THE BILLIONAIRE'S FORGOTTEN WIFE

4 THE ODER

For several seconds, Elena couldn't move.

The underground parking garage had become strangely quiet.

Too quiet.

The alarms from upstairs had faded into the distance, leaving only the soft hum of the emergency lights and the distant sound of water dripping from the ceiling.

Ethan stood in front of her.

His confession hung between them.

Three years ago, someone from my father's organization gave me one instruction. Marry Elena Vale.

Elena stared at him.

She wanted to laugh.

She wanted to scream.

Most of all, she wanted him to tell her that he had lied.

That it had all been some elaborate misunderstanding.

But Ethan Sterling had never looked more serious.

"Who?" she finally asked.

Ethan didn't answer.

"Who ordered you to marry me?"

His eyes shifted toward Elliot.

"Not here."

Elena stepped closer.

"No."

"Elena—"

"You're not doing this again."

Her voice trembled.

"Every time I ask a question, you tell me we don't have time. Every time I get close to the truth, something happens and you expect me to follow you blindly."

She pointed toward the phone still lying on the ground.

"My mother called me."

Ethan's expression changed.

"Or someone pretending to be your mother."

"You heard the voice."

"I heard what she said."

"And you still think I'm supposed to trust you?"

Ethan looked at her for a long moment.

"No."

Elena frowned.

"I don't."

His answer surprised her.

Ethan continued quietly.

"I don't expect you to trust me."

"Then what do you expect?"

"I expect you to stay alive long enough to find out the truth."

Elliot leaned against a nearby vehicle.

"That's the first sensible thing you've said tonight."

Ethan glared at him.

"You've said enough."

"No."

Elliot's expression hardened.

"She deserves to know."

Ethan took a step toward him.

"And you think you're the one who should tell her?"

"I knew her before you did."

"You knew a seventeen-year-old girl."

"I knew Victoria."

Elena's heart tightened at the name.

Elliot looked at her.

"She wasn't weak."

He paused.

"She wasn't frightened."

Another pause.

"And she certainly wasn't someone who would allow people to decide her life for her."

Elena swallowed.

"Then tell me who I was."

Elliot's expression softened.

"You were stubborn."

Despite everything, Elena almost smiled.

"That sounds familiar."

"You hated being told what to do."

"Also familiar."

"You loved the rain."

Her smile disappeared.

A strange warmth passed through her chest.

"I still do."

"I know."

The way he said it made her uncomfortable.

"You've been watching me?"

Elliot didn't deny it.

"From a distance."

"Why?"

"Because after I found you, I needed to make sure you were really safe."

Ethan's jaw tightened.

"You should have contacted me."

"I did."

"When?"

"Three months ago."

Ethan's expression changed.

"You were the one who sent the anonymous messages."

"No."

Elliot shook his head.

"I wasn't."

Elena looked between them.

"Then who was?"

Neither man knew.

And somehow that frightened her more than anything else.

A sudden vibration came from Ethan's pocket.

He pulled out his phone.

One message.

His face became pale.

Elena noticed immediately.

"What?"

Ethan turned the screen toward them.

There was only one sentence.

THE SECOND WIFE KNOWS.

Elena stared.

"What does that mean?"

Ethan didn't answer.

Elliot's expression changed.

"You have another wife?"

Elena looked at Ethan.

"What is he talking about?"

"I don't know."

Elliot laughed bitterly.

"Of course you don't."

Ethan ignored him.

He looked at Elena.

"There's something else."

Her patience was already gone.

"What?"

"Before I married you, my father gave me a file."

"What file?"

"Your file."

Elena's breathing slowed.

"What was inside?"

"Basic information."

"That's not what I asked."

Ethan looked away.

"There was a photograph."

"Of me?"

"Yes."

"How old was I?"

"Seventeen."

Elena's stomach turned.

"The same photograph?"

"No."

Ethan's voice became quieter.

"It was taken several months before the fire."

Elliot stepped forward.

"What was in the background?"

Ethan looked at him.

"A house."

Elliot's face went pale.

"Which house?"

"The Laurent estate."

Silence.

Elena looked at Elliot.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't answer.

"What's wrong?"

Elliot finally spoke.

"The photograph shouldn't exist."

"Why?"

"Because that house was destroyed the night of the fire."

Elena stared at him.

"Then how was the photograph taken?"

Elliot's eyes met hers.

"Because whoever took it was there that night."

The words sent a chill through Elena.

She remembered the flames.

The rain.

The locked door.

And a silhouette standing outside the window.

She suddenly grabbed Ethan's arm.

"I remember someone."

"Who?"

"A man."

"What man?"

"I don't know."

"Was he young?"

"I couldn't see his face."

Elliot stepped closer.

"Was he wearing black?"

Elena closed her eyes.

She searched the memory.

Smoke.

Flames.

Her mother's voice.

The sound of glass breaking.

And then—

A silver watch.

She opened her eyes.

"Yes."

Elliot and Ethan exchanged a look.

"You know him," Elena whispered.

Ethan shook his head.

"Not enough."

"But you know something."

He didn't deny it.

Elliot looked toward the exit.

"We need to leave."

Ethan nodded.

"Agreed."

They moved toward the sedan.

Elena followed.

But before she could enter, Elliot grabbed her wrist.

