Chapter 8: The Woman Who Was Never Supposed To Return
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The apartment felt frozen.
I looked from Emily to Daniel, trying to understand the impossible thing she had just said.
“She’s supposed to be dead?””
Emily didn’t answer.
Her eyes stayed locked on the figure standing outside the building.
“Emily,” I said.
My voice came out low.
“Who is that?””
Her lips parted.
But no sound came out.
Daniel stepped closer to the window.
“Sarah, move away.””
I turned toward him.
“Why?””
“Because if Emily is right, we don’t know what’s happening.””
That sentence made my stomach tighten.
Because nobody had known what was happening from the beginning.
Not Ryan.
Not Emily.
Not Daniel.
And somehow, every secret had led back to me.
I looked down again.
The woman was still standing there.
She wasn’t hiding.
She wasn’t running.
She was just watching.
Waiting.
Then her phone lifted.
A second later, mine rang.
Unknown number.
I stared at the screen.
“No.””
Daniel looked at me.
“Don’t answer.””
But I already knew.
Somehow, I knew exactly who it was.
I pressed accept.
“Hello?””
For a few seconds, there was only silence.
Then a woman’s voice.
“Sarah.””
My body went cold.
Because I knew that voice too.
“Who are you?””
A quiet laugh came through the phone.
A familiar one.
“Still asking questions you already know the answers to.””
I stepped away from everyone.
“Show yourself.””
The woman below looked directly up.
Then she said:
“I already did.””
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Emily said you were dead.””
A pause.
Then:
“Emily says a lot of things when she’s scared.””
I looked at Emily.
She looked terrified.
“Who is she?””
Emily whispered:
“Rachel.””
The name meant nothing to me.
But the reaction on everyone’s faces meant everything.
Daniel looked shocked.
Emily looked like she was seeing a ghost.
And I realized something.
There was another person in this story.
Another person everyone had kept from me.
“Who is Rachel?”” I asked.
Nobody answered.
The woman on the phone did.
“I’m the person who knows why your husband betrayed you.””
I swallowed.
“Ryan?””
“Yes.””
“Where is he?””
The woman laughed softly.
“You still worry about him.””
I hated that she was right.
“I asked where he is.””
“He’s alive.””
A strange wave of relief hit me.
Then anger followed.
“Why should I believe you?””
“Because unlike everyone else, I have no reason to protect him.””
The words bothered me.
Because they sounded true.
But truth had become impossible to recognize.
“What do you want?””
The woman looked up at the window.
“I want what Ryan stole.””
“What did he steal?””
“Everything.””
The call ended.
“Tell me who she is.””
I turned toward Emily.
This time, I didn’t ask.
I demanded.
Emily sat down.
Her hands were shaking.
“Rachel was Ryan’s first mistake.””
I frowned.
“First?””
Emily nodded.
“Before me.””
Daniel crossed his arms.
“How do you know about her?””
Emily looked at him.
“Because she contacted me.””
I stared.
“When?””
“After Ryan started seeing me.””
“So you knew about her?””
“No.””
Emily looked ashamed.
“She told me after.””
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“There was another woman?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Sarah…”
“No.””
I shook my head.
“No more protecting me.””
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Emily.
“Tell me.””
She took a deep breath.
“Rachel worked with Ryan years ago.””
“What kind of relationship?””
Emily hesitated.
“A professional one.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“She helped him.””
“With what?””
“Money.””
Again.
Money.
Everything came back to money.
“What was Ryan doing?””
Emily looked at Daniel.
Then back at me.
“He was stealing.””
The word felt heavier this time.
Not because I was surprised.
Because I was finally accepting it.
“How?””
“He created fake contracts.””
“For what?””
“To move money through different accounts.””
I stared.
“And Rachel helped him?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because they were together.””
The room went silent.
My head started spinning.
Ryan.
Jessica.
Emily.
Rachel.
How many versions of him existed?
“How did it end?””
Emily’s expression changed.
“Rachel found out Ryan was planning to leave her too.””
I frowned.
“Leave her?””
“Yes.””
“For Jessica?””
Emily nodded.
“He kept replacing people when they became inconvenient.””
The sentence stayed with me.
Because it sounded exactly like him.
“What happened to Rachel?””
Emily looked toward the window.
“She disappeared.””
“And everyone thought she died?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Emily looked at me.
“Because Ryan told everyone she did.””
I felt sick.
Ryan had built entire stories.
Entire realities.
And people believed him.
Because he was good at making himself the victim.
The man who was betrayed.
The man who was confused.
The man who made mistakes.
But maybe he had always been the person controlling everything.
My phone rang again.
This time, it was Daniel’s phone.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“What?””
I looked at him.
“Who is it?””
He didn’t answer.
“Daniel.””
Slowly, he turned the phone toward me.
A message.
From Ryan.
*She knows. Get Sarah out now.*
My heart dropped.
“He’s warning us.””
Daniel nodded.
Then another message appeared.
This one came immediately after.
*But don’t trust Daniel. He was involved from the beginning.*
Everyone became silent.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked back at me.
And suddenly, I didn’t know what to believe.
Not again.
Not another person.
Not another betrayal.
“Sarah.””
Daniel stepped closer.
I raised my hand.
“Don’t.””
His expression hurt.
“You don’t believe him.””
“I don’t know what to believe.””
“That’s fair.””
I looked at him.
The fact that he accepted it made it worse.
“Tell me the truth.””
“I have.””
“No.””
My voice broke.
“You have told me pieces.””
Daniel looked down.
“And I need the whole thing.””
The police arrived twenty minutes later.
Daniel had called them after Rachel left.
But when officers checked the street, she was gone.
No car.
No person.
Nothing.
Like she had never existed.
Exactly like everyone wanted me to believe.
Before leaving, one officer handed Daniel a small plastic evidence bag.
“We found this near the building entrance.””
Daniel took it.
Inside was a key.
A small silver key attached to a tag.
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
Because it was mine.
“What is that?””
Daniel looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
But his face said he did.
I took the bag from him.
The tag had one word.
*Sarah.*
My heart started racing.
“Where did this come from?””
Nobody answered.
Then my phone buzzed.
Another unknown number.
A video file.
No message.
Just a video.
I opened it.
The screen showed a room.
A dark room.
Then a man appeared.
Ryan.
My breath stopped.
He looked injured.
Scared.
But alive.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Sarah.””
I turned the volume up.
“If you’re watching this, it means they found out.””
My hands started shaking.
Ryan continued.
“I know you don’t trust me.””
A bitter smile crossed his face.
“You shouldn’t.””
The honesty shocked me.
“But there’s something you need to know.””
He leaned closer to the camera.
“The accident wasn’t meant to kill me.””
I held my breath.
“It was meant to scare me.””
The video glitched.
Then Ryan said:
“Because I found out who was really behind everything.””
The screen froze.
A few seconds later, the final image appeared.
A photograph.
A person standing beside Ryan before the accident.
I stared.
Because I recognized the person.
And this time, there was no denying it.
The person in the photograph was someone I had trusted more than anyone.
Someone who had been helping me uncover the truth.
Someone who had been standing beside me through every revelation.
Daniel.
May you like
And beneath the photograph was a message.
*Ask him why he let Ryan live.*
