Chapter 10 - The Man In The Video
Adrian Vale stared at the screen.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't breathe.
Because the person standing beside Elena in the video was not a stranger.
It was him.
His own face.
His own voice.
His own clothes.
Six years ago.
Inside the Hale facility.
The same night Elena died.
Marcus stepped closer.
"Adrian..."
But Adrian raised his hand.
No one spoke.
The video continued.
Elena stood in the laboratory, holding a small Clara in her arms.
She looked terrified.
Not because of the machines.
Not because of Victor.
Because of the man standing across from her.
Adrian.
The recorded version of himself looked different.
Cold.
Empty.
Almost like someone else was controlling him.
"Where is the file?" video-Adrian asked.
Elena stepped backward.
"I destroyed it."
"You didn't."
"I know what you are doing."
The room became silent.
Present-day Adrian watched every second.
Every word.
Every movement.
His mind rejected what his eyes were seeing.
Because he had no memory of this.
None.
Video-Adrian moved closer.
"You should have stayed away."
Elena held Clara tighter.
"You don't understand what you're protecting."
The screen flickered.
Then another person entered.
Victor Hale.
Alive.
Standing behind Adrian.
Adrian froze.
Because the timeline made no sense.
Victor wasn't hiding from him.
Victor was working with him.
The video continued.
Victor looked at Elena.
"You were never supposed to find out."
Elena stared at Adrian.
Not Victor.
At Adrian.
Her eyes were filled with something that broke him.
Fear.
Not fear of an enemy.
Fear of the person she loved.
Present-day Adrian stepped backward.
"No..."
Gabriel looked at him.
"You don't remember."
Adrian turned.
"What did he do to me?"
Nobody answered.
The video played.
Victor walked toward Clara.
Elena moved away.
"Don't touch her."
Victor smiled.
"She's the reason everything worked."
Adrian watched his past self standing silently.
Doing nothing.
Not helping.
Not stopping them.
That was the part that hurt the most.
Because the man on the screen was him.
Then Elena said something.
Something that made everyone in the room freeze.
"Adrian isn't himself anymore."
The video stopped.
Static filled the room.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian stared at the frozen image.
"What does that mean?"
Ward looked away.
Gabriel remained silent.
Marcus looked terrified.
Adrian turned toward him.
"You know."
Marcus didn't answer.
"Tell me."
The security chief swallowed.
"When Elena discovered Victor's plan, she found out he had been experimenting on people."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"What kind of experiments?"
Marcus hesitated.
"Memory manipulation."
Silence.
Adrian stared.
"No."
Ward slowly nodded.
"Victor was studying how trauma could affect memory."
Adrian looked at the screen.
"My memory."
Nobody responded.
Because everyone knew.
The answer was yes.
Gabriel stepped closer.
"Elena tried to stop him."
"And she failed."
Gabriel looked down.
"She saved Clara."
Adrian looked at him.
"How?"
"She erased the evidence."
Adrian's expression changed.
"What evidence?"
Gabriel looked at the screen.
"You."
The word hit harder than anything.
Adrian stepped back.
"You expect me to believe I was controlled?"
"No."
Gabriel shook his head.
"I expect you to believe Elena."
Adrian looked at the video again.
The woman he loved.
The woman who had spent years trying to warn him.
A woman who looked at him like she was saying goodbye.
The door behind them suddenly opened.
Everyone turned.
A security guard stood there.
His face was pale.
"Mr. Vale."
Adrian looked at him.
"What?"
The guard held a tablet.
"We found Clara."
Adrian moved immediately.
"Where?"
The guard hesitated.
"In the lower laboratory."
Everyone followed him.
The room beneath the facility was darker than the others.
Older.
More hidden.
A place Victor didn't want anyone to find.
Adrian entered.
And stopped.
Because Clara was sitting inside a glass room.
Awake.
Alive.
But not alone.
Victor Hale stood beside her.
Older.
Calm.
Smiling.
"Adrian."
His voice echoed.
"You finally understand."
Adrian stepped toward the glass.
"What did you do to me?"
Victor smiled.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
Victor looked amused.
"That's the problem with you, Adrian."
He walked closer to the glass.
"You always believe something must have happened."
Adrian's hands tightened.
"Release my daughter."
Victor looked at Clara.
"Do you know what your father doesn't remember?"
Clara looked frightened.
"Daddy?"
Adrian's voice softened.
"Don't listen to him."
Victor continued.
"He begged me."
Adrian froze.
"What?"
Victor smiled.
"Six years ago, Adrian Vale came to me."
The room went silent.
"He asked me to save his family."
Adrian stared.
"I never..."
Victor interrupted.
"You asked me to remove your pain."
The words struck him.
His memory flashed.
A hospital.
A bright light.
A voice.
Someone telling him everything would be easier.
Adrian grabbed his head.
"No."
Victor smiled.
"Now you're remembering."
Gabriel stepped forward.
"You're lying."
Victor looked at him.
"You were always Elena's favorite."
His smile faded.
"That's why she chose you over him."
Adrian looked at Gabriel.
"Over who?"
Victor looked directly at Adrian.
"Over you."
The lights flickered.
A monitor behind Victor turned on.
A recording appeared.
Elena.
Again.
But this time she wasn't afraid.
She looked directly into the camera.
"Adrian, if you are watching this..."
She paused.
"Then Victor failed to erase everything."
Adrian moved closer.
Elena continued.
"I need you to know the truth."
The screen changed.
Showing a document.
A signature.
Adrian's signature.
His own handwriting.
At the bottom of a consent form.
Memory procedure.
Six years ago.
Adrian stared.
Because he recognized the signature.
It was his.
Elena's voice continued:
"You asked Victor to remove the memory of the night Clara was taken."
Adrian stopped breathing.
"Because you believed you were the reason she was hurt."
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
Then Victor whispered:
"And now..."
The glass door behind Adrian unlocked by itself.
A slow mechanical sound echoed.
May you like
Victor smiled.
"Now you get to remember what you did to your daughter."
