Ava's POV
The days had blurred into each other.
She didn't know how long it had been—not really. Time didn't flow in Raiden's mansion. The sun poured through tinted glass in hues of silver and gold, but it was all artificial—beautiful and cold.
Just like the man who kept her locked inside.
Ava sat curled on the velvet chaise, her wrists bruised from the cuffs that were now removed, but her ankles bore faint red marks instead. Raiden claimed it was "for her safety." She didn't believe a word of it.
Yet—she wasn't idle.
Because her memories weren't idle either.
They were starting to talk.
Every time she closed her eyes, flickers of her childhood danced behind her lids—some too vague to grasp, others so vivid they stole her breath.
A storm.
A bleeding hand.
A man whispering her name—Ava… don't forget me.
Then, the most confusing of all:
He turned.
And she saw it.
The same eyes.
Not cold like now.
But broken.
Wa.. Was it Dominic?
She shot up, breathless.
Was that real?
Was Dominic part of that memory?
Raiden had said he erased her memories.
And he had sounded insane.
But now?
Her heart ached.
Because those fragments matched the dreams she'd had since childhood—the ones she thought were just… nightmares.
She stood shakily, ignoring the pain in her legs. She'd been eating—Raiden saw to that—but she was still weak. Her body hadn't fully recovered from the earlier drugging. But she couldn't afford to be weak.
Because Raiden would return.
And she was no damsel waiting for rescue.
She moved to the bookshelf near the window, scanning spines. Something had changed. Raiden trusted her just enough to leave her unchained for hours now. There had to be something—some way to escape.
Behind the fourth row, she noticed something strange.
A slim gap behind the books.
She tugged carefully.
The shelf clicked.
Her eyes widened.
A hidden hinge.
A secret compartment?
No.
—A hidden passage.
She stared into the narrow shadowed hallway that had just revealed itself. It smelled of dust and aged wood.
Her heart thundered.
This was it.
A chance.
Her chance.
But she couldn't take it yet. Not without a plan. Not without strength.
Because Raiden was obsessed—and obsessions didn't end kindly.
She would wait one more day.
Just one.
Let him lower his guard.
Let him believe she was adjusting.
And then—she'd take back what was stolen.
Her memory.
Her freedom.
And maybe… just maybe… the truth about Dominic Vale.
---
The room was silent except for the rhythmic clacking of keys.
Data streams ran across the screen—surveillance clips, decoded messages, old security reports from cities long abandoned.
Dominic leaned against the desk, arms folded, face sharp with concentration.
Fingers flew over the keyboard, each keystroke sharp and deliberate. The screen's glow reflected in his narrowed eyes, brows furrowed in unyielding concentration. Code streamed like rain. He barely blinked, sifting through lines of encrypted data, chasing the one fragment that could shatter the silence—the clue.
Behind him, Stefan and Markus stood still, waiting for the storm that was building inside him to erupt.
It had been hours since Ava's abduction.
They were tracing every digital trail Raiden had left behind. And now, finally, they had something.
"Sir," Markus said, voice low. "We found something."
Dominic turned sharply.
Markus clicked the remote. A blurred surveillance image came up on the projector screen—dark hood, gloved hands—but the angle didn't matter. The posture. The gait. That unmistakable stillness after movement.
"It's him," Dominic said grimly.
"Raiden," Stefan confirmed.
But what chilled Dominic wasn't just the confirmation of Raiden's involvement.
It was the location metadata.
The mansion.
Not just any mansion.
The mansion.
The same one Dominic had erased from every database. The same mansion that was supposed to be demolished years ago.
The place where he lost—
He exhaled sharply, shutting that thought out.
"Tell me that's not just a coincidence," Stefan said quietly.
Dominic's hands tightened into fists at his sides. "It's not."
They knew now.
Ava's abduction wasn't random.
And Raiden's twisted obsession wasn't recent.
It went back.
To that night.
To the fire.
To his brother's bloodied hands reaching for him and never finding hold.
That night had destroyed everything.
His innocence.
His family.
And—perhaps—Ava.
He didn't know how yet.
But her presence, her dreams, the shattered fragments in her eyes when she'd faltered… they weren't imagination.
They were remnants of something buried too deep.
Too carefully.
And now, Raiden was dragging it all back.
Dominic turned to face his team.
"We leave in two hours," he ordered. "Prepare everything. Tactical units. Ground support. I want eyes on that mansion before I set foot there."
He began to walk out of the room, then stopped midway.
"I want it sealed from every side," he added, without turning around. "This time… I'm ending this."
"And her?" Stefan asked carefully. "Do you think she remembers anything yet?"
Dominic paused.
He ran a hand through his hair.
The mask of calm faltered for a moment, revealing the truth underneath.
"She must be remebering things," he said under his breath.
There was a heaviness to his voice—sorrow? Guilt?
"Raiden wouldn't take her there unless he wanted something from her," Dominic murmured.
Then quietly, so low only he could hear:
"Looks like even I… can't keep your memories forever hidden."
Back in the Mansion
The day was quiet again.
Too quiet.
Ava sat curled up by the window. Her hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders, her wrists bare but still stinging from invisible restraints.
But her mind was sharp.
Sharper than ever.
The fragments came more clearly now.
That mansion.
She knew this place.
The hallway that creaked.
The scent of lilies in the east wing.
The garden where the fountain never worked.
She had lived here once.
She was sure of it.
And in the flickering dark corners of her memories—there were three boys. One with fire in his voice. One always running ahead. And one who always looked back to protect her.
But in the chaos, one of them always disappeared in blood and smoke.
She couldn't remember his name.
But the other—
His eyes.
They were Dominic's.
She clutched her head, gasping. The pain was unbearable. Like her skull was tearing apart to reveal things that had been locked away for too long.
"You remember something, don't you?"
She froze.
Raiden stood near the doorway, watching her with that soft, insane smile.
"You used to run around this mansion," he said. "Your laugh echoed in every hall."
Her voice cracked. "Why are you doing this?"
He knelt in front of her.
"To bring you back to where you belong."
She flinched at his touch, but he only chuckled.
"You've always belonged to this story, Ava. You just forgot. He made you forget. Dominic Vale took you away."
She stared at him, trembling.