Chapter 3 - The File My Mother Hid For Me
The office door handle moved.
Everyone stopped breathing.
Roman immediately stepped in front of me.
Not dramatically.
Not loudly.
Just instinctively.
Like protecting me was something his body remembered before his mind did.
Rebecca grabbed the folder from the desk.
One of Roman's men reached for the weapon hidden beneath his jacket.
The door opened slowly.
And the person standing outside made Roman's entire expression change.
"Mr. Calder?"
It was the hotel manager.
He looked terrified.
"I apologize. I didn't mean to interrupt."
Roman's eyes remained cold.
"Then why are you here?"
The manager swallowed.
"There is someone downstairs asking for Nora Bellamy."
My stomach tightened.
Someone asking for me?
After everything that happened today?
Roman glanced at me.
"Who?"
The manager hesitated.
Then he said:
"He said his name was Julian Bellamy."
The room became silent.
My heart stopped for a second.
Julian.
My ex-husband.
The man who left me when I needed him most.
The man who disappeared into Selene March's world and never looked back.
The man who somehow knew about my pregnancy before I ever told him.
I looked at Roman.
"He's here?"
Roman didn't answer immediately.
His eyes moved toward the security screen still showing Selene entering my locker room.
Then toward the memory chip on the desk.
Then back to me.
"Did Julian know about your mother?"
I shook my head.
"No."
But even as I said it, I felt uncertain.
Because suddenly, too many things were connected.
Selene knew about my pregnancy.
She knew about my necklace.
Julian knew something about my life that he shouldn't have known.
And now my mother's hidden secret had somehow brought me into Roman Calder's world.
Roman picked up the memory chip.
"We need to see what's on this."
Rebecca nodded.
"But before that, Nora needs to know something."
I looked at her.
"What?"
Rebecca opened another file.
This time, she didn't hesitate.
"Your mother wasn't just protecting you from enemies."
She looked at Roman.
"She was protecting you from your own family."
My body went cold.
"My family?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Celeste discovered something before she died."
"What?"
Rebecca looked down.
"That someone close to you had been following your life for years."
I stared at her.
"Who?"
Nobody answered.
That silence was becoming something I hated.
Because every time someone refused to say a name...
I already knew it was going to hurt.
Roman finally spoke.
"Your mother left instructions."
He placed the memory chip on the desk.
"She wanted me to give this to you only after you were ready."
I almost laughed.
Ready?
How was anyone ready to discover their entire life had been built on missing pieces?
"I don't even know you."
Roman looked at me.
"I know."
His voice softened.
"But your mother trusted me."
I looked at the photograph on his desk.
My mother smiling beside him.
A woman who spent her whole life telling me honesty mattered.
A woman who apparently had secrets bigger than I could imagine.
"Why didn't she tell me about you?"
Roman looked away.
For the first time, he seemed hurt.
"Because she was afraid."
"Of you?"
"No."
He looked at me.
"Of what would happen if people knew I was protecting you."
I didn't understand.
Until Rebecca spoke.
"Roman Calder has enemies."
I looked at him.
"Then why would my mother involve me?"
Rebecca lowered her voice.
"Because you were already involved."
Those words stayed with me.
I looked down at the memory chip.
A tiny piece of metal.
Something that had been hidden inside my necklace for years.
Something my mother believed could change everything.
Roman moved toward the computer.
"Let's find out what Celeste wanted you to know."
He inserted the chip.
The screen remained black for several seconds.
Then a video appeared.
The image was old.
Low quality.
But I recognized her immediately.
My mother.
Celeste Bellamy.
Alive.
Sitting at the small kitchen table from my childhood apartment.
My hand covered my mouth.
I couldn't breathe.
She looked older than the last day I remembered her.
Tired.
But smiling.
"Nora."
The sound of her voice broke something inside me.
I had imagined hearing it thousands of times.
But never like this.
"If you are watching this, then something happened that I was afraid of."
My tears started falling.
Roman looked away, giving me privacy.
My mother's voice continued.
"I wanted to tell you everything myself."
She paused.
"But I knew if I told you too soon, you would try to fix everything."
A small smile appeared on her face.
"That's who you are, my daughter."
I covered my mouth.
The room disappeared.
There was only her voice.
"There are people who will tell you that you are ordinary."
My mother looked directly into the camera.
"Don't believe them."
My chest tightened.
"Your life was never small, Nora."
Then her expression changed.
The warmth disappeared.
"I need you to understand something."
She leaned closer.
"Julian Bellamy did not find you by accident."
I froze.
Roman immediately looked at the screen.
Rebecca's face changed.
"What?"
My mother's voice continued.
"He was sent into your life for a reason."
I felt dizzy.
No.
That couldn't be true.
Julian and I met in college.
We were young.
We fell in love.
At least, I thought we did.
"He wasn't supposed to hurt you," my mother said.
"But he was never supposed to stay forever."
The video flickered.
Then my mother's next words made my blood run cold.
"The person who paid Julian to enter your life is someone you have known longer than you realize."
The screen went dark.
Everyone stayed silent.
I looked at Roman.
"What does that mean?"
He didn't answer.
Because suddenly...
everyone in the room heard it.
A phone ringing.
Not Roman's.
Not Rebecca's.
Mine.
I looked down.
The number on the screen was blocked.
My hands started shaking.
I didn't know why.
But something inside me told me not to answer.
Roman noticed my expression.
"Nora."
I looked at him.
"Don't."
The phone stopped.
Then immediately started ringing again.
Same blocked number.
Roman's face became serious.
"Give me the phone."
I didn't move.
Because before I could decide...
a message appeared.
One sentence.
From the unknown number.
My entire body went cold.
Because the person who sent it knew something nobody in that room should have known.
The message said:
"Your mother didn't die in an accident. Ask Roman who was driving the car."
Roman reached for the phone.
May you like
But before he touched it...
the office lights suddenly went out.
