CHAPTER 12 THE MAN WHO CAME BACK

Miyaka couldn't move.

She simply stared at him.

Moises.

The name echoed inside her head.

The name she had whispered beneath the old tree.

The name she had written in letters that were never answered.

The name she had carried through every birthday, every race, every lonely night.

Moises.

He was standing in front of her.

Alive.

Older.

Different.

But still him.

The same eyes.

The same quiet way of looking at her.

The same small crease between his eyebrows whenever he was worried.

Miyaka's lips trembled.

“You're really him.”

Moises said nothing.

“Say it.”

His jaw tightened.

“Miyaka…”

“Say it!”

He finally looked directly into her eyes.

“Yes.”

Her breath caught.

“You're Moises Laurent.”

“Yes.”

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“You came back.”

Moises looked at her tear.

For years, he had imagined this moment.

He had imagined running toward her.

Holding her.

Apologizing.

Telling her everything.

He had imagined saying the words he had been carrying since childhood.

I never forgot you.

But reality was different.

Because now that he was standing in front of her, all he could think about was the danger surrounding them.

Someone had brought them here.

Someone was watching.

And Victor knew.

Moises stepped closer.

“Miyaka, we need to leave.”

She didn't move.

“No.”

“Miyaka—”

“No.”

Her voice broke.

“You don't get to say that.”

He stopped.

“You disappeared.”

“I know.”

“You promised me.”

“I know.”

“I waited.”

Moises closed his eyes.

“I know.”

“You don't know!”

She pushed his chest.

“You don't know what it was like!”

He allowed her to push him again.

“You weren't there when everyone kept asking me where you went!”

Another push.

“You weren't there when I kept looking at the school gate!”

Another.

“You weren't there when I kept going under that tree because I thought maybe one day you'd come back!”

Her voice cracked.

“I wasn't there because I wasn't allowed to be.”

She froze.

“What does that mean?”

Moises looked away.

“It means I didn't leave because I wanted to.”

“Then why?”

“I can't tell you.”

Her expression hardened.

“Again?”

“Miyaka…”

“You disappeared when we were children. You sent one letter. Then nothing.”

“I sent more.”

“What?”

Moises fell silent.

Miyaka stared at him.

“What did you say?”

“I wrote to you.”

“How many?”

“Every year.”

Her eyes widened.

“Every year?”

He nodded.

“Every birthday.”

Miyaka shook her head.

“I never received them.”

“I know.”

“How?”

“Because I kept asking.”

“Who?”

“My family.”

Her face changed.

“Your family?”

Moises looked toward the dark street.

“Not here.”

“Then where?”

“Anywhere but here.”

She folded her arms.

“You're still trying to protect me.”

“Yes.”

“From Victor?”

Moises hesitated.

“Yes.”

“Who is he?”

“Someone my family has been fighting for years.”

“And what does he want with me?”

Moises didn't answer.

“Moises.”

He looked at her.

“He wants me.”

Miyaka frowned.

“What?”

“He knows you're important to me.”

She stared at him.

“And that's enough?”

“For someone like Victor…”

Moises stepped closer.

“…it's everything.”

Silence fell between them.

Miyaka looked at him carefully.

“So you came back because of me?”

Moises swallowed.

“I came back because I never stopped looking for you.”

Her eyes filled with tears again.

“Then why did you pretend not to know me?”

He looked down.

“Because the moment I admitted who you were…”

He paused.

“…you became a target.”

Miyaka whispered,

“I was already a target.”

Moises' eyes lifted.

“What?”

She remembered the messages.

The warnings.

The black vehicle.

The strange feeling of being watched.

“You said someone was watching us.”

“Yes.”

“Was it Victor?”

“I don't know.”

“But you know he's looking for me.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Moises didn't answer immediately.

Because the truth was complicated.

It wasn't just Victor.

It was the old conflict.

The Laurent family.

The Reyes family.

Hotel Marcella.

The fire.

The missing records.

And the secret that had followed both families for decades.

But Miyaka wasn't ready for that.

Not yet.

“I need you to trust me,” he said.

She laughed bitterly.

“Trust you?”

“I know I don't deserve it.”

“You're right.”

He accepted it.

“I know.”

Miyaka wiped her tears.

“Then don't ask me to trust you.”

Moises nodded.

“Okay.”

“Tell me the truth instead.”

He looked at her.

“I will.”

“When?”

“When it's safe.”

She shook her head.

“You're still deciding what's best for me.”

“I have to.”

“No.”

She stepped closer.

“You don't.”

Moises stared at her.

“You disappeared once because someone decided what was best for us.”

Her voice softened.

“Don't make the same mistake twice.”

Those words hurt more than anything.

Moises looked away.

For a moment, he wasn't the billionaire CEO.

He wasn't the Laurent heir.

He wasn't the man surrounded by security and power.

He was simply the little boy who had promised a girl beneath a tree that he would return.

“I was afraid,” he admitted.

Miyaka's eyes softened.

“Of what?”

“Losing you.”

She frowned.

“You already lost me.”

“No.”

His voice was quiet.

“I lost years with you.”

He looked at her.

“But I never lost you.”

Miyaka couldn't answer.

Then—

A sound came from across the street.

A car engine.

Moises immediately turned.

The black SUV was gone.

But he knew someone had been there.

His expression darkened.

“We're leaving.”

This time, Miyaka didn't argue.

---

THE NEXT MORNING

Miyaka sat on the edge of her bed.

She hadn't slept.

Her phone lay beside her.

On the screen was a photograph.

Moises.

She had secretly taken it before leaving.

