“I remember holding your hand.”
Damien’s words echoed through the room.
I stared at him.
“You were there?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the screen.
The old footage continued playing behind us.
My mother was arguing with someone.
Jonathan stood beside her.
Richard was near the door.
And Evelyn—
Evelyn was smiling.
Then the screen went black.
I turned toward her.
“What happened that night?”
Evelyn tilted her head.
“Don’t you want to ask Damien?”
I looked at him.
He looked completely lost.
“I don’t remember.”
“Then let me help you.”
Evelyn snapped her fingers.
The screen came alive again.
A younger Damien appeared.
He couldn’t have been more than four years old.
He was holding the hand of a little girl.
Me.
My chest tightened.
We were standing in the same hallway.
Behind us, my mother was screaming.
Then a man grabbed Damien.
The recording ended.
Damien stepped backward.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“No.”
He pressed a hand against his forehead.
“I remember this.”
“What do you remember?”
“A door.”
His breathing became uneven.
“A red door.”
I glanced at Evelyn.
She smiled.
“Go on.”
Damien closed his eyes.
“I was scared.”
“You should have been,” Evelyn said.
He opened his eyes.
“Someone was chasing us.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
Damien looked at me.
Then his expression changed.
“You.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“You were crying.”
He took a shaky breath.
“You kept asking me to find your mother.”
My heart began pounding.
“What did you do?”
“I hid you.”
“Where?”
“In a room.”
“What room?”
“I don’t remember.”
Evelyn laughed.
“Of course you don’t.”
I turned toward her.
“What did you do to him?”
She smiled.
“I made sure he forgot.”
My blood went cold.
“You erased his memories?”
“Not all of them.”
She looked at Damien.
“Only the ones that mattered.”
Damien clenched his fists.
“Why?”
“Because children are easier to control when they don’t remember the truth.”
I stepped forward.
“What truth?”
Evelyn’s eyes moved to me.
“The truth about your mother.”
My heart tightened.
“What happened to her?”
Evelyn’s smile disappeared.
“She discovered the vault.”
I froze.
“The vault beneath St.
Catherine’s?”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“Everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Evelyn stared at me.
“That the Crimson Circle was never created to control the world.”
I waited.
“It was created to protect it.”
Silence.
I laughed bitterly.
“Protect it?”
“You think we’re monsters.”
“You kidnapped my sister.”
“You think that’s evil?”
“You killed my mother.”
Evelyn’s expression hardened.
“I saved this world from people far worse than me.”
Damien stepped forward.
“Who?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“The people who came before us.”
“What people?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she looked at me.
“Your mother opened the vault.”
“And?”
“She saw what was inside.”
“What?”
Evelyn smiled.
“And she ran.”
A loud crash came from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
One of the guards shouted.
“Someone’s coming!”
Evelyn’s face changed.
“What?”
Another crash.
Then—
The doors exploded inward.
A group of armed men stormed into the manor.
Damien grabbed my hand.
“Stay behind me.”
Gunfire erupted.
The guards scattered.
Nadia screamed.
I saw Evelyn disappear through a side door.
“She’s escaping!”
Damien shook his head.
“Forget her.”
“But Nadia—”
“I’ll get her.”
He ran toward my sister.
I followed.
A guard grabbed Nadia.
I attacked him before I could think.
He fell.
Nadia ran into my arms.
“Amara!”
I hugged her tightly.
“I’ve got you.”
She was shaking.
“I thought you weren’t coming.”
“I told you I’d come.”
Damien appeared beside us.
“Move!”
We ran.
Behind us, the manor erupted into chaos.
We reached the garden.
Adrian was waiting beside a car.
“Get in!”
We piled inside.
Damien slammed the door.
Adrian accelerated.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Nadia was still crying.
I held her hand.
Then she looked at me.
“Amara?”
“Yes?”
“There was something Evelyn said.”
“What?”
“She said she didn’t kidnap me.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“She said she was protecting me.”
“From what?”
Nadia shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
I looked at Damien.
He was staring through the window.
“Damien?”
He didn’t respond.
“What’s wrong?”
He finally turned.
“I remember another thing.”
“What?”
“The night your mother disappeared.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“I wasn’t alone.”
“Who was with you?”
He looked at Adrian.
Adrian’s face went pale.
“Don’t.”
Damien stared at him.
“You knew.”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“Dad?”
Adrian tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“I didn’t want you to remember.”
“Who was there?”
Adrian’s eyes met mine through the mirror.
“Your mother.”
I swallowed.
“We know that.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“She wasn’t alone.”
I felt cold.
“Who was with her?”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Jonathan.”
My heart stopped.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“But he was supposed to be dead.”
“He wasn’t.”
Nadia gasped.
I stared at Adrian.
“You’re saying Jonathan was alive?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Three days after your mother disappeared.”
“Then what happened?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
I grabbed the back of his seat.
“What happened to my father?”
His eyes filled with regret.
“Evelyn captured him.”
“And?”
“She took him to St.
Catherine’s.”
My stomach dropped.
“The hospital.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Damien.
The same place where the vault was hidden.
The same place where I was born.
The same place where my father was taken.
Everything was connected.
I whispered,
“Then that’s where we’re going.”
Damien nodded.
“We go tonight.”
Adrian suddenly slammed on the brakes.
The car stopped.
“What?”
He pointed ahead.
A black vehicle blocked the road.
Another appeared behind us.
We were surrounded.
Nadia grabbed my arm.
“Amara…”
Damien reached for his gun.
Then a figure stepped out of the car ahead.
A woman.
Long black coat.
Silver necklace.
Evelyn.
She walked toward us.
But she wasn’t holding a weapon.
Instead, she held something else.
A photograph.
She lifted it toward the wi
ndshield.
I stared.
My blood turned to ice.
It was a picture of my mother.
Holding a newborn baby.
Me.
But standing beside her was another woman.
A woman I’d never seen before.
And written across the bottom of the photograph were five words:
**SHE IS THE REAL HEIR.**
I looked at Evelyn.
“Who is she?”
Evelyn smiled.
“The woman who started all of this.”
She stepped closer.
“Your grandmother.”
My breath caught.
“My grandmother is alive?”
Evelyn’s smile widened.
“Yes.”
Then she whispered:
“And she’s been waiting for you.”