Chapter 10 - The Place Where Dante Lost Everything
The abandoned factory stood at the edge of Bellador.
Nobody had entered it for three years.
Nobody except the person who wanted Dante Vale to remember.
The black car stopped outside the broken gates.
Dante looked through the window.
The place was exactly the same.
The same cracked walls.
The same rusted machines.
The same silence.
Mara sat beside him.
She noticed his hand resting on the wheelchair control.
It was shaking.
Only slightly.
But enough.
"You don’t have to go inside."
Dante looked at her.
"Yes, I do."
"Why?"
He stared at the building.
"Because this is where my life ended."
Mara looked at him.
"No."
Dante turned.
"It’s where someone tried to end your life."
She paused.
"But you’re still here."
For a moment, Dante said nothing.
Then he looked away.
The words affected him.
Because for years, he had thought of himself as the man who survived.
Not the man who lived.
Behind them, Marcus checked the area.
Adrian stood near the entrance.
Clara remained inside the car.
Dante noticed.
"She’s not coming."
Marcus shook his head.
"She said she wasn’t welcome."
Dante didn’t respond.
Because he didn’t know if he agreed.
They entered the factory.
The air smelled old.
Forgotten.
Mara stayed close to Dante.
Every step deeper brought back memories he couldn’t explain.
"I don’t remember everything."
Mara looked at him.
"From that night?"
Dante nodded.
"I remember the car."
He looked around.
"The sound."
A pause.
"Then nothing."
Marcus walked ahead.
"You were unconscious for eleven days."
Dante looked at him.
"You were there."
Marcus stopped.
"Yes."
"You saw everything."
Marcus’s expression changed.
"I saw enough."
Dante moved closer.
"Tell me."
Marcus looked at Adrian.
Then back at Dante.
"Not yet."
Dante’s eyes hardened.
"You all keep saying that."
His voice echoed through the empty factory.
"Not yet."
He looked around.
"After three years, when is it finally time?"
Nobody answered.
Mara understood.
Dante wasn’t angry because he wanted revenge.
He was angry because everyone had taken his choices away.
They had decided what he could handle.
What he could know.
What he could remember.
A sound suddenly came from deeper inside the factory.
A metal door moving.
Everyone stopped.
Marcus immediately raised his weapon.
Dante looked forward.
"Someone is here."
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
Mara frowned.
"You knew?"
Adrian didn’t answer.
That worried her more.
They followed the sound.
At the back of the factory was an old office.
The door was locked.
Dante looked at it.
"This wasn’t here."
Marcus shook his head.
"It was."
Dante looked at him.
"You’re sure?"
Marcus nodded.
"Because this is where they kept you before the hospital."
The words froze everyone.
Mara looked at Dante.
"They brought you here?"
Marcus looked down.
"Yes."
Dante stared at the door.
A memory flashed.
A voice.
A smell.
A hand holding his shoulder.
He closed his eyes.
"I remember."
Everyone looked at him.
Dante’s breathing became heavier.
"I was awake."
Mara stepped closer.
"What?"
"I wasn’t unconscious."
He looked at the door.
"I heard voices."
Marcus went silent.
Dante continued.
"Someone was arguing."
"Who?"
Dante touched his temple.
"I don’t know."
Then he remembered.
A sentence.
One sentence that had haunted him.
"He said..."
Everyone waited.
Dante whispered:
"We can’t kill him. He’s too valuable."
The factory became silent.
Mara felt cold.
They didn’t want Dante dead.
They wanted him alive.
But broken.
A light suddenly turned on inside the office.
Everyone froze.
The room was supposed to be empty.
Dante moved closer.
The door slowly opened.
Inside was a small room.
A desk.
A chair.
A computer.
And a wall covered with photographs.
Dante entered first.
Mara followed.
The photographs showed Dante throughout his life.
But one section was different.
Pictures of Mara.
Her childhood.
Her school.
Her first job.
Her apartment.
Every stage of her life.
Dante stared.
"How long have they been watching you?"
Mara didn’t answer.
Because she didn’t know.
Adrian walked toward the computer.
"It’s not just watching."
He turned the screen on.
A folder appeared.
PHOENIX FINAL SUBJECT
Mara stepped back.
"Subject?"
Adrian opened it.
The first document appeared.
A medical report.
Mara’s name.
Her birth date.
Her DNA information.
Dante looked at Adrian.
"What is this?"
Adrian’s face was serious.
"The reason they kept her alive."
Mara stared.
"Why?"
Adrian clicked another file.
A video appeared.
A man sat in front of the camera.
Older.
Tired.
But familiar.
Mara froze.
Because she recognized him.
Her father.
The man she believed died when she was five.
The video began.
"Mara, if you’re seeing this..."
The voice broke slightly.
"I failed to protect you."
Mara covered her mouth.
Dante watched her.
The man continued.
"The Vale family is not the only family involved."
A pause.
"The people who destroyed Dante’s life also destroyed mine."
The video flickered.
Then her father said something that made everyone freeze.
"Your mother was the one who saved Dante."
Mara looked confused.
"My mother?"
The video continued.
"She hid the evidence."
A pause.
"She knew the truth about who betrayed him."
Dante leaned toward the screen.
"Who?"
The recording became distorted.
Static.
Then one final sentence appeared.
A message on the screen.
THE PERSON WHO SAVED YOU WAS THE PERSON YOU HATED MOST.
Dante stared.
Mara looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Before anyone could answer, the factory lights suddenly shut off.
Every screen went black.
Then a single message appeared.
Not on the computer.
On Dante’s private phone.
A text.
From an unknown number.
You came back to the place where you fell. Now come see where she buried the truth.
Dante looked up.
Because the message included a location.
May you like
A location only one person could know.
And it was his mother’s old house.
