THE MAN I WAS PAID TO FORGET

THE MAN I WAS PAID TO FORGETOne night was supposed to be forgotten.One woman was supposed to stay dead.And one secret was never supposed to be found.The night Lily Morgan met the stranger, she had no idea she was stepping into a story that had started years before she was born.The club was crowded, the music loud enough to drown out every thought, and Lily had no intention of remembering the night.Neither did he.They didn't exchange real names.They didn't ask questions.They simply looked at each other across a crowded room, and something neither of them could explain pulled them together.One reckless night.One unforgettable kiss.And then they walked away.No promises.No expectations.No reason to ever meet again.Except fate had already decided otherwise.One month later, Lily walked into the office of Carter Holdings for a job interview.She stopped the moment she saw the man behind the desk.He looked at her.She looked at him.The world seemed to stop.“You?”His expression didn't change.“You know me?”Lily almost laughed.“I think I know you better than I should.”His eyes darkened.“Then we're going to have a problem.”His name was Ethan Carter.Thirty-one.Billionaire.CEO of Carter Holdings.Widower.And the man Lily had promised herself she would never see again.Now he was offering her a job.Not because he remembered their night.Not because he wanted her.But because he needed someone to help him erase the last traces of his dead wife.Emma Carter.Three years ago, Emma died in what everyone believed was a tragic accident.Ethan never recovered from it.He stopped talking about her.Stopped touching her belongings.Stopped allowing anyone to enter the rooms she had left behind.Until Lily arrived.Her job was simple.Sort Emma's belongings.Organize her photographs.Clear her letters.Help Ethan finally let go.But the moment Lily opens Emma's old photographs, the entire story changes.She finds a picture of herself.Standing beside Emma.Smiling.Happy.As if they had known each other for years.Lily stares at the photograph.“I've never met her.”Ethan looks at the picture.“Then why is she standing beside you?”Lily has no answer.Because she doesn't remember Emma.She doesn't remember that day.She doesn't remember anything from a missing year of her life.Then Lily notices something else.A silver necklace around Emma's neck.Her necklace.The same necklace Lily has worn since she was seven.Her fingers slowly touch the pendant.“This can't be mine.”Ethan looks at her.“I've seen Emma wear that necklace for years.”Lily's voice drops to a whisper.“Then how do I have the same one?”Neither of them knows.And that is when the first message arrives.YOU FOUND THE PHOTOGRAPH.Lily's hands go cold.Another message appears.NOW ASK ETHAN WHY EMMA WAS WEARING LILY'S NECKLACE.Ethan reads it.His face changes.“Who sent this?”“I don't know.”“Then don't answer.”Lily looks at him.“What if they know what happened to Emma?”Ethan's eyes harden.“Then we find them before they find you.”But someone is already watching.A black car waits outside the house.The same car appears again.And again.Never close enough to identify.Never far enough to ignore.Lily begins to wonder whether the person watching them is trying to protect them...Or waiting for the right moment to strike.Then another message arrives.EMMA'S DEATH WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT.Lily looks at Ethan.For three years, he believed his wife was dead because of a tragic accident.Now that belief begins to collapse.“You think someone killed her?”Ethan's voice is barely audible.“I think someone wanted us to believe she died by accident.”And for the first time, Ethan begins investigating his own company.What he finds is worse than either of them expected.Missing financial records.Secret accounts.Fake companies.Transactions that were never supposed to exist.Emma had discovered something inside Carter Holdings before she died.Something powerful enough to destroy people who had spent years building their perfect reputations.She had collected evidence.She had followed the money.She had started asking questions.And then she died.But Emma had known she might not survive.She had prepared for it.She left clues.She left Lily's name.She left the necklace.And somewhere inside that necklace is the one thing capable of exposing the truth.An encrypted chip.Evidence of everything.Names.Transactions.Secrets.Proof.But Lily doesn't know it's there.Ethan doesn't know it's there.And the person who killed Emma doesn't know where it is.Yet.Because Emma made sure the truth would survive even if she didn't.She chose Lily.A girl she had met years ago.A girl connected to Sophia.A girl who would eventually forget the meeting completely.Lily's accident erased that memory.But it didn't erase the truth.And as the investigation continues, fragments of her lost memories begin returning._____