I stared at Malik.
His words refused to make sense.
My brother.
I looked at Dominic.
He had gone completely still.
Then I looked at Adrian.
Even he seemed surprised.
"Your brother?" I repeated.
Malik nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"Who is your brother?"
He looked away.
"His name is Daniel."
The name sent a strange chill through me.
Daniel.
I had heard that name before.
I didn't know where.
But something about it felt familiar.
"Where is he?"
Malik didn't answer.
"Malik."
"He's dead."
My heart sank.
"When?"
"Years ago."
"How?"
Malik's eyes became distant.
"He disappeared after the night you were attacked."
I stared at him.
"You said you searched for me."
"I did."
"And you never searched for him?"
"I searched for both of you."
"Both?"
He nodded.
"Daniel was there that night."
I felt dizzy.
"What did he do?"
Malik closed his eyes.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"He disappeared before we could find out."
Dominic interrupted.
"We found evidence that Daniel was working with Elena."
I turned toward him.
"Working with her?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
"To get information about your family."
My chest tightened.
"What information?"
"Your father's business."
I stared at them.
"So Daniel helped Elena?"
"We believe so," Dominic said.
"Then why would he help attack me?"
"We don't know."
"But he was there."
"Yes."
I stepped backward.
The room suddenly felt too small.
I remembered the childhood memory.
A boy holding my hand.
Don't be afraid. I'll find you.
Could that have been Daniel?
I looked at Malik.
"Was Daniel the boy who was with me that night?"
Malik hesitated.
"Yes."
My heart pounded.
"Then why did you say you were the boy?"
Malik looked confused.
"I was with you too."
"But I remember only one boy."
He went silent.
I closed my eyes.
Another memory surfaced.
A boy holding my hand.
Another boy shouting from behind us.
Two voices.
Two shadows.
Then the car.
The impact.
I opened my eyes.
"There were two of you."
Malik nodded.
"Yes."
"And Daniel was there too."
"Yes."
"Then what happened to him?"
"We don't know."
I looked down at my bracelet.
The heart-shaped charm suddenly felt heavier.
"What did Daniel look like?"
Malik stared at me.
"Why?"
"Because I think I remember him."
He stepped closer.
"What do you remember?"
"A scar."
His face changed.
"Where?"
"Above his eyebrow."
Malik's breathing stopped.
"Yes."
I touched my forehead.
"He had one here."
Malik looked at Dominic.
Dominic whispered,
"That's Daniel."
A cold silence filled the room.
Then I remembered another detail.
"He wasn't alone."
Malik frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"There was a woman."
"Elena?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"She was younger."
"Can you remember her face?"
"No."
I closed my eyes.
"She gave Daniel something."
"What?"
"A key."
Malik's expression changed.
"What kind of key?"
"I don't know."
Then suddenly—
A loud knock came from the front door.
Everyone froze.
Another knock.
Three times.
Slowly.
Malik moved toward the door.
Adrian stopped him.
"I'll check."
He walked downstairs.
We waited.
A few seconds later, Adrian returned carrying a small envelope.
"There was nobody outside."
He handed it to me.
My name was written on the front.
LINA.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My hands started shaking.
It showed Daniel.
He was older than in my memories.
Standing beside Elena.
But there was someone else in the photograph.
Someone whose face had been scratched out.
On the back were six words:
HE DIDN'T DIE THAT NIGHT.
I looked up.
"Malik."
He took the photograph.
His face went pale.
"No."
"What?"
"This is impossible."
"Why?"
"Because I saw his body."
My heart stopped.
"You saw his body?"
"Yes."
"Then why does this photograph exist?"
Malik couldn't answer.
Adrian took the photograph.
He studied it carefully.
"This photograph is recent."
Dominic stepped closer.
"How recent?"
Adrian pointed to the background.
"There is a building behind them."
"So?"
"I recognize it."
"Where?"
"Three streets from here."
My stomach tightened.
"You think Daniel is there?"
"I think someone wants us to believe he is."
Suddenly, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
"Hello?"
A man's voice came through.
Deep.
Calm.
Familiar.
"Lina."
I couldn't breathe.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it in my childhood.
I had heard it in my nightmares.
I had heard it the night I was attacked.
"Who are you?"
A quiet laugh.
"You've forgotten me."
My fingers tightened around the phone.
"Daniel?"
Silence.
Then the voice whispered,
"Good girl."
The call ended.
I stared at the screen.
Malik immediately grabbed my wrist.
"Did he say his name?"
I nodded.
"Daniel."
Malik's face drained of color.
"He's alive."
We drove to the building Adrian had identified.
Nobody spoke during the journey.
My mind was racing.
If Daniel was alive, then everything we believed about that night could be wrong.
Maybe he wasn't the attacker.
Maybe he had tried to save me.
Maybe someone had framed him.
Or maybe—
he was the person who had tried to kill me.
We arrived at the building.
It was an old apartment block.
Adrian stayed outside.
Dominic checked the entrance.
Malik and I went upstairs.
Room 17.
The door was unlocked.
Malik pushed it open.
Empty.
But someone had clearly been living there.
A coat hung behind the door.
Books sat on a table.
There were photographs scattered everywhere.
I walked toward them.
My heart stopped.
Every photograph was of me.
At different ages.
Eight years old.
Twelve.
Sixteen.
And now.
Someone had been watching me for years.
Malik picked up one photograph.
"This was taken last month."
I stared at it.
It showed me leaving school.
Someone had been following me.
Then I noticed a second photograph.
Maya was standing beside me.
And behind us…
was Daniel.
My knees almost gave way.
"He's been watching us."
Malik nodded.
"Apparently."
A noise came from the hallway.
We turned.
Footsteps.
Someone was running.
Malik rushed outside.
I followed.
We reached the stairs just in time to see a man disappear around the corner.
"Daniel!"
The man stopped.
For one second, he turned.
I saw his face.
The scar above his eyebrow.
My heart shattered.
It was him.
My childhood memory came alive.
The boy who had held my hand.
The boy who had promised to find me.
My voice trembled.
"Daniel."
He looked at me.
And smiled.
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Malik reached me seconds later.
I couldn't move.
"He's alive," I whispered.
Malik nodded.
But there was something else in his expression.
Something that frightened me.
Because Daniel hadn't looked at me like a stranger.
He had looked at me like someone who had been waiting for me to remember.
And suddenly, I knew one thing for certain.
The night I was supposed to die wasn't over.
It had only been waiting for me to remember.