The room felt heavier after he left.
Like the air itself carried his presence.
Luna stood still, her mind refusing to process what just happened.
"He knows me…" she said slowly. "And you know him."
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
That hesitation—
Said enough.
"Ethan," her voice sharpened, "stop doing this. No half-truths. Not anymore."
He looked at her, long and steady. Then finally—
"His name is Adrian."
The name hit her like something distant… familiar… but incomplete.
"…Adrian," she repeated softly.
A faint pressure built in her head again.
Ethan noticed. "Don't force it."
But it was too late.
A flash—
Rain.
A streetlight flickering.
A silhouette standing beside her.
A voice—calm, almost gentle.
"Trust me."
Luna gasped and grabbed her head. "Ah—!"
Ethan moved instantly, holding her shoulders.
"Luna!"
Her breathing turned uneven. "I… I heard him…"
"What did he say?"
Her eyes trembled. "He told me to trust him…"
Ethan's jaw tightened.
Of course he did.
Luna slowly steadied herself, but her grip on Ethan's shirt didn't loosen.
"…Who is he to me?" she asked.
That question—
Was the one Ethan had been avoiding the most.
Silence stretched.
Too long.
Luna looked up at him. "Don't tell me… you don't know."
"I know," he said quietly.
"Then say it."
Ethan hesitated for a fraction of a second… then—
"He was close to your father."
Her brows furrowed. "That's it?"
"No."
Her heart started racing again.
"He wasn't just someone your father knew," Ethan continued.
"He was always around you."
Something inside her dropped.
"Around… me?"
Ethan nodded slightly.
"You trusted him."
Her fingers tightened unconsciously.
"No…" she whispered.
But the fragments—
They were already breaking through.
A faint memory of laughter.
Of someone walking beside her.
Of a presence that didn't feel like a stranger.
Her breathing got heavier.
"…Why can't I remember clearly?"
Ethan looked at her, serious.
"Because something made you forget."
Silence.
Cold.
Unsettling.
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't just lose your memory randomly," he said.
"It was forced."
Her eyes widened.
"…That's not possible."
"It is."
She stepped back slightly, shaking her head. "No… memory doesn't just disappear like that…"
"Unless someone makes it."
The words hit harder than anything else.
Luna felt her chest tighten.
"So you're saying… someone erased my past?"
Ethan didn't deny it.
"That night wasn't just an accident," he said.
"It was the end of something… and the beginning of a cover-up."
Her mind spun.
"And Adrian?" she asked.
Ethan's gaze darkened.
"He was part of it."
Her breath caught.
"…Part of what?"
Ethan stepped closer, his voice lowering.
"Whatever your father was involved in."
Silence filled the room again.
But this time—
It felt like the ground beneath her was breaking.
"My father…" she whispered. "What did he do?"
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
Because the truth—
Wasn't simple.
And once she heard it—
There was no going back.
Luna looked at him, her eyes filled with confusion and fear.
"I deserve to know," she said.
He studied her face.
The determination.
The fear.
The strength.
Then finally—
"You do."
A pause.
"But not all at once."
Frustration flashed in her eyes. "Ethan—"
"If I tell you everything now," he interrupted calmly, "you won't be able to handle it."
That stung.
"I'm not weak," she said.
"I know."
His voice softened slightly.
"That's exactly why I'm being careful."
Silence.
Her anger faded… just a little.
"…Then start somewhere," she said quietly.
Ethan nodded once.
"Your father wasn't just an ordinary man."
Her heartbeat quickened again.
"He worked with people who don't exist on records."
A chill ran down her spine.
"And Adrian?"
Ethan's eyes turned cold
"He was one of them."
Luna froze.
Because now—
The past wasn't just unclear.
It was dangerous.
And the person who just walked into her life again—
Was never a stranger.