Episode 4
1737 Words
Chapter 4
The Predator Returns
“I don’t like lies,” I said quietly. “And that woman is made of them.”
The words stayed in the air long after I spoke.
Marcus didn’t answer right away. He rarely did. He was the kind of man who thought before he spoke, which was why I trusted him more than anyone else in this company.
I leaned back slowly.
“She walked into my office pretending we had never met,” I continued. “That alone makes her interesting.”
Marcus finally spoke.
“Or dangerous.”
I smiled faintly.
“Those two things often come together.”
Marcus stood across from my desk with a tablet in his hand. His eyes moved over the screen again.
“You asked me to look into her quickly,” he said. “So I did.”
“And?”
He hesitated.
That alone caught my attention.
Marcus never hesitated.
“What did you find?” I asked.
He placed the tablet on the table and turned it toward me.
An article filled the screen.
A headline in bold letters.
Corporate Scandal: Financial Analyst Siena Vale Linked to Data Breach Investigation
My jaw tightened slightly.
“Interesting,” I said.
Marcus nodded.
“The article appeared two hours ago.”
“Convenient timing.”
“Yes.”
I read the article slowly.
It claimed Siena had been involved in financial misconduct at a previous company. It hinted at missing records and suspicious transfers.
But something about it felt wrong.
The language was vague.
The accusations were dramatic but thin.
I looked up.
“Too clean.”
Marcus nodded again.
“That was my thought as well.”
“Someone wanted this to spread fast.”
“Yes.”
I leaned forward slightly.
“And someone wanted it to damage her reputation.”
Marcus folded his arms.
“Which raises an obvious question.”
“Who?”
“Yes.”
I tapped the tablet once.
“Find the publisher.”
Marcus had already done that.
“It came from a small financial blog,” he said.
“Anonymous?”
“Yes.”
I sighed quietly.
“Cowards usually hide.”
Marcus hesitated again.
“There’s something else.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“You’re full of surprises today.”
“This name appeared in the article’s editing history.”
He turned the screen again.
One name stood out.
Cassandra Voss.
My mouth curved slowly.
“Well,” I said softly.
“That explains a lot.”
Marcus watched my reaction carefully.
“You know her well.”
“Yes.”
“Enemy?”
“Something like that.”
I stood up and walked slowly toward the window. My mind was already moving ahead.
Cassandra Voss did nothing without purpose.
If she targeted Siena, there had to be a reason.
“Tell me something, Marcus,” I said quietly.
“Yes.”
“Does Siena look like someone who commits sloppy crimes?”
He thought for a moment.
“No.”
I nodded.
“Exactly.”
Marcus studied me.
“You believe she’s innocent.”
“I believe someone is trying to destroy her.”
“And why would someone do that?”
I turned back toward him.
“That’s the question.”
Marcus tapped another file on the tablet.
“There is another strange detail.”
“Go on.”
“Siena Vale didn't exist five years ago.”
My eyes sharpened.
“What?”
Marcus opened the file fully.
“Her records begin exactly five years ago.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Yes.”
“Everyone has a history.”
“Not her.”
I walked closer and grabbed the tablet.
I scrolled through the data quickly.
Education records. Work history. Identification.
All of it began five years ago.
Nothing earlier.
Nothing at all.
My chest tightened slightly.
“That’s not normal,” I said.
Marcus shook his head.
“No, it isn’t.”
“Run a deeper search.”
“I already did.”
“And?”
Marcus looked directly at me.
“She erased herself.”
The words settled slowly.
“She changed her identity,” he continued. “New records. New documents. Clean digital history.”
I felt a strange spark of excitement.
“A ghost.”
“Yes.”
I set the tablet down slowly.
“People don’t erase themselves without a reason.”
Marcus nodded.
“Agreed.”
I crossed my arms.
“Five years ago.”
The same year I met her in Paris.
The same year she disappeared before sunrise.
The same year she rebuilt her entire life.
My mind connected the pieces.
“She wasn’t running from embarrassment,” I said quietly.
Marcus frowned.
“You think she was hiding from something bigger.”
“Yes.”
“Or someone.”
Marcus spoke again.
“There is one more detail.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“You’re really enjoying this moment.”
“This detail surprised me.”
“What is it?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The system flagged something unusual in the identity transfer.”
“Explain.”
“The original name attached to those records was deleted.”
“Deleted?”
