Chapter 6 - The Man Who Was Buried Alive
The message remained on the screen.
"Ask Evelyn why she buried me."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The old training facility felt colder than before.
Not because of the broken windows.
Not because of the empty halls.
Because everyone in that room understood the same thing.
Someone who was supposed to be dead had just contacted us.
And somehow...
They blamed me.
Roman looked at me slowly.
Not with anger.
Not yet.
With confusion.
That was worse.
Because anger meant he had decided what he believed.
Confusion meant he was searching for the truth.
And the truth was something I had spent six years trying to escape.
"Evelyn."
His voice was quiet.
I looked away.
"I don't know."
Roman stared at me.
"You don't know who this is?"
I stayed silent.
Claire stepped between us.
"Roman."
He looked at her.
"What?"
"Not here."
His expression hardened.
"No."
The word echoed through the empty building.
"I spent six years thinking my sister was dead."
Claire looked down.
"I know."
"I spent six years wondering if I failed her."
Her eyes filled with guilt.
"Roman..."
"And now someone sends me a picture of a dead man standing behind you."
He looked at me.
"And you expect me not to ask questions?"
I understood.
I really did.
If I were him, I would feel the same.
But understanding someone didn't mean trusting them.
Not after everything.
"I buried nobody."
The words came out quietly.
Roman didn't respond.
So I continued.
"Not the way you think."
Claire looked at me.
She knew.
She was the only person who knew how complicated the truth was.
Six years ago, there was a man named Adrian Cross.
He wasn't family.
He wasn't a friend.
He was something more dangerous.
He was someone everyone trusted.
Adrian had worked with the Vale family for years.
He handled private matters.
Protected secrets.
Solved problems.
People respected him.
People believed him.
I did too.
Until I found out what he was hiding.
Until I discovered the documents.
Until I learned Claire wasn't the only person being watched.
Roman stepped closer.
"Who is Adrian Cross?"
I looked at him.
"The man in the picture."
His face changed.
"Impossible."
"You knew him?"
Roman looked away.
"Everyone knew him."
Claire nodded slowly.
"He was my father's closest adviser."
Silence.
That explained everything.
Because powerful families always had someone behind the scenes.
Someone who knew where everything was buried.
Someone who could erase problems.
Someone who could make people disappear.
Roman looked back at the phone.
"He's dead."
Claire answered softly.
"We thought he was."
I looked at her.
"You knew?"
She avoided my eyes.
"Not everything."
That sentence bothered me.
Because people always used it when they knew enough to be dangerous.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Claire didn't answer.
Roman noticed.
"Claire."
She closed her eyes.
"I found out Adrian wasn't helping your family."
Roman waited.
"He was controlling them."
The room became silent again.
Roman laughed once.
But there was no humor.
"My father's adviser controlled him?"
"Yes."
"That's impossible."
"No."
Claire looked at him.
"What's impossible is believing powerful people always know who is holding the strings."
Roman didn't respond.
Because deep down, he knew.
I watched his expression change.
The confidence.
The certainty.
The control.
All slowly disappearing.
Then my phone vibrated.
Everyone looked at it.
Another unknown number.
This time, I didn't want to answer.
But I already knew.
Someone wanted me to.
I picked up.
No one spoke.
Then a man's voice came through.
"Evelyn."
My hand tightened.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it six years ago.
The night everything ended.
"Adrian."
Roman immediately looked at me.
Claire covered her mouth.
The voice on the phone laughed softly.
"So she told you my name."
I couldn't speak.
"You were always smarter than people thought."
"You're alive."
A pause.
Then:
"So are you."
My stomach dropped.
"What do you want?"
"I want you to stop pretending."
My eyes moved toward Roman.
"What does that mean?"
"It means Roman deserves the truth."
I looked at him.
"He deserves to know what you did."
My heart started beating faster.
"I didn't do anything."
"Didn't you?"
The voice became colder.
"You were there."
Six years disappeared.
The night.
The fire.
The screams.
Claire.
The evidence.
The choice.
My choice.
"I saved her."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Everyone looked at me.
Roman froze.
Adrian was silent.
Then he whispered:
"You still tell yourself that?"
The call ended.
I lowered the phone.
Nobody spoke.
Roman looked at me.
"You saved her?"
I didn't answer.
Because that was the one sentence I had never said out loud.
Not to Claire.
Not to myself.
Not even in my own thoughts.
Claire stepped closer.
"Evelyn..."
Roman looked between us.
"What happened that night?"
I wanted to tell him.
I wanted to finally say everything.
But before I could...
The lights went out.
The entire building became darkness.
Bennett immediately moved.
"Roman."
"I know."
Something moved in the hallway.
A slow footstep.
Then another.
Claire grabbed my arm.
"He's here."
Roman looked at her.
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Adrian."
A flashlight turned on.
A figure stood at the end of the corridor.
Not hiding.
Not running.
Just watching.
Roman stepped forward.
"Adrian Cross."
The figure smiled.
Then walked into the light.
Older.
Different.
But alive.
The man everyone thought was dead looked directly at Roman.
Then at me.
And said:
"Evelyn."
My blood went cold.
Because he wasn't looking at me with anger.
He was looking at me like he was disappointed.
"You still haven't told him what you really did that night."
Roman turned toward me.
And before I could speak, Adrian placed a small black box on the floor.
The same kind of box Claire had searched for six years ago.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Roman picked it up.
His face changed instantly.
Because the photograph showed Claire...
Standing beside me...
On the night she was supposed to disappear.
May you like
And written on the back were five words:
"She wasn't running from Adrian."
