Chapter 4: The Man Who Erased My Memory
For a few seconds after the phone went silent, nobody moved.
Not Evelyn.
Not Victor.
Not even Lily.
The only sound inside the hidden room was the faint ticking of an old clock somewhere behind the walls.
A normal person would have asked who was on the phone.
A normal person would have demanded an explanation.
But the way everyone reacted told me something more important.
They already knew.
They weren’t confused.
They were afraid.
I looked at Evelyn.
“Who is he?””
She didn’t answer.
“Who is he?””
Her jaw tightened.
Victor stepped away from the phone.
“We need to get out of here.””
I looked at him.
“Now you want to leave?””
“Yes.””
“After keeping secrets from me all night?””
Victor stared at me.
“You don’t understand what just happened.””
“I understand someone called this house and knew I was here.””
My voice rose.
“I understand you all knew something about me.””
Nobody spoke.
I pointed at Evelyn.
“You knew my name before I told you.””
She remained silent.
“You knew I had been here before.””
Silence.
“You knew Lily.””
More silence.
I laughed once, but there was nothing funny about it.
“So when exactly were you planning to tell me the truth?””
Evelyn looked at me.
“When you were ready.””
I stared at her.
“That’s not your choice to make.””
For the first time, she looked ashamed.
Only for a second.
Then it disappeared.
“I know.””
The honesty surprised me.
I expected another excuse.
Another carefully chosen sentence.
But she didn’t defend herself.
That somehow made me more angry.
Because it meant she knew.
She knew she had taken years from me.
She knew she had hidden pieces of my own life.
And she had decided I wasn’t allowed to have them.
Lily tugged on my sleeve.
“Clara.””
I looked down.
Her face was pale.
“We have to go.””
I crouched beside her.
“Who was on the phone?””
She looked at Evelyn.
Then away.
“Someone bad.””
“How do you know?””
“Because my mom was afraid of him.””
The words immediately changed the atmosphere.
Everyone became still.
I looked at Lily.
“Your mother knew him?””
Lily nodded.
“She said his name once.””
“What was it?””
The girl swallowed.
Then whispered:
“Adrian Vale.””
The room went quiet.
Victor closed his eyes.
Evelyn looked like she had been punched.
I noticed.
That name meant something.
“Who is Adrian Vale?””
Nobody answered.
I turned toward Victor.
“You know.””
He looked exhausted.
“Adrian was my brother.””
My stomach dropped.
Another family connection.
Another secret.
“How many people in this house are connected to my life?””
Victor didn’t respond.
I looked at Evelyn.
“Your sister.””
Then Victor.
“Your brother.””
Then Lily.
“Her mother.””
I held up the photograph.
“And me.””
My voice lowered.
“What happened here?””
Victor looked toward the hidden room.
“The Hawthornes and the Vales built this city together.””
“That doesn’t answer my question.””
“No.””
He looked at me.
“But it explains why people kill for what they know.””
The word hung in the air.
Kill.
Not hurt.
Not threaten.
Kill.
I felt Lily move closer.
I wanted to ask a hundred questions.
But then the mansion lights flickered again.
This time they didn’t come back immediately.
The darkness returned.
And somewhere downstairs…
A window shattered.
Everyone froze.
Victor immediately moved toward the door.
“Stay here.””
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
“No.””
He looked at her.
“They’re already inside.””
My blood went cold.
“Who?””
Neither answered.
Victor pulled out his phone.
No signal.
The same as mine.
Of course.
Someone had cut communications.
Evelyn walked to the wall panel beside the painting.
She entered a code.
The hidden door began closing.
I stepped forward.
“What are you doing?””
“Protecting you.””
“You’re locking us in?””
“No.””
She looked at me.
“I’m locking them out.””
The door stopped halfway.
Then the entire mansion shook.
A loud crash echoed from below.
Lily covered her ears.
I held her close.
“Who are they?””
Evelyn finally looked at me.
And this time, she didn’t hide anything.
“The people who destroyed your family.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
She stared at the darkness outside the room.
“Twenty years ago, Adrian Vale discovered your father had evidence against him.””
“Evidence of what?””
