Chapter 3: The Name I Buried
Nobody spoke.
The salon became so quiet I could hear the rain tapping against the glass windows.
Adrian stared at the mark beside my ear.
Not like he was seeing a stranger.
Like he was seeing someone he had spent years searching for.
“Where did you get that?”” he asked.
I frowned.
“The mark?””
“Yes.””
“I was born with it.””
His hand slowly lowered.
“No.””
I looked confused.
“What?””
He stepped back.
“Impossible.””
Daniel looked between us.
“Mr. Kane, what’s happening?””
Adrian didn’t answer.
Instead, he pulled his phone from his pocket.
His fingers shook.
I noticed because men like Adrian Kane weren’t supposed to shake.
He opened an old photograph.
Then he turned the screen toward me.
A little girl stood in front of a massive mansion.
She was smiling.
She wore a beautiful dress.
And beside her ear was the same crescent-shaped mark.
My breath stopped.
“That’s…”
Adrian stared at me.
“What’s your real name?””
“Wren.””
“No.””
His voice became quieter.
“That’s the name you were given after you disappeared.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Disappeared?””
He showed me the picture again.
“This girl vanished ten years ago.””
I looked closer.
Something about the little girl felt familiar.
The eyes.
The smile.
The necklace around her neck.
My hand moved toward my collarbone.
A scar was hidden beneath my shirt.
“I had that necklace.””
Adrian’s expression changed.
“What did you say?””
“I had it when I was younger.””
“Where is it?””
I closed my eyes.
And for the first time in years, a memory returned clearly.
A burning hallway.
A woman crying.
A man grabbing me.
The necklace tearing away from my neck.
Then his voice.
“She wasn’t supposed to survive.””
I opened my eyes.
“Someone took it.””
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Who?””
“I don’t know.””
“Try.””
I looked at him.
“There was smoke everywhere.””
My voice became smaller.
“He said a name.””
Adrian leaned closer.
“What name?””
I searched through the broken pieces of my memory.
Then I whispered:
“Adrian.””
The entire room went still.
Adrian’s face changed.
“What?””
“The man who took my necklace.””
I swallowed.
“He said… ‘Tell Adrian the little princess is gone.’”
The color drained from his face.
His bodyguard, Marco, immediately stepped forward.
“Boss?””
Adrian ignored him.
He looked at me like I had just opened a door that had been locked for ten years.
“My uncle.””
I stared.
“What?””
“My uncle Vincent.””
Marco’s phone suddenly rang.
He answered quickly.
“Yes?””
A few seconds passed.
Then his expression changed.
“Boss, we found the records.””
Adrian turned.
“What records?””
Marco walked closer, holding a tablet.
“The Whitmore case.””
The name meant nothing to me.
Until Adrian said:
“Evelyn Whitmore.””
My chest tightened.
The name felt like a song I almost remembered.
Adrian looked at the screen.
“Read it.””
Marco hesitated.
“The Whitmore mansion fire. Ten years ago. Billionaire Alexander Whitmore and his wife Evelyn declared dead.””
“And their daughter?””
Marco looked at me.
“Missing.””
The room went silent.
Adrian slowly handed me the tablet.
On the screen was a missing child report.
My childhood photograph.
My eyes.
My birthmark.
But underneath the official report was a handwritten note.
Three words.
“Confirm her death.””
I stared.
“Who wrote this?””
Marco’s voice was low.
“The signature belongs to Vincent Kane.””
Adrian closed his eyes.
His own family.
His own blood.
The man who may have stolen my entire life.
Then Marco opened another file.
“Boss, there’s more.””
Adrian looked.
“What?””
Marco swallowed.
“The Whitmore family trust.””
He turned the screen around.
“The inheritance was transferred after the fire.””
Adrian read the name.
Then his face became cold.
“Transferred to who?””
Marco answered quietly.
“Vincent Kane.””
I looked at Adrian.
“If I was really that girl…”
He looked at me.
“You were supposed to inherit nearly $800 million.””
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible.
“Then why was I sleeping under bridges?””
Adrian didn’t answer.
Because he already knew.
Someone had stolen everything from me.
My family.
My name.
My future.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A voice came through the speaker.
Adrian’s expression changed.
“What did you say?””
He listened for several seconds.
Then he slowly looked at me.
“Wren…”
My heart started racing.
“What?””
He lowered the phone.
“The men who attacked me last night weren’t trying to kill me.””
A chill moved through the room.
“They were trying to find you.””
I stared at him.
“Why?””
Adrian looked toward the window.
May you like
Because outside, across the street, a black car had just stopped.
And inside it, someone was watching me.
