Chapter 16 - A PROMISE MADE IN THE DARK|
Elena woke in a cold room with her wrists tied to a chair.
A single bulb hung from the ceiling. Water dripped somewhere beyond the walls, and the air smelled of rust and river mud.
Vincent stood beside a metal table.
“You're remarkably difficult to kill,” he said.
Elena lifted her chin.
“I'm a nurse. We tend to be stubborn.”
He smiled faintly.
“You have your father's mouth.”
“Then you remember him.”
“I remember a man who refused to understand the price of interfering.”
“You killed him.”
Vincent did not deny it.
“Your father believed truth was a sacred thing. He never understood that truth without power is merely a story someone can bury.”
“And you believe power makes you right?”
“I believe power determines who gets to speak.”
Elena looked at the ring.
“You're afraid of this.”
Vincent's smile disappeared.
“The ring contains an identification mark linking the old accounts to the ledger. Once investigators authenticate it, the case becomes much harder to dismiss.”
“Then you should have left me alone.”
“I made a mistake ten years ago. I underestimated how long a young woman could cling to a dead man's promise.”
Elena's voice trembled with anger.
“He wasn't dead.”
“No. But he was more useful to me when he believed you were.”
She stared at him.
“You knew Adrian had lost his memory.”
“I helped make certain he never recovered it.”
“Why?”
“Because a man who remembers everything may become dangerous. A man who remembers nothing can be guided.”
Vincent leaned toward her.
“Your beloved Matthew was a problem. Adrian Moretti became an asset.”
Elena felt sick.
“You didn't just separate us. You turned him into someone he never wanted to be.”
“People become what circumstances require.”
“No,” she said. “People become what they choose when circumstances give them a choice.”
Vincent studied her.
“You still believe you can save him.”
“I don't have to save him. He has to decide who he is.”
For the first time, Vincent looked unsettled.
He walked to the door and spoke to a guard.
“Prepare the transfer.”
Elena's heart raced.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere your friends cannot find you.”
She pulled against the ropes.
“You'll never get away with this.”
Vincent turned.
“Your father said the same thing.”
Then he left.
Elena lowered her head, forcing herself to breathe slowly. She examined the knots around her wrists and the metal chair beneath her. A small shard of broken glass lay near one foot, probably left by the previous occupant.
She began working her fingers toward it.
As she struggled, she remembered Adrian in the clinic, staring at the ring with genuine confusion.
She remembered the frightened young man who had once told her he did not know whether he deserved a future.
And she remembered the promise she had made to herself after he disappeared.
She would never let another person's fear decide the shape of her life.
The rope loosened.
Elena reached for the glass.
Somewhere outside, an engine started.
She had minutes, perhaps less.
She sawed at the rope until the fibers began to part.
May you like
When the door opened again, she was ready.
And this time, she would not wait for anyone to rescue her.