“Fraud. Murder. Corruption.””
The words came quietly.
“But the worst part was not what he had done.””
I waited.
“It was who helped him.””
I looked at Victor.
His expression was unreadable.
“Who?””
Evelyn didn’t answer.
Because footsteps interrupted her.
Someone was walking through the hallway.
Slowly.
Confidently.
Not searching.
Approaching.
Lily started shaking.
“No.””
I looked at her.
“Lily?””
She whispered:
“He’s here.””
The footsteps stopped outside the hidden door.
Everyone held their breath.
Then a man’s voice came through.
“Evelyn.””
The sound was calm.
Almost friendly.
“Open the door.””
Nobody answered.
The man laughed softly.
“You always did love hiding things behind walls.””
I looked at Evelyn.
She was frozen.
Not scared like before.
Different.
Like she was facing a ghost.
The man continued.
“Twenty years.””
A pause.
“Twenty years and you still think you can protect them.””
Victor moved toward the door.
Evelyn stopped him.
“No.””
Victor looked at her.
“He knows.””
“I know.””
“Then we fight.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.””
Her voice was barely audible.
“He wants me to fight.””
The footsteps moved closer.
“Evelyn.””
The man spoke again.
“You know why I’m here.””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Then she whispered:
“Because of Clara.””
My entire body went cold.
The man outside heard her.
And laughed.
“Exactly.””
Lily grabbed my hand.
The man continued.
“Bring her out.””
No one moved.
Then:
“Or I’ll start telling her what happened to her parents.””
I looked at Evelyn.
She looked away.
And that told me everything.
There was still more.
Much more.
I stepped toward the door.
“No.””
Everyone looked at me.
I stared at Evelyn.
“If he knows the truth, I deserve to hear it.””
“No,” she said immediately.
The urgency in her voice surprised me.
“Clara.””
“What?””
She stepped closer.
For the first time, I saw something human in her expression.
Not the billionaire.
Not the woman everyone feared.
A person.
A woman carrying guilt.
“You think knowing the truth will set you free.””
She shook her head.
“Sometimes the truth is another prison.””
I looked at Lily.
At the room.
At the photograph.
At everything that had been hidden from me.
“I’ve spent my whole life missing pieces of myself.””
My voice trembled.
“I’m done letting other people decide what I can handle.””
Victor looked at me.
“Clara.””
I turned.
“Did my parents know Evelyn?””
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Yes.””
“Did they trust her?””
Another hesitation.
“Yes.””
“Did they trust you?””
Victor looked away.
That answer hurt more than words.
I understood.
Everyone here had loved someone.
Everyone here had lost someone.
But everyone here had also lied.
I walked toward the hidden door.
Evelyn blocked my path.
“No.””
I stared at her.
“Move.””
“You don’t know what you’re walking into.””
“I’ve heard that all night.””
She didn’t move.
“Clara.””
I lowered my voice.
“Twenty years ago, someone took my memories.””
Her face changed.
“Someone made me forget my own life.””
I held up the photograph.
“And tonight I found out you knew.””
A tear appeared in her eyes.
The first one.
“I was trying to protect you.””
I nodded slowly.
“Maybe.””
Then I looked at the door.
“But you still chose for me.””
The words hurt her.
I saw it.
Finally, Evelyn stepped aside.
The hidden door opened.
The hallway outside was empty.
Too empty.
The man was gone.
But on the marble floor was something that hadn’t been there before.
An envelope.
Victor picked it up.
“Don’t.””
Everyone stopped.
He looked at the front.
His face changed.
“What?””
I asked.
Victor handed it to me.
My name was written across it.
Again.
CLARA BENNETT.
I opened it carefully.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
Only one sentence.
My hands started shaking as I read it.
*You spent twenty years believing your parents died because of an accident.*
*They didn’t.*
Below the sentence was a signature.
A name I had just learned.
Adrian Vale.
Then, underneath his signature, there was one more line.
One that made Evelyn whisper:
“No…”
I looked at her.
“What?””
She stared at the paper.
Her face had gone completely pale.
May you like
Because the final sentence said:
*Ask Evelyn why she was the last person to see your mother alive.*
