The Name She Shouldn't Know
1517 Words
DOMINIC'S POV
I couldn't sleep.
Not after what happened in Athena's room.
Not after seeing that scar.
Not after seeing the look on her face when she realized she'd been clinging to me.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her.
Her tears.
Her fear.
The way she fit against my chest like she'd always belonged there.
It was ridiculous.
Dangerous.
And I was getting tired of not having answers.
By seven in the morning, I was already in my office pretending to work.
Pretending not to think about her.
Pretending not to wonder why a stranger kept unraveling every piece of control I'd spent years rebuilding.
Then I smelled eggs.
Fresh coffee.
Toast.
The scent drifted through the house.
Frowning, I left my office.
The kitchen wasn't usually this busy.
When I stepped inside, I stopped.
Athena stood at the stove.
Wearing one of the oversized sweaters we'd bought her.
Her hair was loosely tied back.
She was humming quietly while flipping eggs in a pan.
For one bizarre second, it looked...
Domestic.
Like something from another life.
A life I'd lost years ago.
Ethan sat on the counter swinging his legs.
Talking nonstop while Athena listened.
The sight hit me harder than it should have.
Athena noticed me first.
"Oh."
She smiled awkwardly. Her face lighting up
"Good morning."
I nodded.
"What are you doing?"
She looked confused.
"Making breakfast?"
As though that should have been obvious.
Ethan grinned.
"Athena cooks better than the chef."
The chef looked personally offended. He huffed and look away in annoyance
Athena laughed.
And the sound did something strange to my chest.
I ignored it.
Then Ethan took a bite of his eggs.
His face immediately lit up.
"Mommy used to make eggs like this."
Silence.
The entire kitchen froze.
Even the chef stopped moving.
Athena's smile disappeared.
Ethan immediately realized what he'd said.
The room became painfully quiet.
Lisa.
Even years later, her name still had the power to stop conversations.
I looked at Athena.
She looked devastated.
Not because Ethan mentioned Lisa.
Because she knew she'd somehow stepped into territory she never intended to touch.
Before anyone could recover, Ethan reached for a bowl nearby.
Athena reacted instantly.
"No."
Her voice came out sharp.
Everyone looked at her.
She blinked.
Then pointed at the bowl.
"He can't have those."
I frowned.
"What?"
She looked confused.
As if she'd spoken without thinking.
"The strawberries."
My pulse slowed.
"Why?"
Athena froze.
Completely froze.
Then her eyes widened.
Because she realized exactly what I'd realized.
Ethan was allergic to strawberries.
Severely allergic.
And nobody had told her.
Not me.
Not the staff.
Not anyone.
The kitchen suddenly felt too small.
Athena stared at the bowl.
Then at Ethan.
Then at me.
"I..."
She swallowed.
"I don't know."
I watched her carefully.
Too carefully.
"How did you know?"
The color drained from her face.
"I didn't."
A lie.
A bad one.
I knew lies.
Built businesses around detecting them.
Athena was hiding something.
The question was...What was she hiding?
Two hours later, I had a private investigator looking into her.
I hated myself for it.
But not enough to stop.
I sat behind my desk while Mason, my head of security, listened.
"I want everything."
He nodded.
"Background check?"
"Everything."
"Family?"
"Everything."
"Employment history?"
"Everything."
His eyebrows rose.
That was unusual.
For me to be this invested.
For me to care this much.
I didn't care.
I wanted answers.
That was all.
At least that's what I told myself.
By afternoon, Athena was avoiding me.
Every time I entered a room, she found an excuse to leave.
Every time I looked at her, she looked away.
Guilt.
Fear.
Or both.
The more she avoided me, the more suspicious I became.
Then Ethan ran into my office crying.
"Dad!"
I immediately stood.
"What happened?"
"Athena's leaving."
Everything inside me went still.
"What?"
He grabbed my hand.
"Come!"
I followed him downstairs.
And found Athena standing near the front door.
Holding her bag.
Ready to leave.
My jaw tightened.
"What are you doing?"
She looked exhausted.
"Tired."
"Of what?"
"This."
She waved vaguely around the mansion.
"The whispers."
"The stares."
"The comparisons."
For a second neither of us spoke.
Then Ethan burst into tears.
Real tears.
The heartbreaking kind.
"No!"
Athena immediately knelt.
"Ethan"
"Don't go."
His voice cracked.
"Please don't go."
Something shattered inside the room.
Athena looked seconds away from crying herself.
"Ethan..."
"I'll be good."
His tiny hands grabbed hers desperately.
"I promise."