“Yes.”
“Completely?”
“Almost.”
I leaned forward.
“Almost?”
Marcus opened another file.
“A fragment remained in an archive.”
My pulse slowed.
“Show me.”
He turned the screen again.
The file displayed only a partial entry.
The first letters of a name.
P A R—
The rest was corrupted.
But I didn’t need the full name.
I felt a cold realization move through my mind.
Paris.
The name slipped into my thoughts like a ghost.
Marcus noticed my expression.
“You recognize something.”
I spoke slowly.
“Maybe.”
Marcus waited.
I thought about the woman from that night.
The woman who sat at the bar looked broken.
The woman who whispered that her whole world had collapsed.
And the woman who vanished before morning.
“You cried,” I whispered quietly to myself.
Marcus frowned.
“What?”
I ignored the question.
Instead I said something else.
“Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“Dig deeper.”
“I will.”
“No one changes their identity unless their past is dangerous.”
Marcus nodded.
“And this woman?”
I smiled slowly.
“This woman walked straight into my company.”
Marcus crossed his arms.
“You think that was intentional.”
“I know it was.”
“Why?”
“That’s what I plan to find out.”
Marcus studied me carefully.
“You’re interested in her.”
I met his gaze.
“Professionally.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“You rarely investigate people personally.”
I shrugged lightly.
“She fascinates me.”
Marcus said nothing.
I looked at the article again.
Cassandra Voss.
If Cassandra attacked Siena, there was a hidden reason.
Cassandra loved leverage.
Which meant Siena had something valuable.
I turned toward Marcus again.
“Keep this investigation quiet.”
“Of course.”
“No one else needs to know.”
Marcus nodded.
“What about Siena herself?”
I thought about that for a moment.
Then I smiled.
“That’s the interesting part.”
Marcus waited.
I picked up my coat slowly.
“You’re going somewhere.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
I walked toward the door.
“To meet our mystery woman.”
Marcus frowned slightly.
“You mean at the office?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
I opened the door.
“At her home.”
Marcus looked surprised.
“You already know where she lives?”
I smiled faintly.
“I like being prepared.”
Marcus shook his head.
“You’re acting like a hunter.”
I paused.
Then I answered quietly.
“Maybe I am.”
Because the truth was simple.
Siena Vale had secrets.
Dangerous ones.
And the more I learned, the more certain I became of one thing.
That woman had walked into my world for a reason.
And I was going to uncover it.
Every lie.
Every hidden truth.
Every piece of her past.
Even if it meant breaking every wall she had built.
Marcus spoke again before I left.
“One warning.”
I looked back.
“Yes?”
“People who erase their past often have enemies.”
I smiled slowly.
“That doesn’t worry me.”
“It should.”
“Why?”
Marcus looked at me seriously.
“Because those enemies might come looking for her.”
I opened the door fully.
“Then they’ll have to go through me.”
Marcus watched me for a moment.
Then he said quietly,
“You’re already protecting her.”
I didn’t answer.
Because I wasn’t sure if that was true.
Or if I simply wanted answers.
But one thing was certain.
Tonight, I will see Siena again.
Not as a stranger.
Not as an employee.
But as a woman with secrets.
And secrets never stay buried forever.
Especially when someone like me starts digging.
Closing
Thirty minutes later my car stopped in front of her building.
I stepped out slowly.
The lights in one window were still on.
She was home.
Good.
I walked toward the entrance.
But just as I reached the door, my phone vibrated.
Marcus.
I answered immediately.
“What is it?”
His voice sounded tense.
“You need to hear this.”
“What happened?”
Marcus spoke quietly.
“The partial name we found in her old records…”
“Yes?”
“We restored another letter.”
My grip tightened on the phone.
“And?”
Marcus exhaled slowly.
“The name wasn’t just Paris.”
Silence filled the line.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“Paris Blackwell.”
My heart stopped for one second.
Because that name was impossible.
The entire Blackwell family died five years ago.
Everyone knew that.
Everyone believed that.
Which meant only one thing.
The woman I was about to confront…
…was supposed to be dead.
And at that exact moment, the door of the building slowly opened.
Siena stepped outside.
Our eyes met instantly.
But she wasn’t alone.
A tall man stood beside her.
And when he turned toward me, something in my mind went cold.
Because I recognized his face.
Julian Blackwell.
Another ghost from the dead.
- Writer
