Chapter 3

The anonymous caller's words kept replaying in her mind.

You survived once. Don't expect to survive twice.

She had heard threats before.

During the three years she had spent rebuilding her life, she had received warnings, suspicious emails, and once even a photograph of herself taken from a distance.

But this call was different.

The person knew she had survived.

That meant someone had discovered the truth.

Ariana sat on the edge of her bed and opened the drawer beside her.

Inside was a small black notebook.

She had kept it for three years.

Every page contained a name, a date, a transaction, or a question.

At the top of the first page, she had written:

WHO WANTED ME DEAD?

Underneath were four names.

Serena Vale.

Victor Vale.

Adrian Cross.

And finally—

Unknown.

Ariana stared at Adrian's name for several seconds.

She still didn't know what to think about him.

Seeing him at her grave had unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.

For three years, she had convinced herself that he had betrayed her.

Yet the man she saw yesterday had looked genuinely broken.

Ariana closed the notebook.

She couldn't allow emotions to interfere with her investigation.

Not again.

Her phone rang.

"Maya?"

"Good morning."

"It's barely morning."

"You've been awake all night, haven't you?"

Ariana smiled faintly.

"You know me too well."

"I know you're stubborn."

"What's the update?"

"The company meeting is confirmed for tomorrow."

"Good."

"And there's something else."

Ariana's expression changed.

"What?"

"I found the name of the company that received the three million dollars."

Ariana sat upright.

"Tell me."

"V&C Holdings."

"I already know that."

"I know. But I found something interesting."

Maya paused.

"V&C Holdings was dissolved six months after your disappearance."

Ariana frowned.

"Dissolved?"

"Yes."

"Who owned it?"

"That's the strange part."

Maya lowered her voice.

"The registered owner was a man named Victor Cross."

Ariana froze.

"Cross?"

"Yes."

Ariana's fingers tightened around the phone.

"Are you sure?"

"Completely."

Victor Cross.

Adrian's younger brother.

A man Ariana had never trusted.

But Victor had disappeared from the city shortly after her accident.

She had always assumed he left because of business problems.

Now she wasn't so sure.

"Find him," Ariana said.

"I'm already trying."

"Don't let anyone know you're looking."

"Understood."

The call ended.

Ariana stared at the wall.

Another name had entered the puzzle.

And she had a feeling it wasn't there by accident.

---

That afternoon, Ariana visited Cross Enterprises.

She had arranged a business meeting under her new identity.

When she stepped into the lobby, several employees turned to look at her.

She was used to it.

The woman they knew as Aria Bennett had become a recognizable name in the business world.

Young.

Wealthy.

Private.

And impossible to read.

She approached the receptionist.

"I'm here to see Mr. Cross."

"Which Mr. Cross?"

"Adrian."

The receptionist checked the schedule.

"He's expecting you."

Ariana's stomach tightened.

Of course he was.

She had deliberately arranged the meeting.

But seeing his name on the schedule still made something inside her ache.

The elevator doors opened.

She stepped inside.

A few seconds later, she was standing outside Adrian's office.

She knocked.

"Come in."

Ariana opened the door.

Adrian was standing near the window.

He turned.

Their eyes met.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Ariana felt as though the entire room had disappeared.

Three years vanished.

She remembered his smile.

His voice.

His arms around her.

Their wedding day.

Their first argument.

Their last argument.

Everything.

Adrian stared at her.

Something flickered in his eyes.

Not recognition.

Something else.

Familiarity.

"You look familiar," he said.

Ariana forced a small smile.

"I get that a lot."

He studied her face.

"Have we met before?"

"Not that I remember."

A lie.

The first of many.

Adrian gestured toward the chair.

"Please sit."

Ariana sat.

He took the seat opposite her.

They discussed the proposed business deal for several minutes.

Adrian was professional.

Calm.

Focused.

But Ariana noticed something.

He kept looking at her.

Not like a businessman studying a potential partner.

Like a man trying to remember something he had forgotten.

Finally, Adrian asked, "Where are you from?"

"Originally?"

"Yes."

Ariana paused.

"Somewhere far away."

He smiled slightly.

"That's vague."

"I'm a private person."

"So I noticed."

Their eyes met again.

Ariana quickly looked down at the documents.

She couldn't let herself become distracted.

"Your proposal is interesting," Adrian said. "But I need time to review it."

"Take your time."

She stood.

Adrian stood too.

As Ariana reached the door, he suddenly spoke.

"Aria."

She turned.

"Yes?"

"I hope you don't find this strange."

"What?"

"I feel like I've known you for years."

Ariana's heart slammed against her ribs.

She smiled.

"Maybe you have."

Then she walked out.

Adrian remained standing.

He watched the door close.

Something about her bothered him.

Her eyes.

Her voice.

The way she tilted her head when she was thinking.

He had seen those things before.

But where?

He opened the drawer of his desk.

Inside was a photograph.

Ariana.

His late wife.

He stared at it.

Then looked toward the door.

"No," he whispered.

It was impossible.

Ariana was dead.

He had watched them bury her.

He had visited her grave for three years.

Yet for the first time since her death, Adrian wondered if perhaps he had been mourning the wrong thing.

---

Across the city, Serena sat inside her bedroom.

She held Ariana's necklace between her fingers.

Her phone rang.

"Hello?"

A man's voice answered.

"She saw you."

Serena's expression changed.

"Who?"

"Don't play stupid."

Serena stood.

"How do you know?"

"She was at the cemetery."

Serena's face went pale.

"That's impossible."

"You need to be careful."

"She's dead."

"Are you sure?"

Serena's grip tightened around the necklace.

"What are you saying?"

The caller lowered his voice.

"Someone matching Ariana's description just met Adrian."

Serena stopped breathing.

"Who?"

"Aria Bennett."

The call ended.

Serena stared at the phone.

Then slowly looked down at the necklace around her neck.

For three years, she had believed Ariana was gone.

For three years, she had waited for her chance to have everything Ariana once possessed.

Adrian.

The family.

The wealth.

The position.

Everything.

But now—

Serena touched the necklace.

A cold fear spread through her.

"What if she's alive?"

Outside her window, a black car slowly drove past.

Serena noticed it.

Then the car stopped.

Her heart raced.

Someone stepped out.

A woman wearing dark sunglasses.

Serena couldn't see her face clearly.

But the woman looked toward the house.

Then smiled.

Serena stepped backward.

Because even from that distance, there was something terribly familiar about that smile.

The woman turned and walked away.

Serena rushed to the window.

"Who are you?"

But the woman was already gone.

Serena's phone vibrated.

One new message.

She opened it.

There was only one sentence.

You stole my life. Now I'm coming to take it back.

Serena's face went completely white.

She dropped the phone.

For the first time in three years, she was afraid.

Because somewhere in the city, the woman she had helped bury was coming home.