Chapter 1: The News That Broke Me

> “Elijah Vale is dead.”

That was what they said. That was what the news screamed. All over the country, people heard it. Rich boy. Private jet. No survivors. The whole plane burned in the sky.

Gone.

Just like that.

And I stood there, in my black suit, under the gray clouds, holding a black umbrella that couldn’t stop the rain or my hands from shaking.

I didn’t cry. I wanted to. I wanted to fall to the ground and scream. But my body didn’t move. My face stayed still, like stone. People came up to me, whispering sorry, hugging me like I was breakable.

But I was already broken.

Elijah Vale was my husband.

And now, he was gone.

They said there was no body. That the flames ate everything. The crash was bad. No goodbyes. Just fire and silence.

The day we buried an empty coffin, I stood beside it and felt nothing. Nothing except a big hole in my chest. Something cold and heavy.

He was everything to me.

And now, I was alone.

Three years passed.

Time didn’t help.

People said it would. They lied.

I moved away. I stopped answering calls. I stopped smiling. Sometimes I forgot what my own voice sounded like.

Every now and then, I would dream about him. I’d see his face. Hear his laugh. Wake up, reach beside me then remember.

He was gone.

My Elijah. My husband. My only home.

Then, one quiet morning, my phone rang.

I almost didn’t answer. It was a number I didn’t know.

I picked it up. I didn’t even say hello. Just waited.

A man’s voice came through.

> “I know this is going to sound crazy,” he said. “But Elijah Vale is alive.”

I laughed. Not because it was funny. Because it was cruel.

> “Don’t ever call this number again,” I said.

> “Wait,” the voice said. “I can prove it. Check your messages.”

The line cut off. My heart was beating fast, too fast.

I opened my messages. One new photo.

I clicked.

And dropped my phone.

It was him.

Elijah.

Three years older. Wearing a black suit. Sunglasses. Getting out of a black car in front of some fancy building. He looked healthy. Strong. Alive.

Too alive.

A woman stood beside him, her arm looped through his.

But it was him.

The same jaw. The same lips. Even the way he held his body. Like the world belonged to him.

I stared at the photo for hours.

Was it real? Was someone messing with me?

Or had I been grieving a man who didn’t even die?

My hands were shaking as I opened my laptop. I searched his name.

And there he was.

Elijah Vale.

Alive.

And richer than ever.

I flew to the city the next day.

I didn’t care what it cost. I didn’t sleep the night before. I didn’t even pack right.

I just needed to see him.

I needed to know it was real.

That he was real.

The building he worked at was tall, made of black glass, shining under the sun like a knife.

People walked past me, dressed in suits, holding coffee and phones, acting like the world wasn’t upside down.

I waited in the lobby. Told the front desk his name.

The woman looked at me strange. “And you are?”

> “Just tell him someone from his past is here,” I said.

She made a call. Whispered something. Then nodded toward the elevators.

> “Twenty-eighth floor.”

I got in. My hands were cold.

When the doors opened, I saw him.

He was walking out of an office. Tall. Confident. Laughing at something the man beside him said.

And then… he saw me.

He stopped.

His smile dropped.

His eyes locked on mine.

But there was nothing there.

No surprise. No emotion.

Just… nothing.

Like I was a stranger.

> “Can I help you?” he asked.

His voice.

I knew it too well.

My heart broke again.

I stepped closer.

> “Elijah,” I said. My voice was quiet. “It’s me.”

He frowned. “I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

I felt the words hit me like a slap.

> “We need to talk,” I said. “Please. Alone.”

He hesitated.

Then, slowly, he nodded.

> “Five minutes,” he said.

He turned and walked back into the office.

I followed.

Inside, the room was silent.

He closed the door and looked at me.

> “Who are you?”

I stared at him. My mouth didn’t work.

> “I’m… your husband,” I said.

He blinked. Laughed. Shook his head.

> “Excuse me?”

> “We got married four years ago,” I said. “You were in a plane crash. They said you died.”

> “I don’t remember any of that.”

I pulled a photo from my pocket. Us. Standing at the beach. Suits. Rings. Smiles.

He stared at it.

His face went blank.

> “Where did you get this?”

> “It’s real,” I said. “We were real.”

He sat down, slowly. Like his legs couldn’t hold him anymore.

> “I don’t remember anything,” he whispered. “They told me I had no family. No past.”

> “They lied,” I said. “You had me.”

The room felt small. Like it was closing in.

> “Why are you here now?” he asked.

> “Because someone called me. Said your life might be in danger.”

He looked at me. Not like a stranger now.

More like a man trying to remember a dream.

> “I think someone’s trying to erase me again,” he said.

And just like that… I knew.

Whatever was happening now it wasn’t over.

And I wasn’t leaving him again.