Chapter 8: The Man Who Was Always Beside Me
I read the words again.
*He was there too.*
Four words.
Four words that changed the shape of every memory I had.
Daniel.
My driver.
My assistant’s trusted recommendation.
The man who had worked beside me for eight years.
The man who knew my schedule.
My habits.
My security routines.
The man who had been sitting only a few feet away when I found my mother on the street.
I looked at Elena.
“That’s not possible.””
My voice sounded like I was trying to convince myself.
Elena watched me carefully.
“Lucienne.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“Daniel has been with me for years.””
“That doesn’t mean you know him.””
The sentence hurt because it sounded exactly like something I would have said in a boardroom.
Never trust what people show you.
Look at what they hide.
But I had never applied that rule to him.
Because Daniel was different.
Or I thought he was.
“He saved my life once.””
Elena’s expression softened.
“That’s how people gain trust.””
I looked away.
“No.””
The word came out stronger.
“He’s not like that.””
Elena didn’t argue.
She just looked at the photograph.
“Then answer one question.””
“What?””
“Why was your driver at the cliff the night I disappeared?””
I froze.
“What?””
Elena pointed to the date.
“The person in this picture wasn’t just there.””
She tapped the photograph.
“He was the one who helped Victor move everything.””
My heartbeat increased.
“But Daniel would have been a child.””
“No.””
Her answer was immediate.
I stared at her.
“What?””
“He wasn’t a child.””
The warehouse suddenly felt smaller.
“How old was he?””
Elena looked at the photograph.
“Twenty-six.””
My stomach dropped.
Daniel was forty-nine now.
The age matched.
But my mind still rejected it.
Because Daniel wasn’t just an employee.
He was someone I trusted with everything.
My company schedules.
My travel plans.
My personal information.
Everything.
“Why would he work for me?””
Elena’s expression became serious.
“Because Victor couldn’t control you from a distance.””
I felt a chill.
“He needed someone close.””
The pieces began moving.
Slowly.
Painfully.
The warnings.
The messages.
The photograph.
Someone had known exactly where I was.
Someone had access.
Someone close.
My phone.
My office.
My schedule.
My life.
I looked at the photograph again.
“What was Daniel’s name twenty-five years ago?””
Elena hesitated.
“Daniel Cross.””
I swallowed.
That was his name.
The same name on every employee record.
Every background check.
Every contract.
No hidden identity.
No changed name.
Just a man who had been right beside me the entire time.
My phone rang.
I looked down.
Daniel.
The timing was too perfect.
Elena noticed.
“Don’t answer.””
I stared at the screen.
For years, Daniel had answered every call from me within seconds.
He knew when I was stressed.
He knew when I needed silence.
He knew when to bring coffee without asking.
A person who knew you that well could either protect you…
Or destroy you.
The phone stopped ringing.
A message appeared.
*Ms. Vale, are you safe? I lost track of you.*
I stared at it.
Elena leaned closer.
“Reply.””
I looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because we need to know what he thinks you know.””
My fingers hovered over the screen.
Then I typed:
*I’m fine. I found something interesting tonight.*
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
The reply came.
*What did you find?*
I showed Elena.
She nodded.
“Ask him about the photograph.””
I typed.
*I found an old picture. You were in it.*
The message stayed unread.
For almost a minute.
Then:
*What picture?*
Elena’s eyes narrowed.
“He’s lying.””
“How do you know?””
“Because if he had no idea what you were talking about, he would ask which picture.””
I looked at the screen.
The response was careful.
Too careful.
I typed one more message.
*The one from the night Elena disappeared.*
This time, there was no immediate response.
And that silence said everything.
My heart sank.
Because silence from Daniel had always meant one thing.
He was thinking.
Calculating.
The same way I did.
Finally, the phone buzzed.
*Come back to the office. We need to talk.*
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because I couldn’t believe it.
Even now.
Even after everything.
He was still trying to control where the conversation happened.
“No,” I whispered.
Elena looked at me.
“What?””
“He wants me to go back.””
“Of course he does.””
I put the phone down.
“What do we do?””
Elena studied me.
And for the first time, I saw something I recognized.
The same determination I had seen in myself.
“We make him believe we know less than we do.””
I nodded.
A plan.
Something familiar.
Something I understood.
For twenty-five years, other people had been making moves around me.
Now it was my turn.
I looked at Elena.
“Tell me everything.””
She took a deep breath.
“After the cliff incident, I survived.””
“How?””
“I wasn’t inside the car.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“Victor wanted everyone to believe I died.””
She looked down.
“But someone helped me escape.””
“Who?””
Her expression changed.
“Your father.””
I froze.
“Dad?””
“Yes.””
“But he told me he didn’t know what happened.””
“He didn’t know everything.””
Elena looked toward the dark warehouse.
“After he was attacked, he found me injured but alive.””
My mind raced.
“Then why did he think you were dead?””
“Because I told him to.””
“Why?””
“Because Victor was still looking.””
I understood.
“You wanted him to believe you were gone.””
“Yes.””
“And Mom?””
Elena’s eyes filled.
“That was the hardest part.””
“What happened?””
“She found out.””
My chest tightened.
“She knew you were alive?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t she tell me?””
Elena looked away.
“Because she was protecting you.””
I closed my eyes.
The same sentence again.
Protecting me.
But this time, it carried a different weight.
Because now I knew my mother hadn’t just abandoned me.
She had been fighting a war I never saw.
Still, there was one thing I couldn’t ignore.
“She still chose to leave.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Elena’s voice softened.
“Because Victor made her choose.””
“Choose what?””
“Your life or hers.””
The answer hurt.
But it made sense.
My mother had not walked away because she stopped loving me.
She walked away because she believed staying would put a target on my back.
I looked down.
For twenty-five years, I had hated a woman who had been trying to save me.
But she had also made choices that broke me.
Both things could be true.
A sound interrupted us.
Footsteps.
My body immediately reacted.
Elena turned off the light.
The warehouse became dark.
Someone entered.
Slow.
Confident.
Not afraid.
My hand moved toward my phone.
Elena whispered:
“Don’t move.””
The footsteps got closer.
Closer.
Then a familiar voice echoed through the building.
“Lucienne.””
My blood froze.
Daniel.
“I know you’re here.””
Elena’s face hardened.
He wasn’t searching.
He knew.
Daniel stepped into the light.
His expression was calm.
Almost gentle.
The same expression he wore every morning when he opened the car door for me.
“Ms. Vale.””
I stared at him.
“Daniel.””
He looked at Elena.
Then back at me.
And sighed.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t find her.””
My heart sank.
Not because he admitted it.
Because he sounded disappointed.
Not surprised.
I stepped forward.
“Who are you?””
Daniel looked at me for a long moment.
Then slowly removed his jacket.
Underneath his shirt was a small scar near his shoulder.
A scar I remembered.
A scar from a story he once told me.
A childhood accident.
Except now I wondered if it was something else.
“You really don’t remember.””
I frowned.
“Remember what?””
His expression changed.
And then he said the one thing that made Elena step backward.
The one thing that made my entire childhood rearrange itself.
“Twenty-five years ago, Lucienne…”
May you like
He looked at the bracelet on my wrist.
“I was the person your mother begged to save you.””
