Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Was Buried Six Years Ago
Adrian Vale watched the figure beside his daughter’s bed move closer.
The camera shook.
The image became distorted.
Then the person turned slightly.
Just enough for Adrian to see the face.
His blood went cold.
"Elena..."
The name escaped his lips before he could stop himself.
Marcus looked at him.
"Mr. Vale..."
But Adrian was no longer listening.
His mind had returned to six years ago.
The hospital.
The rain.
The phone call.
The moment a doctor told him his wife had not survived the accident.
He remembered seeing the body.
He remembered the funeral.
He remembered holding Clara in his arms while she cried for her mother.
Elena Vale was dead.
She had been dead for six years.
Yet now...
Her sister's face was standing beside his daughter's bed.
Adrian grabbed the monitor.
"Lock the mansion."
Marcus immediately reacted.
"Everyone?"
"Nobody leaves."
Security alarms echoed through the house.
The entire Vale mansion transformed within seconds.
Doors locked.
Guards moved through hallways.
Cameras switched angles.
But Adrian was already running.
Not walking.
Running.
For the first time in years, nobody cared about the fact that the most feared man in the city was losing control.
Because his daughter was in danger.
When Adrian reached Clara's room, the door was open.
Too open.
He stopped.
A thousand possibilities entered his mind.
Then he heard a voice.
A familiar voice.
"Clara."
Adrian stepped inside.
The room was empty.
Except for Clara.
She sat in her wheelchair.
Awake.
Confused.
Looking toward the window.
"Where is she?"
Adrian rushed to her.
"Who was here?"
Clara looked at him.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"She said she was sorry."
Adrian froze.
"Who?"
Clara pointed toward the window.
"The woman who looks like my mommy."
The words made the room colder.
Adrian looked outside.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
He turned back.
"What did she say?"
Clara looked down.
"She said she tried to come back."
Adrian felt his heartbeat change.
"Come back from where?"
Clara didn't answer.
Instead, she reached under her pillow.
She pulled out a small envelope.
Adrian stared.
"Where did you get that?"
"She gave it to me."
Adrian took it.
The handwriting on the front made him stop.
Because he knew it.
Six years ago, he had received hundreds of letters written with that handwriting.
Letters from the woman he loved.
Letters from Elena.
The envelope said:
FOR ADRIAN.
His hands shook.
He opened it.
Inside was a single page.
Adrian,
If you are reading this, then Clara has finally started to remember.
Do not trust the story they gave you.
The accident was not an accident.
And Clara was never the victim they wanted you to believe.
Adrian stopped reading.
The words blurred.
Not because he couldn't see.
Because he understood.
Someone had been controlling the truth.
Someone had taken six years from his daughter.
Someone had taken six years from him.
He continued.
There is one person who knows everything.
The person who signed Clara's first medical report.
The person who changed the records.
The person who watched us all this time.
Adrian turned the page.
But the rest was missing.
Only one sentence remained.
Find him before he finds Clara.
A sound came from the hallway.
Adrian immediately turned.
A guard rushed inside.
"Mr. Vale."
"What?"
"The woman from the camera..."
Adrian waited.
"We found her."
Adrian moved toward the door.
"Where?"
The guard hesitated.
"She didn't leave."
That made Adrian stop.
"Then where is she?"
The guard looked terrified.
"She is downstairs."
Marcus arrived behind him.
"Impossible."
Adrian looked at Marcus.
"Why?"
Marcus's face changed.
"Because downstairs is where Elena's old room is."
Adrian went silent.
The room his wife had used before she died.
A room he had locked six years ago.
A room nobody entered.
A room that still contained her belongings.
He walked downstairs.
Every step felt heavier.
The mansion was silent.
Even the guards avoided looking at him.
When he reached the old hallway, he saw it.
The door.
Still locked.
Still untouched.
Except now...
The lock was broken.
Adrian stared.
Someone had entered Elena's room.
Someone who knew the room existed.
Someone who had a reason to return.
Marcus stood beside him.
"Should I open it?"
Adrian didn't answer.
He placed his hand on the door.
For six years, he had avoided this room.
Because opening it meant accepting that Elena was gone.
But now...
Maybe she had never truly left.
He pushed.
The door opened slowly.
Inside, everything remained exactly the same.
Her books.
Her clothes.
Her perfume bottle.
The painting she loved.
Nothing had changed.
Except one thing.
On the center of the bed was a new photograph.
Adrian walked closer.
He picked it up.
His entire body froze.
It was a picture of Clara.
Taken yesterday.
Inside the mansion.
While she slept.
On the back of the photograph were five words.
SHE REMEMBERS EVERYTHING NOW.
Marcus looked over his shoulder.
"Mr. Vale..."
Adrian flipped the photograph over.
And saw something else.
A small reflection in the window behind Clara.
Someone had been standing there when the picture was taken.
Someone inside the room.
Someone who had watched his daughter sleep.
Adrian looked toward the dark corner of the room.
"Come out."
Nothing happened.
Then a phone began ringing.
Not Adrian's.
Not Marcus's.
A phone hidden inside Elena's old closet.
Adrian slowly walked toward it.
The ringing continued.
He opened the closet door.
Inside was an old black phone.
The same model Elena used six years ago.
Impossible.
Because it had no battery.
No connection.
Yet it was ringing.
Adrian picked it up.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a voice whispered.
A voice he hadn't heard in six years.
"Adrian..."
His fingers loosened.
The phone almost fell.
Because the voice on the other end was Elena's.
May you like
And then she said the words that made him forget how to breathe.
"I know who tried to kill our daughter..."
