Chapter 6
937 Words
Valemont City – Vortiger Tower Rooftop Garden, 4:27 P.M.
Cassien Vortiger had never feared silence. In business, silence was control. Silence made others nervous. But standing before Selene and her sister, silence felt like a crack in the ground one misstep, and the past would swallow him whole.
Lysa Morane stared at him with sharp eyes far older than her years. Her blindness didn’t dull the precision in her voice when she said, “You forgot us. But we never forgot you.”
He swallowed hard. “I know.”
“And?”
“And I’m sorry,” he said, the words heavy in his mouth. “I don’t remember everything, but that doesn’t erase what you lived through. I should’ve fought harder to find out what I’d lost. That’s on me.”
Selene stood just behind her sister, hands folded tightly at her waist. Her eyes were unreadable, but her jaw was tense.
Lysa tilted her head. “Why now? Why bother remembering after all these years?”
Cassien let the question settle before answering.
“Because the second I saw your sister, I felt like I’d been living in a lie,” he admitted. “Like I built a life on sand and only now noticed the cracks.”
“You’ve built quite a kingdom from that sand,” Lysa murmured.
“And it means nothing,” he said quietly, “if I abandoned the only people I swore I wouldn’t.”
The wind whispered through the rooftop leaves. Lysa’s expression softened. “Then don’t say that to me. Say it to her.”
Cassien looked at Selene. “Can we talk?”
She hesitated, then nodded once. “Lysa, I’ll meet you in the car.”
When her sister was gone, Selene turned to him fully.
“You remember pieces,” she said. “But do you remember why you made the vow?”
Cassien shook his head slowly. “Not yet.”
Selene stepped closer. “You were afraid. That night, when the fire broke out you ran back in. For Lysa. Everyone else was screaming to leave, and you didn’t listen. You wrapped her in your jacket and carried her down the stairs.”
Cassien’s breath caught.
“You looked me in the eyes in that hospital,” Selene continued. “And you said, ‘I’ll never let anything happen to either of you again.’ You held my hand until I fell asleep. And then… you were gone.”
He looked down at the ground, jaw tight. “I don’t remember any of that. But it sounds like someone I used to be.”
“You were braver than anyone I knew,” she said softly. “Not because you weren’t afraid, but because you stayed anyway.”
A beat passed.
“And now?” she asked.
Cassien met her eyes. “Now I want to earn back the right to keep that vow.”
Later that evening — Vortiger Estate, Private Study, 9:13 P.M.
Cassien sat alone in the study, turning over the same medical record again and again. It didn’t give him closure. Just more questions.
The fragments were returning but unevenly. A scent here. A flash of fear. A girl's laugh at the back of his skull. But there were holes gaping, impossible holes.
He had built his empire by filling in the blanks of other men’s failures.
Now, his biggest failure was personal and he had no blueprint to fix it.
The intercom on his desk buzzed.
“Sir,” said Everett’s voice. “You’re going to want to see this.”
Cassien frowned. “What is it?”
“A name just showed up on the visitor log downstairs.”
“Who?”
“Magnus Dorne.”
Cassien stood abruptly. His fingers curled at the name.
Magnus Dorne was an old rival. Charming, cruel, brilliant. They had clashed in a failed acquisition two years ago, and Dorne had nearly dismantled one of Cassien’s divisions with a single leak. A man who always played the long game.
“I didn’t invite him.”
“I know,” Everett said. “He said he’s here to talk about someone you used to know.”
Cassien’s stomach dropped.
“Send him up.”
Ten minutes later, Magnus strolled into the office like a man who belonged everywhere.
“Cassien,” he said with a crooked smile. “Still wearing guilt like a tailored suit?”
“What do you want?”
Magnus shrugged. “Just a friendly warning.”
“About?”
“Selene Morane,” he said casually, pouring himself a drink from Cassien’s bar without asking. “Or should I say, your blind spot?”
Cassien’s entire body went still. “What do you know about her?”
“Oh, I know everything. You see, when you forgot her, she didn’t forget me. I met her years ago. She didn’t tell you?”
Cassien’s heart pounded. “What are you playing at?”
“I’m not playing. Just thought I’d let you know you’re not the only one who’s been trying to remember the past. She’s not as innocent as you think.”
Cassien stepped forward. “What are you implying?”
Magnus smirked. “You’ll find out soon enough. Just remember, Cassien… Some ghosts come back not to be remembered, but to burn down whatever’s left.”
When Magnus was gone, Cassien stood motionless in the dark.
Was it true?
Had Selene come into his company by accident or by design?
And if so… was she trying to heal what they lost?
Or destroy what he’d built?
- Writer
