~Memories don't disappear.
They hide… until the truth forces them back.
Tonight… Elara's past was coming back.
The Valentino estate was quiet again.
But this time the silence felt heavier.
Dangerous.
Ares stood in the middle of his study, staring at Elara.
His dark eyes were calm.
Too calm.
"Start talking."
Elara swallowed.
"I told you… I don't remember anything."
Luca leaned against the desk.
"People don't forget the night their father dies."
Elara's chest tightened.
"I was sixteen."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"There was an accident."
Ares's voice cut through the air.
"Volkov called it something else."
The word hung between them.
Truth.
Elara closed her eyes.
She tried to remember.
But every time her mind reached that night—
Everything went blank.
Just fragments.
Rain.
Her father shouting.
A strange man inside the house.
Then darkness.
She opened her eyes again.
"I only remember waking up in a hospital."
Ares studied her carefully.
If she was lying—
He would see it.
But what he saw instead…
Was fear.
Real fear.
Luca frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
Ares spoke quietly.
"Unless someone made sure she forgot."
Elara looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Ares walked slowly around the room.
"Memory suppression."
"Drug-induced trauma."
"Psychological blocking."
Elara felt cold.
"You think someone erased my memories?"
Ares stopped in front of her.
"In my world… people erase entire identities."
Silence filled the room.
Then Luca's phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
Then at Ares.
"We just found something."
"What."
"A medical report from the hospital where Elara was treated."
Ares's eyes sharpened.
"And?"
Luca hesitated.
"According to the report… Elara wasn't just injured that night."
Elara felt her pulse race.
"What does it say?"
Luca slowly read the file.
"Patient admitted with trauma… severe shock…"
Then he stopped.
Because the last line changed everything.
"She was found at the crime scene."
Elara froze.
"Crime scene?"
Luca looked at her.
"Yes."
Ares's voice dropped.
"Your father's death wasn't an accident."
Lightning flashed outside.
Luca finished the sentence quietly.
"It was classified as a homicide investigation."
The words echoed through the room.
Elara's world shattered.
"No…"
Her breathing became uneven.
"My father… was murdered?"
Ares stared at her.
But what he was thinking was far worse.
If Elara was at the crime scene…
Then she either saw the killer.
Or—
She was part of it.
Suddenly Elara gasped.
A flash of memory exploded in her mind.
Blood on the floor.
Her father screaming.
A gun.
And a man standing in the doorway.
Tall.
Cold eyes.
The same face she had just seen tonight.
Elara whispered in horror.
"Volkov…"
Ares stepped forward.
"What did you remember?"
Her voice shook.
"He was there."
The room went completely silent.
Luca stared.
"You're sure?"
Elara nodded slowly.
"I saw him."
Ares's mind raced instantly.
Because that meant something terrifying.
If Volkov killed her father…
Why did he spend years looking for Elara?
And why did he want her alive?
Ares turned away for a moment.
Then he said quietly—
"We're missing a piece of the story."
Elara's heart pounded.
"What piece?"
Ares looked back at her.
"The reason Volkov didn't kill you that night."
Silence filled the room again.
Because that answer could change everything.
And somewhere in the city—
Damien Volkov sat inside his car, watching the rain fall.
He smiled slowly.
Because he knew something Elara didn't remember yet.
The truth about that night.
And the reason she was still alive.
~Elara finally remembered Volkov at the crime scene.
But the real question is far more dangerous…
Why did the killer let her live?