She zoomed in.

His face was older.

His hair was different.

His shoulders broader.

But she knew him.

She knew those eyes.

She knew that smile.

She knew him.

“Moises…”

Her voice trembled.

Four years.

No.

More than four.

She had spent half her life waiting.

And now he was back.

But instead of happiness, she felt afraid.

Because the man who came back wasn't the boy who left.

He carried secrets.

Danger.

And a name that seemed to frighten powerful people.

Her phone suddenly rang.

Jason.

She answered.

“Hello?”

“Where were you last night?”

Miyaka's eyes narrowed.

“How did you know I went somewhere?”

Jason became silent.

“Jason.”

“I knew you shouldn't have gone.”

“You knew?”

“I knew something was wrong.”

“You knew about Moises.”

Silence.

Miyaka sat upright.

“You knew he was coming back.”

Jason exhaled.

“Miyaka…”

“You knew!”

“I didn't know he would meet you last night.”

“But you knew he was alive.”

Jason didn't answer.

That was enough.

Miyaka's heart sank.

“Everyone knew except me.”

“That's not true.”

“You promised him.”

“Yes.”

“You promised him you'd protect me.”

“Yes.”

“But who was protecting me from all of you?”

Jason closed his eyes.

“I was trying.”

“Trying isn't enough.”

“I know.”

Miyaka wiped her tears.

“Does Moises love me?”

Jason froze.

“Answer me.”

“Yes.”

Her breath caught.

“You're sure?”

“I've never seen him love anyone else.”

She closed her eyes.

For one brief moment, happiness entered her heart.

Then fear followed.

“Then why does it feel like we're going to lose each other again?”

Jason had no answer.

---

LAURENT INDUSTRIES

Moises stood inside his office.

The city stretched beneath the glass windows.

His assistant entered.

“Sir.”

Moises didn't turn.

“Did you find the watcher?”

“No.”

“Victor?”

“We believe the surveillance team belongs to him.”

Moises' jaw tightened.

“Believe?”

“We're still confirming.”

“Confirm faster.”

“Yes, sir.”

The assistant placed a folder on the desk.

“There is something else.”

Moises opened it.

Inside were photographs.

Miyaka.

Racing.

Leaving home.

Talking to Jason.

Riding her motorcycle.

Entering the meeting place.

And finally—

A photograph of Moises holding Miyaka's hand.

His expression darkened.

“How long?”

“Unknown.”

“What?”

“How long they've been watching her.”

Moises slammed the folder shut.

“Find out.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And increase security around her.”

The assistant hesitated.

“Will she know?”

“No.”

“Sir…”

Moises looked at him.

“She'll hate me.”

“Perhaps.”

“But she'll be alive.”

The assistant nodded.

Then his phone rang.

Moises answered.

“Hello?”

A distorted voice spoke.

“You should have stayed away from her.”

Moises froze.

“Victor.”

A quiet laugh came through the phone.

“You know me well.”

“What do you want?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you watching her?”

“Because you made her important.”

Moises' hand tightened around the phone.

“Leave her alone.”

“You still don't understand.”

“Understand what?”

Victor's voice became colder.

“Miyaka isn't the reason I'm coming for you.”

Moises said nothing.

“She is the proof.”

“Proof of what?”

The call ended.

Moises stared at the phone.

His assistant looked worried.

“What did he say?”

Moises slowly placed the phone on the desk.

“He said Miyaka is proof.”

“Proof of what?”

Moises looked toward the city.

“I don't know.”

But deep inside, he feared he already knew.

Something had happened between the Laurent and Reyes families.

Something big enough to separate two children.

Something big enough to make his father take him away.

And now—

Miyaka was somehow connected to it.

---

UNDER THE OLD TREE

That afternoon, Miyaka returned to the place where everything began.

The old tree.

She touched its trunk.

“I found him.”

The wind moved through the leaves.

“He really came back.”

She smiled through tears.

“But he isn't the same.”

She looked at the ground.

“Neither am I.”

Then she heard footsteps.

She turned.

No one.

Her heart began beating faster.

She looked around.

Nothing.

Then her phone vibrated.

One message.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

«You shouldn't have found him.»

Miyaka's smile disappeared.

Another message arrived.

«Ask Moises what happened at Hotel Marcella.»

Her hands went cold.

A third message appeared.

«Ask him why your family was there.»

Miyaka stared at the screen.

“Hotel Marcella?”

She had never heard that name.

She immediately called Moises.

He answered on the first ring.

“Miyaka?”

“What's Hotel Marcella?”

Silence.

She knew immediately.

He knew.

“Moises?”

His voice became tense.

“Where are you?”

“Answer me.”

“Miyaka, where are you?”

“Under the old tree.”

“Leave.”

“Why?”

“Now.”

She stood.

“What's at Hotel Marcella?”

Moises breathed heavily.

“That name should never have reached you.”

“Why?”

“Because that's where everything started.”

Miyaka froze.

“What started?”

Moises closed his eyes.

“The night you lost me.”

Her heart stopped.

Then he whispered:

“And the night our families lost everything.”

The call suddenly disconnected.

Miyaka stared at her phone.

Behind her—

A branch snapped.

She turned.

A shadow moved between the trees.

“Who's there?”

No answer.

She stepped backward.

The shadow disappeared.

Her phone vibrated again.

One final message.

«THE TRUTH IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK.»

Miyaka stared at the words.

For the first time since Moises returned—

She wasn't wondering why he left.

She was wondering what happened before he left.

And somewhere far away, Victor Armand smiled as he watched the next piece of his plan fall into place.