The moment Malik's car pulled away from the house, I looked down at the folded paper Adrian had given me.
I hadn't opened it.
I was afraid of what I might find.
For the first time in my life, I understood that a name could change everything.
My mother's name had already changed.
My father's name had become a lie.
And now Adrian was giving me another name—the person who had ordered Samuel's death.
Malik glanced at me.
"You don't have to read it yet."
"Yes, I do."
"You should wait until we're somewhere safe."
I looked at him.
"Is there anywhere safe anymore?"
He didn't answer.
I unfolded the paper.
There was only one name.
ELENA VALE.
My breath caught.
I read it again.
Then again.
"No."
Malik looked at me.
"What?"
I handed him the paper.
His eyes dropped to the name.
He said nothing.
"You knew."
"No."
"Don't lie to me."
"I didn't know Adrian would write her name."
"But you're not surprised."
Malik folded the paper slowly.
"I suspected."
My heart sank.
"Why?"
"Because Elena had access to Samuel."
"And?"
"And she was the last person seen with him."
I stared through the windshield.
"So she killed him."
"Not necessarily."
"What do you mean?"
Malik sighed.
"Ordering a death and carrying it out aren't always the same thing."
I thought of Daniel.
The boy who had been blamed.
The man who had carried guilt for years.
"Daniel."
Malik nodded.
"Elena could have ordered it. Daniel could have been manipulated into doing it."
"But Daniel said he didn't know who Samuel was."
"Exactly."
I closed my eyes.
My entire life was beginning to look like a carefully constructed lie.
"Then why did my mother trust Elena?"
"Because they were once sisters in everything but blood."
I turned toward him.
"What happened between them?"
"Samuel."
My stomach tightened.
"They both loved him?"
"No."
Malik paused.
"Your mother loved him. Elena loved your mother."
I frowned.
"What?"
"She considered your mother family."
"Then why betray her?"
"Because Elena believed your mother had chosen Samuel over her."
I stared at him.
"That doesn't make sense."
"People don't always betray others because they hate them."
He looked at me.
"Sometimes they betray the people they love because they're afraid of losing them."
I didn't know what to say.
We drove for several minutes before Malik turned onto a quiet road.
The old apartment building appeared ahead.
I immediately recognized it.
I had never been there as an adult.
But something inside me remembered.
The red door.
The dark hallway.
The smell of smoke.
My stomach turned.
"This is it."
Malik parked.
I stared at the building.
"Samuel died here."
"Yes."
"And my mother hid my birth certificate here."
"Yes."
I opened the door.
Malik grabbed my arm.
"Lina."
I looked at him.
"If anything happens, run."
"I won't leave you."
His eyes softened.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
We entered.
The building was abandoned.
Dust covered the floor.
Broken lights hung from the ceiling.
Every step echoed.
I suddenly felt like a child again.
Then I saw it.
The red door.
My heart stopped.
"That's the door."
Malik looked at it.
"What?"
"The door from my dreams."
He stared at me.
"You've dreamed about this place?"
"For years."
I walked toward it.
My hand reached for the handle.
Locked.
I remembered the silver key.
I pulled it from my pocket.
Malik watched.
"Where did you get that?"
"Victor."
His face changed.
"Lina…"
I inserted the key.
Click.
The door opened.
A cold breeze touched my face.
Inside was a small room.
There was an old wooden desk.
A chair.
A dusty lamp.
And photographs.
Hundreds of them.
My mother.
Samuel.
Elena.
Daniel.
Malik.
Adrian.
And me.
I walked toward the desk.
There was a small box sitting on it.
My name was written across the lid.
LINA.
My fingers trembled.
I opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
My heart raced.
I picked it up.
The name of my mother was there.
But beneath it—
The father's name was different.
I read it.
And everything inside me went silent.
SAMUEL GRANT.
I couldn't breathe.
Samuel was my father.
The man I had been told was someone else.
The man who had died protecting me.
My biological father.
Tears blurred the page.
"I knew it."
Malik stood behind me.
I turned toward him.
"My mother didn't lie about Samuel."
"No."
"She lied about who my father was."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Before he could answer, I noticed another paper beneath the birth certificate.
I pulled it out.
It was a letter.
My mother's handwriting.
I began reading.
Lina,
If you have found this, then the truth has finally reached you. Samuel was your father, but he was not the only person who protected you.
I swallowed.
Your father died because he discovered that Elena had made a deal with the people hunting our family.
I looked at Malik.
My hands trembled.
I continued.
But Elena did not act alone.
My heart pounded.
There was someone inside our home who gave her information. Someone who knew every place I hid you. Someone who knew when you were alone.
I stopped.
Someone inside our home.
I slowly looked around the room.
"Malik…"
He came closer.
"What?"
I handed him the letter.
He read it.
His face changed.
"What?"
He didn't answer.
"Malik, what does it say?"
He looked at me.
"Your mother suspected someone in the family."
"Who?"
Before he could answer, a sound came from behind us.
The door slammed shut.
I screamed.
Malik spun around.
Someone was standing in the corner.
A woman.
Her face was hidden beneath a hood.
She stepped forward.
Then she pulled the hood away.
I stopped breathing.
I knew her.
She had been in my childhood memories.
She had been standing beside my mother in old photographs.
And she had been presumed dead.
"Grace?"
The woman smiled through her tears.
"Yes, Lina."
My hands began shaking.
"But you're dead."
Grace slowly shook her head.
"No."
She looked at the birth certificate in my hand.
"I was never dead."
Then she looked at Malik.
"Your mother sent me here to tell you the truth."
I swallowed.
"What truth?"
Grace's face became serious.
"The person who betrayed your mother wasn't Elena."
My heart stopped.
"Then who was it?"
Grace looked directly at me.
"Your father."