REBORN TO DESTROY MY EX

The missing memory

# Chapter 5:

The sound of shattering glass echoed through the building.

Employees screamed and ran in every direction.

Some hid beneath their desks.

Others rushed toward the emergency exits.

Daniel stood frozen, staring at the empty street below.

"She... she was just there..."

Maya grabbed his arm so tightly that her nails dug into his skin.

"It smiled at me."

"It looked at me."

"It wasn't human."

I stood beside them, staring out the broken window.

The woman who looked exactly like me...

Was gone.

Had I imagined her?

No.

I knew what I had seen.

And whatever she was...

She wanted me to see her.

---

The company evacuated everyone within minutes.

Police officers questioned employees about the shattered windows.

No one could explain what had happened.

Some claimed it was an earthquake.

Others blamed a gas explosion.

Only Daniel and Maya knew the truth.

Or at least...

They thought they did.

---

That evening, I followed Maya.

She refused to go home.

Instead, she drove to the outskirts of the city until she reached a quiet cemetery.

Rain fell softly as she stepped out of her car.

She carried a bouquet of white lilies.

The same flowers I used to love.

"You don't deserve those."

The words slipped from my lips before I realized I had spoken.

She froze.

Slowly, she looked around.

"...Emma?"

She couldn't see me.

But she had heard me.

Tears filled her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

She sank to her knees beside an empty grave.

"I never wanted it to happen like that."

My anger flared.

"You held the shovel."

"I know..."

"You listened while I begged."

"I know..."

"You buried me alive."

"I KNOW!"

Her scream echoed through the cemetery.

Birds flew from the trees.

She covered her face and sobbed.

"I thought they were only going to scare you."

"I didn't know..."

My heart skipped.

Didn't know?

Didn't know what?

Before I could think, another voice interrupted.

"You should leave."

A man stepped from behind an old oak tree.

He was dressed in a dark suit, carrying a black umbrella.

His face remained hidden beneath its shadow.

Maya stood quickly.

"You came."

"You called."

"I can't do this anymore," she cried.

"She keeps following me."

The man looked around slowly.

His gaze stopped...

Exactly where I was standing.

For a single heartbeat...

It felt as though he could see me.

Impossible.

No one could.

He smiled faintly.

"Fear makes people imagine many things."

Maya shook her head.

"No."

"She's real."

The man sighed.

"You've already been paid."

"There is nothing more to worry about."

Paid?

My fists clenched.

Maya lowered her voice.

"What if she remembers?"

The man's smile disappeared.

"She won't."

"Are you sure?"

"Very."

"Because the memory died with her."

Memory?

What memory?

Fragments flashed through my mind.

A rainy night.

The company building.

An elevator.

Someone arguing.

A gunshot.

A silver ring falling onto the floor.

Then...

Nothing.

The images vanished as quickly as they had appeared.

I grabbed my head in pain.

"What did I see...?"

The whisper inside me answered.

"Find the memory..."

"Find the truth..."

---

The man handed Maya a small envelope.

"There are plane tickets inside."

"Leave the country."

"Disappear."

"And never speak of that night again."

"What about Daniel?"

"He'll receive the same instructions."

Maya nodded silently.

As she turned to leave, the bouquet slipped from her hands.

The white lilies scattered across the wet grass.

One flower landed at my feet.

I stared at it.

A strange warmth spread through my chest.

The flower slowly withered...

Its white petals turning black before crumbling into ash.

The man watched it happen.

His calm expression changed.

Just for a moment.

Shock.

He looked directly toward me again.

This time...

His eyes narrowed.

"...Interesting."

I froze.

Could he really see me?

Before I could move, a bolt of lightning split the sky.

Thunder roared across the cemetery.

When I looked again...

The man had disappeared.

Only the black umbrella remained on the ground.

I walked toward it.

The moment I touched the handle...

A voice whispered inside my mind.

"You were never the target..."

My eyes widened.

"If I wasn't the target..."

"...then who was?"

The wind howled through the cemetery.

Somewhere in the darkness...

Someone laughed.

Not Daniel.

Not Maya.

Not the monster wearing my face.

Someone else.

Someone who had been watching everything from the very beginning.