Episode 3 — The Memory They Stole
1948 Words
“The person who erased your memory…”
Cassian’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“…is still looking for you.”
I stared at him.
My mind refused to understand.
Someone had erased my memory?
Someone had been looking for me for eighteen
years?
And somehow, Cassian had known.
“How?” I finally asked.
He didn’t answer.
“Cassian, how could someone erase a memory?”
“Not literally.”
He stepped closer.
“Trauma can do things to the mind. Especially when you’re a child.”
“So you’re saying I forgot because I was scared?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You suspected?”
My voice rose.
“You’ve been watching me for eight years and you
never thought I deserved to know?”
“I thought knowing could put you in more danger.”
“That’s always your excuse.”
His expression tightened.
“Because it’s true.”
“No. It’s convenient.”
I turned away from him.
I needed space.
I needed air.
Most of all, I needed to understand why the man
standing in my apartment seemed to know more
about my life than I did.
I walked toward the kitchen.
“I’m getting water.”
“You shouldn’t be alone.”
I stopped.
“I’ve been alone my entire life.”
Cassian’s expression changed.
“You haven’t.”
I turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he walked to the kitchen and reached for
a glass.
Our hands touched.
Neither of us moved.
His fingers were warm against mine.
For one strange second, everything else.
disappeared.
The threats.
My father.
The photographs.
The secrets.
All I could feel was his hand.
Cassian slowly pulled away.
“Sorry.”
I looked at him.
“You’re always doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Acting like you’re afraid to touch me.”
His eyes darkened.
“Maybe I am.”
“Why?”
He looked directly at me.
“Because I don’t trust myself around you.”
My breath caught.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
“Cassian…”
He took one step closer.
I should have stepped back.
I didn’t.
His gaze moved to my lips for the briefest. moment before returning to my eyes.
“That’s why I kept my distance.”
“Then why come here tonight?”
“Because I couldn’t stay away.”
The words were so quiet I almost didn’t hear. them.
My heart raced.
He was close enough that I could feel his breath.
Then his phone rang.
Cassian immediately stepped away.
The moment shattered.
He answered.
“What?”
His expression became cold.
“Where?”
He listened.
“Don’t touch anything. I’m coming.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Someone broke into Rowe & Co.”
My stomach dropped.
“The seventh floor?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“They were looking for something.”
“What?”
Cassian looked at me.
“The evidence your father left behind.”
Part 2
Ten minutes later, we were in his car.
I sat in the passenger seat, staring through the window.
The city lights blurred around us.
“Where are we going?”
“My office.”
“You just said someone broke in.”
“Exactly.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?”
“We will.”
I looked at him.
“But?”
“But I don’t trust everyone who works with them.”
That answer didn’t reassure me.
Nothing about tonight did.
Cassian drove faster.
After several minutes, I finally asked the question
that had been haunting me.
“What was my father like?”
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Kind.”
I smiled faintly.
“He was.”
“Stubborn.”
I laughed softly.
“That too.”
“Protective.”
My smile disappeared.
“He loved you more than anything.”
I looked at Cassian.
“You really knew him.”
“Yes.”
“How close were you?”
Cassian was silent.
“Tell me.”
“Your father was my mentor.”
I blinked.
“How old were you?”
“Twenty-three.”
“And he trusted you?”
“Yes.”
“What happened between you?”
“Nothing.”
I didn’t believe him.
“There is something you’re not telling me.”
“There are many things.”
I sighed.
“Do you ever answer a question normally?”
“Not when the truth can get someone killed.”
I looked away.
“You’re impossible.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
A few seconds passed.
Then I smiled despite myself.
Cassian noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You smiled.”
“So?”
“I’ve been trying to make you smile all night.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
His eyes remained on the road.
“I like it.”
My cheeks warmed.
I looked away before he could see.
Part 3
When we arrived at Rowe & Co., the lobby was
empty.
Security guards stood near the elevators.
Cassian walked straight past them.
“Seventh floor,” he ordered.
The elevator doors opened.
I stepped inside.
Cassian followed.
Neither of us spoke.
The doors closed.
For the first time, we were completely alone.
I glanced at him.
He was staring at the numbers above the elevator.
“Cassian.”
“Yes?”
“If I remember everything…”
He looked at me.
“What happens?”
His expression became unreadable.
“Then you may hate me.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Because I made a promise to your father.”
“What promise?”
“To protect you.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s the truth.”
