A FACE FROM HER PAST
650 Words
CHAPTER 3
Elena spent the entire morning thinking about the message.
You have no idea what your father left behind.
For years, she had accepted that her father had simply disappeared. But now, someone was using him to frighten her.
She needed answers.
After work, Elena decided to visit the Blackwood Enterprises headquarters. If Adrian Blackwood was connected to her family, she wanted to know why.
The building was enormous, surrounded by black glass and guarded entrances.
Elena took a deep breath before walking inside.
“I'm here to see Adrian Blackwood,” she told the receptionist.
The woman looked at her.
Then her expression changed.
“You have an appointment?”
“No.”
“Then I'm afraid Mr. Blackwood isn't available.”
Before Elena could respond, the elevator doors opened.
A tall man stepped out.
He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, his expression cold and unreadable.
Elena immediately knew who he was.
Adrian Blackwood.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Adrian looked at her as though he had been expecting her.
“You came,” he said quietly.
Elena frowned.
“You knew I was coming?”
A faint smile touched his lips.
“I know more about you than you think.”
Her stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You shouldn't be here, Elena.”
“Then tell me why your name is on a photograph of me and my mother.”
His expression suddenly changed.
For the first time, Elena saw something in his eyes.
Fear.
But it disappeared almost instantly.
“Who gave you that photograph?”
“That doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“Why?”
Adrian stared at her for several seconds.
“Because whoever gave it to you wants you dead.”
Elena's breath caught.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I expect you to understand that you're already in danger.”
Before Elena could answer, a man approached Adrian and whispered something into his ear.
Adrian's eyes immediately darkened.
“Take her home,” he ordered.
Elena stepped back.
“I don't need anyone to take me anywhere.”
Adrian looked directly into her eyes.
“You do now.”
“I don't even know you.”
His voice became softer.
“That's the problem.”
Elena stared at him, confused.
“What are you hiding?”
Adrian said nothing.
Instead, he turned away.
Elena noticed something on his desk through the open office door.
A photograph.
She moved closer.
Her heart stopped.
It was another picture of her.
But this one wasn't from her childhood.
It had been taken only a few weeks ago.
Elena turned toward Adrian.
“You've been following me.”
Adrian didn't deny it.
“I've been protecting you.”
“From who?”
He looked at her with an intensity that made her uncomfortable.
“From everyone.”
Elena shook her head and walked away.
She didn't notice the man standing across the street, watching her leave.
He pulled out his phone.
“She met Adrian.”
A pause.
Then a woman's voice answered.
“Good.”
The man looked toward the Blackwood building.
“Should we continue with the plan?”
The woman smiled.
“No.”
Her voice became cold.
“Now we make Elena remember.”
That night, Elena returned home and found her apartment door unlocked.
She slowly pushed it open.
Everything looked normal.
Until she saw the photograph on her table.
The same photograph of her childhood.
But someone had written a new message across it.
ASK ADRIAN WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT.
Elena's hands began to shake.
Because suddenly, she remembered something from her childhood.
A locked room.
Her mother's frightened voice.
And a man wearing a black rose ring.
She had forgotten everything.
Until now.
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