MY BILLIONAIRE FATHER'S REMARRIAGE SCANDAL

CHAPTER 4: what the body remembers

The estate was wide awake that night.

Not really, though.

Even after the alarms stopped blaring and the screens went dark even after the guards stopped running something was still awake in the walls.

Fear was what Nathan felt in the silence.

He stood in the corridor for a time after everyone had run off staring at the blank screen that had just shown James Voss talking from who knows where.

He said, "Phase two begins now."

Those words stuck in Nathans mind.

So did the way Lissa looked at that screen.

She did not look confused.

She did not look scared.

She looked like someone trying to remember something that she had buried down.

Nathan turned around slowly.

Lissa was still there.

She was standing barefoot on the floor her arms wrapped around herself staring at nothing.

She was not shaking.

That was what really unsettled Nathan.

People who are terrified usually shake.

Lissa was not shaking.

She was listening to something inside her like something had started speaking the world around her.

Nathan took a step closer to her.

Then another.

"Lissa " he said softly.

She did not respond.

He stopped beside her.

"You have been quiet for a time " he said.

Her voice came after a pause.

"I am not quiet " she said. "I am crowded."

That did not make sense.

Somehow Nathan understood it.

It was like her mind was not empty but filled with versions of herself.

He lowered his voice. "What did you see in that file?"

She blinked slowly.

"I saw myself " she said.

Nathan frowned. "That is not possible."

She shook her head.

"It was not a memory " she said quietly. "It felt like recognition."

That word hung in the air.

Recognition.

Not memory.

Not imagination.

Something in between.

Nathan studied her face carefully.

There was exhaustion there now.

Not physical exhaustion.

It was like her mind had been forced to hold versions of truth at once.

"You need to rest " he said gently.

She gave a laugh.

"That is what people say when they do not know what to do."

Nathan did not deny it.

Instead he did something.

He stepped closer to her.

Not too close, enough that she could feel him there.

"I do not know what is happening " he admitted. "I know you are not alone in it."

Lissa looked at him then.

Really looked at him.

For the time since everything began to unravel.

Something in her expression softened.

Not trust.

Not safety.

Something fragile.

Relief that someone else was also confused.

"That is the thing anyone has said to me today " she murmured.

Nathan exhaled slowly.

"Then I will try not to ruin it."

That earned a smile from her.

For a moment a moment the world stopped tightening around them.

Later the house was quieter.

Too quiet.

Nathan found Lissa on the balcony.

She was leaning against the railing staring into the gardens

The wind moved her hair slightly.

She did not turn when he approached.

"You are avoiding sleep " he said.

"I am avoiding dreams " she replied.

Nathan leaned beside her.

"Bad ones?"

She hesitated.

Then: "I do not know if they are dreams."

That alone made him glance at her.

"What does that mean?"

She swallowed lightly.

"I keep seeing places I have never been " she said. "They feel familiar. Like I walked them before. As someone "

Nathan frowned.

"Someone else?"

Lissa nodded slowly.

"Sometimes I wake up feeling like I was two people."

That should have sounded scary.

She did not sound scared.

She sounded disturbed by how normal it felt.

Nathan exhaled slowly.

"Memory fragmentation " he said quietly.

She turned slightly toward him.

"You sound like you have heard of it."

"I have read about conditioning " he admitted.

She stared at him.

"For what purpose?"

Nathan did not answer.

Then: "Control."

That word hung in the air.

Heavy.

Uncomfortable.

Lissa looked away again.

"I do not like that answer."

"Neither do I " Nathan said.

A pause.

Then she asked softly: "Do you think I was created?"

Nathan turned fully toward her now.

"That is not what my father said."

"That is not what I asked " she replied.

Silence stretched between them again.

Then Nathan spoke carefully.

"I think something happened to you that you were never meant to understand."

Lissa nodded faintly.

"That is the thing that makes sense now " she said.

Then she added something quieter.

"Except..."

Nathan looked at her.

"What?"

She hesitated.

Then: "Except when I am around you I feel like I am remembering something I did not know I lost."

That sentence hit differently.

Nathan did not respond.