She turned.

"What?"

He reached into his pocket and handed her the crescent necklace.

"You should keep this."

She stared at it.

"Why?"

"Because you gave it to me for a reason."

"What reason?"

Elliot's eyes held hers.

"You said if you ever forgot everything, the necklace would help you remember."

Elena looked down.

Her fingers closed around the pendant.

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Then why give it back?"

"Because it belonged to you."

He released her wrist.

"Maybe your memory isn't gone."

Elena looked at him.

"Maybe it's hiding."

She didn't know why, but those words stayed with her.

She climbed into the car.

Ethan entered the driver's seat.

Elliot stood outside.

"You're not coming?"

Ethan asked.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because whoever attacked the gala knows I'm here."

He looked at Elena.

"They're watching her."

Then he turned toward Ethan.

"And they're watching you too."

Ethan started the engine.

Before driving away, Elena lowered the window.

"Elliot."

He looked over.

"What?"

She hesitated.

"Did you love me?"

The question surprised all three of them.

Elliot stared at her.

Then he smiled sadly.

"I never stopped."

Ethan's hands tightened around the steering wheel.

Elena raised the window.

She didn't know why she'd asked.

Perhaps she needed to know whether the girl named Victoria had once been happy.

Perhaps she needed proof that some part of her old life had been real.

The car drove out of the garage.

Neither of them spoke.

For several minutes, only the sound of the engine filled the silence.

Finally, Elena asked:

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe."

"Where?"

"My private residence."

"I thought the penthouse was safe."

"It isn't anymore."

She turned toward him.

"Why?"

"Because whoever attacked tonight knew exactly where we'd be."

Elena looked out the window.

The city lights passed by in long streaks.

She suddenly noticed something.

A black SUV.

It had been behind them for several minutes.

"Ethan."

"I know."

"How long?"

"Since the garage."

Her heart began racing.

"Are they following us?"

"Probably."

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing."

She looked at him.

"Nothing?"

"Not yet."

Ethan turned onto a narrow road.

The SUV followed.

Then another appeared behind it.

Elena's stomach dropped.

"There are two."

"I know."

"You said nothing!"

"I don't want them to know we noticed."

She looked at him.

For the first time, she understood something about Ethan.

He wasn't calm because he wasn't afraid.

He was calm because fear was something he had learned to hide.

The road became darker.

Then Ethan suddenly turned into an underground entrance.

A security gate opened.

The car disappeared beneath a luxury apartment complex.

The gates closed behind them.

The two SUVs continued past.

Elena released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Ethan parked.

"We're here."

She stepped out.

The private residence was nothing like their penthouse.

It was smaller.

Older.

Almost hidden beneath the city.

There were no expensive decorations.

No staff.

No photographs.

No signs of wealth.

It felt more like a bunker than a home.

Elena looked around.

"You've never brought me here."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want you to know it existed."

She stared at him.

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"It shouldn't."

Ethan walked toward a wall.

He pressed his hand against a hidden panel.

A section of the wall opened.

Inside was a room filled with documents.

Photographs.

Computer screens.

Old newspaper clippings.

Elena slowly walked inside.

Her eyes widened.

Every wall was covered with information.

The Laurent family.

The Sterling family.

The fire.

The disappearance.

And in the center of the room was a large photograph.

A photograph of Elena at seventeen.

Beside it was another picture.

Her mother.

Her father.

And a fourth person whose face had been blacked out.

Elena approached.

"Who is that?"

Ethan didn't answer.

She turned.

"Who?"

He looked at the photograph.

"I don't know."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I've spent three months trying to find out."

Elena moved closer.

There was writing beneath the photograph.

PROJECT VICTORIA

Her heart stopped.

"What is Project Victoria?"

Ethan stared at the words.

"I don't know."

Elena's fingers trembled.

She reached toward the photograph.

The moment her fingers touched it—

A sharp pain shot through her head.

She stumbled backward.

Images flooded her mind.

A laboratory.

White walls.

A woman crying.

Her father shouting.

A doctor holding a file.

And a voice saying:

"The memory procedure worked."

Elena gasped.

Then another voice.

"What about the husband?"

A man's answer.

"He'll do exactly what we tell him."

The vision disappeared.

Elena collapsed into Ethan's arms.

"Elena!"

She looked up at him.

Her face was pale.

Her eyes were filled with terror.

"Ethan..."

"What did you see?"

She swallowed.

"I heard your voice."

His expression changed.

"What did I say?"

Elena stared at him.

"You said..."

Her voice broke.

"She'll never remember."

Ethan went completely still.

And from somewhere inside the hidden room, a computer suddenly turned on by itself.

The screen displayed a single message.

MEMORY RESTORATION: 7%

Then another line appeared.

SUBJECT VICTORIA LAURENT — STATUS: AWAKE.

Ethan stared at the screen.

Elena stared too.

Neither noticed the tiny camera hidden above them.

Until the screen changed again.

A live video appeared.

An old man sat in a dark room.

Ethan's face lost all color.

Elena looked at him.

"Who is that?"

The old man smiled.

"I see you've finally brought her home."

Ethan whispered one word.

"Father."

The man smiled wider.

"Hello, son."

Then he looked directly at Elena.

"Hello, Victoria."

And the screen went black.