I watched her heart break in real time.
Because she wanted to leave.
But she couldn't bear hurting him.
And Ethan knew it.
The little traitor.
Athena closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, they were shining with tears.
"I'm not leaving forever."
"Promise?"
She hesitated.
A mistake.
Ethan noticed immediately.
Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks.
Athena looked destroyed.
I should have stayed out of it.
Instead I heard myself speak.
"Stay."
Her head snapped toward me.
"What?"
"Stay."
The word sounded strangely personal.
Dangerously personal.
Athena stood.
Anger replacing sadness.
"You don't get to decide that."
"Then stop acting like you're running."
Her eyes flashed.
"I am not running."
"No?"
I stepped closer.
"Because every time something gets difficult, you disappear."
The accusation landed.
Hard.
Her expression changed instantly.
Pain.
Raw and immediate.
As though I'd touched an open wound.
"You know nothing about me."
The words came out shaking.
"And you know nothing about me."
Neither of us moved.
The tension between us became almost unbearable.
Then I noticed something.
The necklace.
The one she always wore.
A silver chain hidden beneath her sweater.
Today it had slipped into view.
She instinctively grabbed it.
Protectively.
The gesture irritated me instantly.
I didn't understand why.
"Who gave you that?"
She froze.
My irritation deepened.
"Lucas?"
The name tasted bitter.
Athena looked stunned.
"How do you know that name?"
Because I'd heard her crying it.
Because I'd been thinking about it for days.
Because I hated how often she whispered it in her sleep.
I folded my arms.
"Who is he?"
Her expression softened immediately.
The kind of softness people reserved for someone they loved.
I hated it.
Immediately.
Violently.
"He mattered."
The answer shouldn't have bothered me.
But it did.
Far more than it should have.
An ugly feeling settled in my chest.
Possessive.
Jealous.
Completely irrational.
And absolutely real.
That evening Athena finally left the room.
Not the mansion.
Just the room where we'd argued.
I watched her disappear down the hallway.
Still upset.
Still hurt.
Good.
No.
Not good.
Damn it.
I was losing my mind.
Hours later, I went looking for her.
Not because I cared.
Because Ethan was asking.
At least that's what I told myself.
Then I heard voices.
Staff.
Around the corner.
I stopped.
"She looks just like Mrs. Blackwell."
"Almost creepy."
"Do you think he'll marry her?"
A laugh.
"Please."
"She's basically a replacement wife."
My jaw tightened.
The words hit me harder than expected.
Then I saw Athena.
Standing in the hallway.
Frozen.
Listening.
Every ounce of color drained from her face.
Humiliation flashed across her features.
The staff noticed her too late.
Athena turned immediately.
And walked away.
Fast.
Too fast.
"Athena."
She didn't stop.
"Athena."
Still nothing.
By the time I reached the front entrance, she was gone.
Rain had started again.
The city glittered beneath wet streets and neon lights.
I found her nearly forty minutes later.
Walking alone.
Head down.
Arms wrapped around herself.
She looked small.
Lonely.
Broken.
I pulled beside her.
She ignored me.
I lowered the window.
"Get in."
"No."
"Athena."
"No."
Cars honked behind us.
I clenched my jaw.
"Get in the car."
She stopped walking.
Finally.
Then turned.
The pain in her eyes caught me completely off guard.
"I'm tired of being compared to a dead woman."
The words hit like a punch.
"I'm tired of everyone staring at me."
Another step.
"I'm tired of feeling like I don't exist."
The rain soaked her hair.
Her clothes.
Her face.
Yet she kept standing there.
Waiting.
For something.
For me.
For an answer.
For understanding.
I didn't know.
But suddenly all I wanted was to get her out of the rain.
Out of everyone's sight.
Away from everything.
"Get in."
This time she did.
Neither of us noticed the cameras.
The paparazzi hidden across the street.
The photographs being taken.
The headlines already being written.
The stories already spreading.
Dominic Vale's Mystery Woman.
The Dead Wife's Double.
The Billionaire's Secret Romance.
By midnight, the pictures were everywhere.
The next morning,
They were viral.
And hundreds of miles away, a woman stared at the photograph on her phone.
Her coffee slipped from her fingers.
Crashing onto the floor.
Because the woman in Dominic Vale's car wasn't supposed to exist.
It wasn't possible.
It couldn't be.
Her hands began shaking.
As she zoomed in on Athena's face.
Then whispered four terrifying words.
"Oh my God..."
The phone slipped from her grasp.
Because if Athena was alive, then everything they had buried five years ago...
Was about to come back.
- Writer
