Chapter 5 - The Memory I Was Never Supposed to Recover
I stared at the three words written on the key.
Don't trust him.
My handwriting.
My childhood handwriting.
But I had no memory of writing it.
I looked at Adrian.
He looked back at me.
For the first time since I met him, the powerful man who made entire companies afraid looked completely lost.
"Who is him?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
My voice became louder.
"Who am I not supposed to trust?"
Adrian looked away.
That hurt more than if he had lied.
Because silence was an answer too.
Elena stepped between us.
"Mara."
I looked at her.
"Tell me."
Her eyes filled with pain.
"You were too young to remember."
"Remember what?"
She hesitated.
And that hesitation destroyed whatever small hope I had left.
Because people only hesitated when the truth was dangerous.
"When Richard died, you were there."
My body went cold.
"I already knew that."
"No."
Elena shook her head.
"You don't."
I looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
She took a slow breath.
"You weren't just there."
A pause.
"You saw everything."
The room became silent.
I felt something inside my mind pushing back.
Like a locked door.
A door I had spent years keeping closed.
"I don't remember."
"I know."
"Then why are you telling me?"
"Because someone is trying to make you remember before you are ready."
The words terrified me.
Before I could respond, Adrian interrupted.
"Enough."
Everyone looked at him.
His voice was controlled.
But his eyes weren't.
"You don't know what this could do to her."
Elena looked at him.
"I know exactly what it could do."
"Then stop."
"No."
Adrian froze.
Elena stepped closer.
"Your father trusted me with her."
"He trusted you?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you disappear?"
Her expression broke.
"Because I failed him."
Nobody spoke.
Adrian looked at her with years of anger hidden behind his eyes.
"My entire life, I thought my father died because of an accident."
"It wasn't."
"I know that now."
"No."
Elena shook her head.
"You don't know anything yet."
She looked at me.
"The person who killed Richard is still close to you."
A cold feeling moved through the room.
Adrian immediately looked toward security.
"Search every person in this house."
The guards moved.
Victoria stepped closer to me.
"Mara."
I looked at her.
"I'm sorry."
I hated that sentence.
Everyone kept saying sorry.
But nobody explained anything.
"What are you sorry for?"
Victoria looked down.
"Because your entire life was stolen."
I didn't answer.
Because she was right.
A person could survive losing money.
A person could survive losing a home.
But losing the truth about yourself?
That was different.
That changed everything.
Adrian walked toward the table and picked up the old photograph.
"The man in this picture."
He pointed at the damaged face.
"Do you recognize anything?"
I looked closer.
Nothing.
Then suddenly...
A flash.
A memory.
A dark room.
A man's voice.
A door closing.
I grabbed the edge of the table.
My head started hurting.
"Mara?"
Victoria reached for me.
I pulled away.
"I saw something."
Everyone became still.
"What?" Adrian asked.
I closed my eyes.
"I don't know."
"Try."
I hated that he sounded like he needed the answer.
Like my pain was another piece of evidence.
"There was a room."
My breathing became uneven.
"A wooden desk."
"Who was there?"
"I don't know."
"Look again."
I opened my eyes.
"I said I don't know."
Adrian immediately stopped.
"I'm sorry."
That surprised me.
He actually sounded sorry.
Elena touched my shoulder.
"You don't have to force it."
I looked at her.
"How can you say that?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Because I spent twenty years wishing I could forget too."
Before I could ask what she meant, the security alarm suddenly activated.
A loud sound filled the mansion.
Everyone moved.
Adrian's expression changed instantly.
"Everyone downstairs."
The guards surrounded us.
"What's happening?" Victoria asked.
Adrian looked at the security screen.
The camera feed showed the front gate.
A person stood outside.
Alone.
Holding something.
The image was blurry.
But I could see enough.
It was a woman.
She looked familiar.
Too familiar.
Elena stepped closer to the screen.
Then she stopped.
Her face lost all color.
"No."
Adrian looked at her.
"Who is that?"
Elena didn't answer.
"Mara."
I looked at her.
"Who is she?"
Her voice became a whisper.
"Your grandmother."
The room froze.
"My grandmother died."
Elena shook her head.
"That's what they wanted you to believe."
Adrian immediately ordered the gate opened.
"No."
Elena grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
He looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because if she is here..."
She looked terrified.
"...then she knows Mara remembers."
The gate camera flickered.
The woman outside disappeared.
Adrian turned.
"Where did she go?"
Nobody answered.
Then one of the guards shouted from the hallway.
"Mr. Vale!"
Everyone ran.
The front door was open.
Nobody had touched it.
The woman was gone.
But something was left on the floor.
A small envelope.
With my name written on it.
I picked it up.
My hands were shaking.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
Only one sentence.
You finally found your mother. Now find the man who buried her.
I looked at Adrian.
He was reading the same words over my shoulder.
Then another sound came.
From upstairs.
A door opening.
Slowly.
Everyone turned.
Because that door had been locked for twenty years.
The door to Richard Vale's private office.
The office nobody had entered since the night he died.
May you like
And from inside...
Someone whispered my name.
