The Memory He Lost
1291 Words
Episode 5: The Memory He Lost
The city was quiet as Alexander drove Emma back to the safe house.
Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
The events at the warehouse were too disturbing to explain.
Clara was alive.
Daniel was alive.
Alexander's father had known about a traitor.
And now someone was claiming that Alexander had forgotten something important.
Emma finally broke the silence.
“Do you really believe someone erased your memory?”
Alexander kept his eyes on the road.
“I don't know what to believe anymore.”
“You said you remembered Clara.”
“I remember meeting her. I remember working with her. I remember the night we argued.”
“But not what happened afterward.”
“No.”
Emma looked out the window.
“Then perhaps you should stop trying to solve everything alone.”
Alexander glanced at her.
“You're starting to sound like my mother.”
“Was she stubborn?”
“Very.”
“Then I'll take that as a compliment.”
For the first time that night, Alexander smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
When they arrived at the safe house, two security officers opened the gate.
Alexander entered first.
“Check every camera,” he ordered. “I want to know if anyone followed us.”
“Yes, sir.”
Emma walked inside.
She was exhausted.
But before she could sit down, Alexander called her.
“Emma.”
She turned.
“What?”
“I owe you an apology.”
She looked surprised.
“For what?”
“For bringing you into this.”
“You didn't exactly plan for someone to threaten me.”
“No. But I should have protected you better.”
Emma shook her head.
“You can't protect me by keeping me ignorant.”
Alexander looked at her.
“You're right.”
He sat down.
“I need to tell you everything I know.”
Emma sat opposite him.
Alexander took a deep breath.
“Eight years ago, my father discovered that someone was stealing money from Hayes Global. He asked Clara to investigate.”
“And your mother helped.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“My father died first. Two days later, my mother died in an accident.”
“Then Clara disappeared.”
“Yes.”
Emma leaned forward.
“And you?”
“I became CEO.”
“Why?”
“Because my father's will required me to take control of the company.”
“Was that when you made the promise?”
Alexander nodded.
“I promised Clara that I would find whoever killed my parents.”
Emma looked at him carefully.
“But she told you the promise wasn't about finding her.”
“I know.”
He reached into his pocket and removed his father's letter.
“There may be something else.”
He turned the letter over.
A faint mark was visible along the bottom edge.
Emma noticed it.
“That's strange.”
Alexander looked closer.
“What?”
“There are numbers.”
He examined the paper.
“Fourteen. Seven. Twenty-two.”
“What could they mean?”
“I don't know.”
Emma thought for a moment.
“Maybe they're dates.”
Alexander shook his head.
“No.”
“Page numbers?”
“Possibly.”
He looked at the letter again.
Then suddenly stood.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“My father had a private library.”
“Do you still have it?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“At the old family estate.”
Emma stared at him.
“You think the numbers are connected to it?”
“My father used codes.”
“Then we should go there.”
Alexander hesitated.
“It's dangerous.”
“Everything is dangerous right now.”
He looked at her.
“You really don't know when to stop.”
“No.”
A small smile appeared on his face.
“Fine.”
They left the safe house shortly after midnight.
The old Hayes estate was located outside the city, surrounded by tall trees and an iron gate.
Alexander hadn't returned there in years.
As they entered the property, Emma felt a strange heaviness.
“This place feels abandoned.”
“It has been.”
Alexander unlocked the front door.
Dust covered the furniture.
Photographs lined the walls.
Emma stopped in front of one.
It showed Alexander as a child standing between his parents and an older boy.
“Daniel.”
Alexander nodded.
“He was seventeen. I was twelve.”
“You were close?”
“Very.”
“What changed?”
“Nothing.”
Emma looked at him.
“You don't sound convinced.”
Alexander walked away.
“I don't know what happened to us.”
They entered the library.
Thousands of books covered the walls.
Alexander went directly to an old wooden cabinet.
He pulled out a small box.
Inside were several documents.
Emma watched him search.
Then he found an old notebook.
“My father's handwriting.”
He opened it.
Most of the pages contained financial records.
Then they found the numbers.
14.
7.
22.
Alexander turned to page fourteen.
There was a name.
**Clara Morgan.**
Emma's heart raced.
“Turn to page seven.”
Alexander did.
Another name appeared.
**Daniel Hayes.**
Then page twenty-two.
There was only one sentence.
**THE PROMISE MUST BE KEPT BY THE ONE WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH.**
Emma stared at it.
“What truth?”
Alexander didn't answer.
He turned the page.
A photograph fell from the notebook.
It showed Alexander, Clara and Daniel standing together.
On the back was a date.
The night before Alexander's parents died.
Emma looked at Alexander.
“You said you don't remember this.”
“I don't.”
“But you were there.”
“Yes.”
Alexander suddenly grabbed his head.
A sharp pain hit him.
He staggered backward.
“Alexander!”
He closed his eyes.
A memory flashed.
Clara crying.
Daniel shouting.
His father holding a document.
A car engine.
Someone screaming.
Then darkness.
Alexander opened his eyes.
“I remember.”
Emma stared at him.
“What?”
“I remember the night.”
“What happened?”
Alexander looked terrified.
“My father wasn't investigating someone outside the family.”
He swallowed.
“He was investigating Daniel.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“Your brother?”
Alexander nodded slowly.
“Daniel wasn't the victim.”
“He was the suspect.”
Before Emma could respond, the lights in the library suddenly went out.
A voice came from the darkness.
“You finally remembered.”
Emma froze.
Alexander grabbed her hand.
“Stay behind me.”
The voice laughed softly.
“You were always slow, little brother.”
Alexander stared into the darkness.
“Daniel?”
A figure stepped into the moonlight.
Daniel smiled.
“Yes.”
Emma's heart pounded.
Daniel held up a photograph.
“You remember now.”
Alexander stared at him.
“What did you do to me?”
Daniel smiled.
“Nothing.”
He stepped closer.
“You did it to yourself.”
Alexander's face hardened.
“Where is Clara?”
Daniel's smile disappeared.
“Ask your father.”
“He's dead.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel dropped the photograph onto the floor.
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Alexander rushed after him.
But Daniel was gone.
Emma picked up the photograph.
On the back were three words.
**SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING.**
Emma looked at Alexander.
“Who is she?”
Alexander stared at the empty doorway.
“I don't know.”
But deep inside, a memory was beginning to return.
And with it came a terrifying possibility.
The person who knew the truth might be someone Emma had already met.
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