Claimed by the Rejected Author

Chapter Seven: The Missing Pages

Elena woke to the sound of rain tapping against the windows.

For a few seconds, she forgot where she was.

Then the events of the previous days came rushing back.

The threatening letters.

The mysterious pen.

The hacked servers.

The photograph of her and Ethan from years ago.

She sat up slowly, her heart already pounding.

Something felt wrong.

She reached for her phone on the bedside table.

Twenty-three missed calls.

Her stomach dropped.

Most were from Martin.

There were also several messages from Maya.

Call me immediately.

Elena dialed Martin first.

He answered on the first ring.

"Elena."

His voice was unusually tense.

"What happened?"

"Someone broke into the publishing office last night."

She froze.

"Was anything stolen?"

"Yes."

"What?"

There was a long pause.

"Your manuscript."

Elena's blood ran cold.

"My new manuscript?"

"The entire file."

She pushed the blanket aside and jumped out of bed.

"How?"

"We don't know yet. Security footage shows someone entering through the back entrance around two in the morning."

"Did they steal anything else?"

"No."

That made the situation even more frightening.

Whoever had broken into the office hadn't come for money.

They had come specifically for her story.

"Martin, send me everything you have."

"I already did."

The call ended.

Elena stared at her phone.

A moment later, Ethan appeared in the doorway.

He had clearly heard enough.

"What happened?"

"My manuscript was stolen."

His expression hardened.

"You're sure?"

"Martin said they took the entire file."

Ethan walked into the room.

"Then this isn't about damaging your reputation anymore."

"I know."

"They want something from the manuscript."

Elena shook her head.

"There's nothing in it except fiction."

Ethan studied her face.

"Are you certain?"

She frowned.

"Of course."

He didn't answer.

Instead, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Daniel, I need you at the estate immediately."

He ended the call.

Elena stared at him.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"I don't know yet."

"That's not an answer."

He stepped closer.

"Last night, my security team found something near the eastern gate."

"What?"

"A camera."

Her breath caught.

"Someone has been watching the estate."

"And they weren't using it to monitor me."

Elena understood immediately.

"They were watching me."

Ethan nodded.

A strange silence settled between them.

Then Elena's phone buzzed.

A new email.

No sender name.

No subject.

She opened it.

Her face drained of color.

Attached to the message was a photograph of one page from her stolen manuscript.

Beneath it was a sentence:

You wrote this before you remembered.

Elena stared at the screen.

Her hands began trembling.

"I don't understand."

Ethan took the phone.

His eyes moved across the page.

Then he looked at her.

"What is this scene?"

"I don't know."

"You wrote it."

"I know I wrote it."

She swallowed.

"But I don't remember writing this part."

The page described a little girl standing outside a house at night.

A broken window.

A man's voice shouting.

And a black car waiting beneath a streetlamp.

Elena's breathing became shallow.

Something about the scene felt familiar.

Not like something she'd imagined.

Like something she'd forgotten.

A sudden headache struck.

She grabbed the edge of the table.

Images flashed through her mind.

Rain.

A red dress.

A man's hand.

A shattered glass.

Then—

A woman's voice.

"Elena, don't look."

She gasped.

Ethan caught her before she fell.

"Elena!"

She clutched his shirt.

"I've seen it."

"Seen what?"

"The house."

His expression changed.

"What house?"

"I don't know."

Tears filled her eyes.

"But I remember being there."

Ethan held her steady.

"Then we'll find it."

Before Elena could respond, Daniel rushed into the room.

"Sir."

Ethan turned.

"What did you find?"

Daniel placed a photograph on the table.

"We traced the camera."

Elena looked down.

Her heart stopped.

The camera had been purchased under a false identity.

But the surveillance footage showed the buyer clearly.

A man.

Tall.

Dark-haired.

Wearing a familiar silver watch.

Elena recognized it instantly.

Her voice barely came out.

"That's Martin's watch."

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"I've seen it hundreds of times."

Daniel looked between them.

"Then Martin Collins may know more than he's telling us."

Elena stared at the stolen manuscript on the phone.

For years, she'd believed her stories were products of imagination.

Now she wasn't so sure.

Maybe she hadn't invented that night.

Maybe she'd remembered it.

And someone had been desperately trying to make sure she never remembered the truth.

Ethan reached for her hand.

"This time, we don't run."

Elena looked into his eyes.

"No."

She closed her fingers around his.

"We find out what really happened."

Outside, the rain grew heavier.

And somewhere across the city, Martin Collins stared at his phone.

A message appeared on the screen.

She remembers the house.

His fingers tightened around the device.

Then another message appeared.

Fix it before she remembers everything.