Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN IN THE GREEN COAT
Nobody moved.
The voice came from the private corridor.
Adrien raised one hand.
Every guard froze.
“Don't shoot,” he said.
The lights came back.
The corridor was empty.
But something had been left on the floor.
A dark green coat.
I stared at it.
“That was hers.”
Adrien looked at me.
“Whose?”
“The woman from the hospital.”
He approached the coat carefully.
There was a small silver button near the collar.
My fingers began trembling.
“I remember that.”
Adrien looked inside the pocket.
A child's hospital bracelet fell out.
My name was printed on it.
Lena Hart. Age 7.
Underneath was another name.
Guardian: Alessandra Viscari.
Adrien stared at it.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You know her?”
“My father's sister.”
“But Marcus said she was his aunt.”
Adrien nodded.
“Alessandra was supposed to be dead.”
“Supposed to?”
“She disappeared after my father's death.”
He looked at the bracelet again.
“She vanished the same night you were hospitalized.”
My chest tightened.
“Why would she be my guardian?”
Adrien didn't answer.
Marcus finally spoke.
“Because she wasn't protecting you from Viscari.”
Adrien turned.
“Then what?”
“She was protecting you from your mother.”
I felt dizzy.
“You keep saying that.”
Marcus looked at me.
“Because it's true.”
Adrien grabbed his arm.
“Explain.”
Marcus pulled free.
“Your mother wasn't innocent, Lena.”
I wanted to scream.
“She was a nurse.”
“She was also the only person who knew where your father hid the records.”
“What records?”
Marcus looked at Adrien.
“Your family's records.”
Adrien went silent.
His family had always been surrounded by rumors.
Money.
Politics.
Organized crime.
But I had never understood how my mother could possibly be connected.
Then Adrien noticed something sewn into the coat.
A tiny red thread.
He cut it.
A folded piece of paper fell out.
There was only one sentence.
The girl survived because the father chose her.
Adrien stared at it.
“Father chose her.”
I looked at him.
“Why would your father choose me?”
“That's what I intend to find out.”
A sound came from the hallway.
One of Adrien's guards returned.
“Boss, Marcus's car was searched.”
“And?”
“We found a second photograph.”
He handed it over.
Adrien looked at it.
Then gave it to me.
It showed my mother standing beside a younger Adrien.
I stared.
“I've never seen this.”
Adrien frowned.
“I don't remember it.”
My mother had her hand on his shoulder.
Adrien looked about ten years old.
On the back was a date.
September 14, 2004.
I whispered, “I was there that day.”
Adrien looked at me.
“You remember?”
“Pieces.”
I closed my eyes.
A garden.
A fountain.
My mother crying.
A little boy hiding behind a tree.
Then a man's voice.
“Take Lena.”
My eyes opened.
“I remember your father.”
Adrien went completely still.
“What did he say?”
“He told someone to take me.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“He was saving her.”
Adrien looked at him.
“From what?”
Marcus hesitated.
“From the fire.”
I stared.
“What fire?”
Marcus swallowed.
“The Hart house burned that night.”
My stomach dropped.
“My childhood home?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“The fire happened years later.”
“No.”
Marcus looked at me.
“That is what they told you.”
Adrien's expression became darker.
“The official report says the fire happened in 2009.”
Marcus nodded.
“It happened in 2004.”
I couldn't breathe.
Five years had been erased.
Five years of my life.
Five years I remembered differently.
Adrien placed his hand gently on my shoulder.
“Lena.”
I looked at him.
“You weren't seven when your mother died.”
“What?”
“You were twelve.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“No.”
“You were twelve when the house burned.”
Marcus looked down.
“And that's why someone has been watching you ever since.”
Adrien's phone vibrated.
He answered.
“Talk.”
His expression changed.
“What do you mean missing?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“Your medical file.”
My stomach tightened.
“What about it?”
“It disappeared from the hospital archive tonight.”
Adrien ended the call.
A guard entered.
“Boss.”
He handed Adrien a sealed envelope.
“There was one thing left behind.”
Adrien opened it.
Inside was a child's drawing.
A house surrounded by flames.
A little girl standing outside.
And a black car parked across the street.
I recognized the handwriting.
Mine.
May you like
On the back were four words.
Daddy said don't trust Mom.
