dominic stayed behind me.
Not in front.
I noticed.
“You’re letting me lead.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because this belongs to you.”
The answer was simple.
But it meant something.
For the first time, Dominic wasn’t trying to control the situation.
He was allowing me to find my own way.
I walked toward the old counter.
My fingers brushed against the surface.
Memories came back.
My first day working here.
My mother teaching me how to organize shelves.
The way she always hummed when she was thinking.
The way she would look toward the door whenever someone unfamiliar entered.
I had always thought she was just cautious.
Now I wondered if she was afraid.
“Where would she hide something?”
Dominic asked.
I looked around.
“I don’t know.”
But even as I said it, I felt something.
A memory.
Something small.
Something I had forgotten.
“My mother had a habit.”
“What habit?”
“She always hid important things in places people ignored.”
Dominic watched me.
“Examples?”
“When I was ten, I lost my birthday necklace.”
“And?”
“She hid it inside an old flower vase because she knew I would never look there.”
A faint smile appeared on my face.
“She said the safest place was usually the place nobody cared about.”
Dominic looked around.
Nobody cared about this pharmacy.
Not anymore.
The shelves.
The drawers.
The old office.
The forgotten corners.
I walked toward the back room.
The office had barely changed.
An old desk.
A filing cabinet.
A chair where my mother used to sit.
I opened the drawers.
Nothing.
I checked the shelves.
Nothing.
Frustration started building.
“Maybe she didn’t leave anything.”
Dominic shook his head.
“She did.”
“You sound sure.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Because Gemma said she did.”
That stopped me.
He trusted Gemma.
Even after everything.
Even after the warning.
I looked at him.
“You really love your sister.”
His expression changed.
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate.
“She’s the only person who knew me before everyone else decided who I was.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Because I understood.
Sometimes the people who knew you before your reputation existed were the only ones who truly knew you.
I turned back toward the desk.
Then I saw it.
The drawer.
The bottom drawer.
The one that had never opened properly.
I pulled.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
“Broken.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Move.”
I looked at him.
“You’re going to break it?”
“No.”
He crouched down.
“I’m going to look.”
A few seconds later, he removed the bottom panel.
Behind it was a small space.
Hidden.
Empty.
Except for one thing.
A key.
My breath caught.
I picked it up.
A tiny silver key.
Attached to it was a label.
One word.
Tessa.
I stared.
My name.
My hands began shaking.
Dominic noticed.
“What?”
I turned the key over.
On the back was a date.
The date my mother disappeared.
I felt like the air had left the room.
“She knew.”
Dominic looked at me.
“She knew this would happen.”
I nodded slowly.
“She planned for me to find it.”
A sound came from outside.
A car door closing.
Dominic immediately stood.
The familiar coldness returned.
“What?”
He moved toward the window.
“We’re not alone.”
I walked beside him.
Outside, a black vehicle had stopped near the pharmacy.
My heart sank.
“How did they find us?”
Dominic didn’t answer.
Because he knew.
Someone had followed.
Someone had been waiting.
Someone knew we would come here.
The back door suddenly moved.
Dominic stepped in front of me.
Again.
But this time, I grabbed his arm.
He looked at me.
“I can help.”
His eyes searched mine.
“Tessa.”
“I mean it.”
A pause.
Then he nodded.
“Okay.”
The fact that he accepted it mattered more than I expected.
The door opened.
But nobody entered.
Instead, something slid across the floor.
An envelope.
Dominic and I looked at each other.
Another message.
Another secret.
Slowly, I picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Young.
Smiling.
Standing beside someone I had never seen before.
A man.
A man whose face I recognized immediately.
Because I had seen him before.
In old pictures.
In stories.
In whispers.
Dominic’s father.
But there was something else.
Written on the back of the photo.
A message.
My fingers froze.
Tessa, if you found this, then Dominic finally told you the truth.
I looked at him.
He looked shocked.
The next line made my heart stop.
But there is one thing he still doesn’t know.
I turned the photo over.
My mother’s final words stared back at me.
Your father is alive.
The room went completely silent.
Because all my life…
I thought I had lost one parent.
I thought my mother disappeared.
I thought my father was a memory.
But now, standing inside the pharmacy where my past began, I discovered something impossible.
My family’s secrets were not buried.
May you like
They were waiting.
And someone out there had spent years making sure I never found them.
