Chapter 9: The Girl Without a Past
Thomas Vale’s words followed me long after we left the abandoned house.
The fire wasn’t meant to kill you.
It was meant to erase your identity.
I sat in the car beside Adrian, staring at my hands.
Ten years.
I thought I had lost everything.
Now I wondered if someone had taken it from me deliberately.
“What does that mean?””
Adrian looked out the window.
“We need to find out.””
“No.””
He turned.
“No?””
“I’m tired of people deciding things about my life.””
My voice shook.
“My parents knew something. Vincent knew something. Thomas knew something. Even you knew something.””
I looked at him.
“But nobody tells me anything.””
Adrian didn’t argue.
Because he knew I was right.
When we returned, he gave me the entire file from the Whitmore investigation.
Every document.
Every photograph.
Every report.
“No more secrets,” he said.
I looked at him.
“Are you sure?””
“No.””
That surprised me.
He continued:
“But you deserve the choice.””
For the first time, I believed him.
I spent hours reading.
Most of it was confusing.
Financial records.
Company documents.
Names.
Dates.
Until I found one page.
A medical report.
My name was written at the top.
Not Wren.
A different name.
*Charlotte Evelyn Whitmore.*
I stopped breathing.
Charlotte.
A name I had never heard.
But somehow, it felt familiar.
Like a song I forgot I knew.
Adrian noticed.
“What is it?””
I handed him the page.
His eyes moved across it.
“This was hidden.””
“Why?””
“I don’t know.””
I touched the paper.
“Charlotte.””
The name felt strange.
But not wrong.
Then another memory surfaced.
A woman brushing my hair.
A soft voice.
“My little Charlotte.””
I grabbed my head.
Adrian immediately moved closer.
“What happened?””
“My mother.””
“What did you remember?””
“She called me Charlotte.””
The room went quiet.
Marco entered carrying a folder.
“Boss.””
Adrian looked up.
“What?””
“We decrypted the second file from the necklace.””
Everyone froze.
Adrian connected the device.
A video appeared.
My father.
Alexander Whitmore.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
My knees almost gave out.
“Wren,” he said.
His voice filled the room.
“If you’re watching this, I’m gone.””
I covered my mouth.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Your mother and I discovered Vincent’s betrayal too late.””
Adrian watched carefully.
My father continued.
“But the greatest danger is not Vincent.””
A pause.
“It’s the person Vincent answers to.””
Adrian frowned.
“Who?””
My father looked frightened.
Then he said a name.
A name that made Adrian step backward.
“Richard Kane.””
Marco froze.
“Boss…”
Adrian’s face turned pale.
“My grandfather.””
The video continued.
“Richard Kane created the operation that destroyed our family.””
I stared at Adrian.
“Your grandfather?””
He looked like he couldn’t process it.
“My grandfather died twenty years ago.””
My father’s recording continued.
“Adrian, if you are watching this, understand one thing.””
The screen flickered.
“Vincent is not the beginning.””
A pause.
“He is only the person who continued the plan.””
Then the video showed one final image.
A document.
A list of names.
At the top:
*Project Phoenix.*
Below it were several names.
Whitmore.
Kane.
Vale.
And one final name.
Mine.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“What is this?””
Marco stepped closer.
“Boss…”
Adrian didn’t move.
Because beneath my name was a handwritten note.
Five words.
The same words that had haunted me since childhood.
*Subject survived. Begin recovery.*
I looked at Adrian.
“Recovery?””
He looked at me.
And slowly said:
“Wren…”
A chill went through me.
“Someone wasn’t trying to find you.””
May you like
He stared at the screen.
“They were trying to finish something they started ten years ago.””
