Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
"Don't turn around."
Roman's hand was still wrapped around Sadie's arm.
Not tight enough to hurt.
Just enough to stop her.
That scared her more.
Because Roman had never been afraid of anything.
But now he was.
She looked at the photograph again.
The image was impossible.
The person standing behind her in the picture...
was someone she recognized.
Someone who should not exist.
Her mother.
Eight years ago, everyone told her that woman was dead.
Sadie remembered the funeral.
The flowers.
The empty feeling.
The moment she realized she would never hear her mother's voice again.
Yet there she was.
Standing behind Sadie in a photograph taken minutes ago.
Her face slightly blurred.
Her hand almost touching Sadie's shoulder.
Watching.
Waiting.
"This isn't possible."
The words left Sadie's mouth without control.
Daniel looked at her.
"Nora..."
She turned sharply.
"Don't."
He stopped.
She hated that he still looked at her like he was trying to protect her.
After everything.
After all the lies.
She didn't need protection anymore.
She needed answers.
"Tell me why my dead mother is standing behind me."
Nobody spoke.
The silence was unbearable.
Elias looked at Roman.
Roman looked back at him.
That exchange told Sadie something.
They all knew.
Maybe not everything.
But enough.
"How long?"
Her voice became colder.
"How long have you all known?"
Roman finally answered.
"I saw her once."
Sadie froze.
"What?"
"Years ago."
"Where?"
Roman hesitated.
That hesitation destroyed the last bit of patience she had.
"Where, Roman?"
He looked at her.
"In the same building where you disappeared."
Her heart sank.
The room felt smaller.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Roman didn't answer.
And again, silence became the truth.
Sadie stepped away from him.
"Everyone keeps making decisions for me."
She looked at Daniel.
"You lied."
Then Elias.
"You helped hide things."
Then Roman.
"You knew my mother was alive."
Roman's expression changed.
"I didn't know she was alive."
Sadie stared at him.
"Then what did you know?"
Roman looked at the photograph.
"I knew someone wanted me to believe she was dead."
That sentence stopped her.
Because suddenly the pieces didn't fit.
Her mother's death.
Her disappearance.
The memory loss.
The people following her.
The secrets.
Everything connected to the same invisible person.
The person who had been controlling her life from the shadows.
Elias opened the folder again.
"There is more."
Sadie looked at him.
"Of course there is."
His expression showed guilt.
"I found this three months ago."
He removed another document.
Roman looked surprised.
"You had this?"
Elias nodded.
"I didn't know who I could trust."
Sadie almost laughed.
"Apparently nobody knows who to trust."
She took the paper.
It was a medical report.
Her name was written at the top.
Her hands started shaking.
The date was from three years ago.
The night she disappeared.
She read the first line.
"Memory reconstruction procedure..."
She stopped.
"What is this?"
Nobody answered.
She looked at Roman.
"Tell me."
His face became serious.
"The night you disappeared, someone tried to erase information from your memory."
Sadie shook her head.
"No."
"It's true."
"No."
She stepped backward.
Because accepting it meant accepting that her own mind could not be trusted.
"I remember leaving."
Roman nodded.
"You remember leaving."
"Because I left."
"Yes."
"Then what are you saying?"
Roman lowered his voice.
"I'm saying someone made sure you only remembered the part that helped them."
Sadie looked at the report again.
The words blurred.
She suddenly remembered something.
A sound.
A voice.
A room.
A woman's voice whispering:
"Don't trust him."
She closed her eyes.
A sharp pain moved through her head.
Roman noticed.
"Nora."
She opened her eyes.
"Stop calling me that."
But this time, her voice was weaker.
Because something was coming back.
Not a memory.
A piece.
A broken piece.
A hallway.
A locked door.
A red light above it.
And her mother's voice.
"Promise me you won't remember."
Sadie grabbed the edge of the table.
"What happened to me?"
Daniel stepped forward.
"I tried to stop it."
She looked at him.
"You helped them."
His face broke.
"I helped you survive."
The words made her angry.
"By lying to me?"
"By keeping you alive."
Nobody moved.
Then Roman's phone rang.
Everyone looked at it.
The number was hidden.
Unknown.
Roman answered.
No one spoke.
He listened.
Then his face changed.
Sadie watched carefully.
"What?"
Roman slowly lowered the phone.
"They know we're here."
Elias immediately stood.
"We need to leave."
Daniel looked toward the entrance.
"It's already too late."
Sadie's heart started racing.
"What do you mean?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward the restaurant window.
Outside, across the street, a black car was parked.
The engine was running.
Someone was inside.
Watching.
Roman moved beside Sadie.
"We leave through the kitchen."
She looked at him.
"You expect me to follow you?"
His eyes met hers.
"No."
A pause.
"I expect you to choose."
That surprised her.
For the first time in three years...
Roman wasn't forcing anything.
He was letting her decide.
Sadie looked at the three men.
The brother who betrayed her.
The man she loved and feared.
The stranger who carried pieces of her forgotten past.
Then she looked outside.
The black car was still there.
Waiting.
She picked up the folder.
"I want the truth."
Roman nodded.
"Then stay close."
They moved toward the kitchen.
The staff avoided eye contact.
Nobody asked questions.
Everyone knew something dangerous was happening.
They reached the back hallway.
Roman opened the exit door.
Cold air rushed inside.
For one second, Sadie thought they would escape.
Then she saw the ground.
A small object was lying near the door.
A photograph.
She picked it up.
Her face changed.
Because it was another picture of her.
But this time...
she wasn't alone.
She was standing beside her mother.
Eight years ago.
Alive.
And written on the back were six words:
"ASK YOUR MOTHER WHY SHE LEFT."
Sadie's fingers tightened around the photo.
Then her phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
One sentence.
"COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE REST."
May you like
And beneath it was an address she recognized.
The place where her mother was buried...
