Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The woman stood in the doorway.
The red emergency lights painted her face in shadows.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Not even Cassian Voss.
And that scared me more than anything that had happened that night.
Because I had watched him face armed men without blinking.
I had watched him command an entire room with a single sentence.
But now he looked like a man staring at a ghost.
The woman took one slow step forward.
Her eyes never left his.
"Hello, Cassian."
His hand remained inside his jacket.
Not reaching for a weapon.
Holding himself back.
"Elena."
The name left his mouth like it hurt.
I looked between them.
Elena.
The woman from the photograph.
The woman who was supposed to be dead.
The woman who somehow knew my name.
One of Cassian's guards raised his weapon.
"Mr. Voss, step back."
Cassian lifted his hand.
"No."
The guard looked confused.
"But sir—"
"I said no."
His voice was quiet.
But there was something underneath it.
Something dangerous.
Not anger.
Fear.
Elena looked at me.
"I didn't expect you to be here."
I frowned.
"You know me?"
She didn't answer immediately.
That silence was enough.
Cassian noticed it too.
His eyes moved from her to me.
"What does that mean?"
Elena looked away.
"Cassian, we need to talk."
"No."
His answer was immediate.
"You disappeared ten years ago."
Her expression changed.
"I know."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I had no choice."
"Everyone has a choice."
The room became colder.
I had never seen two people speak with so much history hidden between every word.
This wasn't a normal reunion.
This was a wound reopening.
Cassian stepped closer.
"Who sent those men tonight?"
Elena's face tightened.
"That's not the most important question."
"Then what is?"
She looked directly at him.
"Who hired the waitress?"
My body went still.
The question wasn't loud.
But it felt like a gunshot.
Cassian looked at me.
Then back at Elena.
"What are you talking about?"
Elena walked toward the table and placed something down.
A small envelope.
Similar to the one found on the attacker.
Same black circle symbol.
My stomach tightened.
"I found out they were watching Meridian Club before tonight," Elena said.
"They knew about your meeting."
"They knew about your security."
"They knew exactly when you would arrive."
Cassian's expression hardened.
"Someone inside my organization."
"Yes."
The answer came too quickly.
Too confidently.
Cassian stared at her.
"You expect me to believe one of my people betrayed me?"
"I expect you to accept that the person closest to you has been lying for years."
The silence after that was heavy.
Because everyone understood what she meant.
Cassian had built his empire on trust.
On loyalty.
On knowing exactly who stood beside him.
And now someone had walked into his home.
Used his own employees.
And almost killed him.
I looked at the photograph still sitting on the table.
The young woman.
The little girl.
Something kept bothering me.
A feeling I couldn't explain.
Like I was standing in the middle of a story that had started long before I arrived.
Cassian picked up the envelope.
"Why come back now?"
Elena looked at him.
"Because they found me."
"Who?"
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
"The same people who killed my family."
The room froze.
Cassian's face changed.
"Your family?"
Elena looked at me.
Then at him.
"There is something you don't know."
I felt my heartbeat increase.
Cassian noticed where she was looking.
"No."
The word came out instantly.
Almost like he already knew what she was about to say.
Elena stepped closer.
"Cassian—"
"No."
His voice became sharper.
"You don't get to disappear for ten years and walk back into my life with another secret."
Her eyes softened.
"I didn't disappear because I wanted to."
"Then why?"
"Because I was protecting someone."
Nobody spoke.
Cassian stared at her.
"Who?"
Elena looked at me.
And my entire body went cold.
Because I already knew.
Before she even said anything.
I already knew.
"Priya."
My name sounded strange coming from her.
Like she wasn't saying it for the first time.
Like she had been saying it for years.
Cassian turned toward me.
"What?"
I stepped back.
"No."
Elena's expression broke slightly.
"Priya..."
"Don't."
My voice was quieter than I expected.
"I don't know you."
She looked like those words hurt.
"I know."
"Then stop acting like you do."
Cassian looked between us.
"Someone explain."
Elena took a breath.
"The girl in the photograph wasn't my daughter."
Cassian's eyes narrowed.
"Then who was she?"
Elena looked at me.
"She was my sister."
The room went silent.
I felt like the floor had disappeared beneath me.
"My sister?"
Elena nodded.
"Her name was Anika Sharma."
I couldn't breathe.
Because Sharma was my last name.
The same last name I had carried my entire life.
The same last name my mother had refused to discuss.
My mother's warnings suddenly came back.
Never ask about your father.
Never go looking for answers.
Never trust powerful people.
I had always thought she was protecting me from the past.
Now I wondered if she was protecting the past from me.
Cassian looked shocked.
"Priya is Anika's daughter?"
Elena nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Nobody moved.
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because my mind couldn't process it.
"No."
Elena looked at me sadly.
"I wish it wasn't true."
I shook my head.
"My mother told me my father died before I was born."
"He did."
I looked at her.
"Then why is Cassian involved?"
That question changed everything.
Elena looked at Cassian.
And for the first time, he looked away.
That small movement told me more than any answer could.
"You knew," I whispered.
Cassian didn't respond.
"You knew something about my family."
His silence was the answer.
Anger replaced confusion.
"You knew?"
Cassian finally looked at me.
"I knew your mother's name."
"That's not what I asked."
His jaw tightened.
"I didn't know you existed."
"Until tonight?"
He didn't answer.
I stepped backward.
The man I had saved.
The man everyone feared.
The man who had looked at me like I was a mystery.
He wasn't just connected to my past.
He was part of it.
Before anyone could say another word, every security monitor in the room suddenly turned on.
The screens showed the same image.
A live camera feed.
From outside the club.
Cassian's guards immediately looked up.
Because on the screen was a black vehicle parked across the street.
The same symbol from the envelopes was painted on the door.
Then the camera zoomed closer.
A man stepped out.
Older.
Gray hair.
Calm.
Confident.
Someone who wasn't afraid to walk directly toward Cassian Voss's territory.
One of the guards whispered:
"Impossible."
Cassian looked at the screen.
His face changed.
"Who is that?"
Nobody answered.
Then the man outside lifted his head.
And looked directly into the camera.
As if he knew they were watching.
The screen went black.
A second later, Cassian's private phone rang.
He answered.
Nobody spoke.
He only listened.
Then his expression turned completely cold.
"Open the front door."
His guards looked shocked.
"Sir?"
Cassian stared at the darkness outside.
"Because the man standing there..."
May you like
He paused.
"...is my father."
