Claimed by the Rejected Author

Chapter Ten: The Man Behind the Mask

The sound of engines surrounded the abandoned house.

I stood frozen beside Ethan, staring through the broken window at the headlights cutting through the rain.

How had everything become this complicated?

A few weeks ago, my biggest problem had been seeing Ethan again.

Now I was standing inside a forgotten house connected to my mother's past, surrounded by people who apparently wanted me dead.

"Elena."

Ethan's voice pulled me back.

"Stay behind me."

I nodded.

Daniel moved toward the staircase, checking the windows.

"We have at least three vehicles outside," he said. "Maybe more."

"Can we get through the back?" Ethan asked.

Daniel shook his head.

"Too exposed."

A loud bang came from downstairs.

I jumped.

Someone had entered the house.

Ethan immediately grabbed my hand.

"Come on."

We moved down a narrow hallway toward a hidden door Daniel had discovered earlier.

Behind it was a small passage leading toward the rear of the property.

We hurried through.

Then—

A gunshot shattered the silence.

I screamed.

"Ethan!"

"I'm fine."

He pulled me closer.

Daniel looked back.

"They're coming."

We ran.

Rain poured over us as we escaped through the trees behind the house.

My shoes slipped against the mud, but Ethan never released my hand.

We reached the waiting car and climbed inside.

Daniel started the engine.

The vehicle sped away.

I looked through the rear window.

Three men emerged from the house.

One of them stood perfectly still, watching us disappear.

Even from a distance, I could tell he was wearing a silver watch.

My heart stopped.

"That man."

Ethan looked at me.

"What?"

"The watch."

Daniel glanced into the rearview mirror.

"You recognized him?"

"No."

I swallowed.

"But I've seen that watch before."

Ethan's expression darkened.

"Martin."

I shook my head.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because my mother said the person responsible wasn't who we thought."

I stared at the darkness behind us.

"Maybe Martin isn't working alone."

---

An hour later, we returned to the Blackwood estate.

Security locked the gates immediately.

I walked into the library and collapsed onto the sofa.

My hands were still shaking.

Ethan sat beside me.

"You should rest."

"I can't."

He looked at me.

"My entire childhood might be a lie."

"I know."

"My mother knew something about your family."

"I know."

"And now someone is trying to kill me because I remembered it."

Ethan reached for my hand.

"We'll find the truth."

I looked at him.

"What if the truth destroys everything?"

He squeezed my fingers.

"Then we'll face it together."

The words silenced me.

For years, I'd dreamed of hearing Ethan say something like that.

Now that he had finally said it, I didn't know whether to believe him.

But I wanted to.

More than I should.

Suddenly, Daniel rushed into the library.

"Sir."

Ethan stood.

"What happened?"

"We found the vehicle that followed us."

"Where?"

"Abandoned two miles from the estate."

Daniel handed him a photograph.

"There was something inside."

Ethan studied it.

Then his face changed.

"What?"

He handed the photograph to me.

It showed a folder.

Written across the front were two words:

PROJECT EVE.

My stomach dropped.

"What is that?"

Daniel shook his head.

"We don't know."

Ethan opened the folder.

Inside were photographs of Elena.

Hundreds of them.

Her leaving university.

Entering bookstores.

Walking into her apartment.

Meeting Maya.

And even photographs from years ago.

My blood ran cold.

"Someone has been following me for years."

Ethan stared at the photographs.

"No."

He picked up the oldest picture.

It showed Elena at seventeen.

Standing outside the same house we'd just escaped.

Ethan's expression hardened.

"Someone has been watching you since before we ever met."

I couldn't speak.

Then something slipped from the folder and landed on the floor.

A photograph.

My mother.

Standing beside Ethan's father.

Both of them looked terrified.

On the back of the photograph was a handwritten sentence:

Project Eve was never about Elena.

I turned the photograph over.

My mother's handwriting continued beneath it.

It was about what Elena witnessed.

My breath caught.

The room suddenly felt too small.

I looked at Ethan.

"What did I witness?"

Before he could answer, every light in the mansion went out.

Darkness swallowed the room.

Then every security alarm began screaming at once.

Daniel reached for his weapon.

Ethan pulled me against him.

And somewhere in the darkness, a voice whispered through the library speakers:

"Now you remember."