Because something in his chest tightened at it.

Not confusion.

Recognition of his reaction.

Like her presence was not new.

Like it was echoing something buried in him too.

Footsteps echoed behind them.

James.

Of course.

He did not announce himself.

He never did.

He stepped onto the balcony like he had always belonged there.

Nathan straightened immediately.

Lissa turned slowly.

"You are bold " Nathan said coldly.

James smiled faintly.

"I prefer informed."

Nathan stepped forward slightly. "You hacked the system."

"I accessed it " James corrected.

"Thing " Nathan snapped.

James ignored him. Looked at Lissa instead.

"You saw the file " he said.

Lissa did not respond.

Then: "Yes."

James nodded once.

"Good."

That was not what Nathan expected.

"Good?" Nathan repeated sharply.

James finally looked at him.

"You think this is chaos " James said calmly. "It is not. It is sequence."

Nathan frowned. "Sequence of what?"

James looked back at Lissa.

"Awakening."

The word made the air shift

Lissa stepped forward.

"What are you talking about?"

James studied her carefully.

Then said: "You were not meant to remember all once. That is the mistake."

Nathans voice hardened. "What mistake?"

James finally turned fully to him.

"The mistake of forcing her into alignment early."

Silence.

Lissa frowned slightly.

"What does that even mean?"

James took a step closer.

"It means your memories are tied to triggers " he said. "Someone has been activating them without permission."

Nathans eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

James did not answer.

Instead he said something.

"You have already started reacting to him."

Lissa blinked.

"To who?"

James looked at Nathan.

That was enough.

Nathan stiffened slightly.

"No " Nathan said quietly. "Do not start that."

James continued anyway.

"Your presence is destabilizing her recall pattern " he said. "That is why she feels familiar around you."

Lissa turned to Nathan slowly.

"What does he mean?"

Nathans jaw tightened.

"Nothing " he said.

James interrupted again.

"It is not romantic " he said calmly. "It is reinforcement."

Silence.

Heavy.

Uncomfortable.

Lissa stepped back slightly.

Nathan noticed immediately.

"Do not listen to him " Nathan said quickly.

Her expression had changed.

Not fear.

Uncertainty.

James watched her carefully.

"You feel it too do you not?" he asked.

Lissa did not answer.

She did not deny it either.

That silence was louder than words.

Nathan stepped closer to her.

"Look at me " he said firmly.

She did.

For a moment just them again.

"I do not care what he says " Nathan said quietly. "Whatever is happening it is not controlling you."

Lissas voice came softer now.

"How do you know?"

Nathan hesitated.

Honestly: "Because I cannot control it either."

That was the time she looked at him differently.

Not suspicion.

Not confusion.

Something closer to recognition of shared instability.

James saw what was going on with both of them.

Then he said quietly:

"You are both already inside the system."

That was when the lights, in the estate started to flicker.

Once.

Twice.

Then all once.

The balcony doors locked by themselves.

Nathan turned around quickly.

"What is going on?" he asked.

James took a step back.

For the time he looked a little worried.

"That " he said

"means she just turned it on all the way."

Lissas breathing got slower.

"Turned on what?" she asked.

James looked at her.

He said:

"Phase Three."

Something changed in Lissa after that moment.

It was a change.

Not something you could see.

She could feel things differently.

Like she could sense things beyond the room.

She turned her head a bit.

As if she was listening to something others couldn't hear.

Nathan looked at her.

"Lissa?" he said slowly.

She didn't answer.

Her eyes got a little blurry.

Then she whispered:

"I remember something."

Nathan took a step closer. "What is it?"

Her voice was soft.

"A door " she said. "Someone is crying."

James stood up straight.

Nathan turned to him.

"What is she seeing?"

James didn't have an answer.

Because for a moment he looked unsure.

Then Lissa spoke again.

This time her voice was different.

Calm.

Not, like her voice.

"I told you not to open that file " she said softly.

Nathan stopped moving.

James stopped moving.

Lissa turned to them slowly.

Her eyes were different now.

Focused and sharp.

She said:

"Now he knows where to find you."