“What if protecting me means keeping me away
from the truth?”
He didn’t answer.
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
The seventh floor was different.
Several drawers had been pulled from cabinets.
Papers covered the floor.
A glass display case was shattered.
I walked slowly forward.
“What were they looking for?”
Cassian followed.
“Something your father hid.”
“Where?”
“We don’t know.”
I noticed a photograph lying beneath a desk.
I picked it up.
My father.
Cassian.
And me.
I froze.
I was sitting on my father’s lap.
Cassian was standing behind us.
But the photograph wasn’t the strange part.
There was another person in the background.
A woman.
I recognized her immediately.
“Mira.”
Cassian took the photograph from my hand.
His expression changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“That isn’t Mira.”
I looked again.
The woman looked almost identical.
But older.
Different hairstyle.
Different clothes.
Yet the resemblance was undeniable.
“Who is she?”
Cassian’s voice was low.
“Her sister.”
“Mira has a sister?”
“She died eight years ago.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Then why is she here?”
Cassian didn’t answer.
A sound came from behind us.
A door creaked open.
Cassian immediately pulled me behind him.
“Stay here.”
A shadow moved across the hallway.
Someone ran.
Cassian chased him.
I followed.
“Cassian!”
The figure disappeared around the corner.
Then something fell onto the floor.
A small silver key.
I picked it up.
There was an engraving on it.
17
Cassian returned.
“Did you see him?”
“No.”
I showed him the key.
His face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“It fell.”
He took it carefully.
“Your father had one.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
I looked at the number.
“Seventeen.”
Cassian suddenly looked toward the far wall.
“There was a storage room seventeen floors below
the old headquarters.”
“Old headquarters?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Across the city.”
“Then we go there.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s dangerous.”
“So is everything else.”
He stared at me.
“You’re not coming.”
“Try stopping me.”
For several seconds, we stared at each other.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
“What?”
“You’re exactly like your father.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“It’s a warning.”
Part 4
We left the building just before dawn.
The rain had started.
By the time we reached my apartment, my clothes
were damp.
Cassian looked at me.
“You can’t stay here.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“No.”
“Cassian—”
“Someone knows your address.”
“I’ll change the locks.”
“That won’t be enough.”
He took a breath.
“Come stay at my house.”
I stared at him.
“Your house?”
“Temporarily.”
“No.”
“Seren.”
“I can’t live with you.”
“You won’t be living with me.”
“That sounds exactly like living with you.”
“I have a guest wing.”
“I don’t care.”
He stepped closer.
“Then stay because I’m asking.”
I looked up at him.
His voice was different.
Not commanding.
Not cold.
Almost pleading.
“Why?” I whispered.
“Because if something happens to you…”
He stopped.
“What?”
He looked away.
“I wouldn’t forgive myself.”
My heart softened.
Just a little.
“Fine.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“But only until we find out who’s behind this.”
“Agreed.”
I turned toward my apartment.
Then stopped.
“Cassian?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
He smiled faintly.
“You’re welcome.”
I opened the door.
Before I could step inside, his hand caught my wrist.
I turned.
He was staring at me.
“Seren.”
“Yes?”
“Whatever happens…”
His thumb brushed lightly against my wrist.
“Don’t trust anyone.”
“Not even you?”
His eyes darkened.
“Especially me.”
He released me.
I watched him walk away.
Something inside me told me that was a warning I should take seriously.
But another part of me wondered why, despite everything he’d told me, I still wanted him closer.
⸻
I packed a small bag.
Then I noticed something beneath my bed.
A wooden box.
I had never seen it before.
My hands trembled as I pulled it out.
There was no lock.
Inside was a single folded letter.
My name was written on it.
For Seren, when she is old enough to know the truth.
I opened it.
The handwriting was my father’s.
My eyes filled with tears.
The first sentence made my entire body go cold.
My daughter, if you’re reading this, then Cassian has finally brought you to the truth.
I stopped.
Cassian.
My father knew this would happen.
I continued reading.
There is something I never told you about the night I died.
I held my breath.
Then I read the final line.
Cassian was not the man I feared that night.
I stared at the words.
Then I turned the page.
There was only one sentence.
He was the man I trusted to betray me.
My hands began shaking.
Outside, a car stopped in front of my building.
I looked through the window.
Cassian’s car was still parked across the street.
But another black vehicle had just arrived.
Someone stepped out.
They looked up directly at my window.
And smiled.
END OF EPISODE 3
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