Chapter 5 — The Lie

Chapter 5 — The Lie

By the time Miyaka reached the parking area, she had already replayed the conversation in her head at least twenty times.

She hated that she could still remember every little detail.

The way Moises had looked at her when she mentioned the mango tree. The slight pause when she reminded him about the scar on his knee. The way his fingers had stopped moving when she mentioned the thunderstorms.

Most people wouldn't have noticed those things.

Miyaka did.

She had spent too many years knowing him not to.

The strange part was that she wasn't even angry because he had denied knowing her. Anger would have been easier. Anger was something she understood. She could race with it, shout with it, bury it beneath the roar of an engine until it became nothing more than another feeling she had survived.

What unsettled her was the certainty that he had recognized her.

He knew.

He remembered.

And for some reason, he wanted her to believe he didn't.

Miyaka reached her car and stood beside the driver's door without opening it. She stared at her reflection in the window.

“Why?”

The question escaped her quietly.

Why pretend?

Why now?

Why come back after all these years only to look her in the eyes and lie?

Her phone vibrated.

Jason.

She almost ignored it.

Then it rang again.

With a sigh, she answered.

“What?”

“You sound angry.”

“I am.”

“What happened?”

Miyaka opened the car door but didn't get inside.

“He doesn't remember me.”

There was a pause on the other end.

Then Jason said carefully, “Are you sure?”

She laughed bitterly.

“He looked straight at me and said he didn't.”

“And you believe him?”

“No.”

The answer came too quickly.

Jason was silent for a moment.

“Then what did you see?”

Miyaka leaned against the car.

“I saw someone who knew exactly who I was.”

Jason didn't respond.

That silence told her everything.

“You knew,” she said.

“I suspected.”

“You suspected what?”

“That Moises might not be telling the truth.”

Miyaka straightened.

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because I didn't know why.”

“That didn't stop you from letting me walk into that office alone.”

“You would've gone anyway.”

She couldn't argue with that.

Jason knew her too well.

Miyaka looked back toward the towering Laurent Industries building.

“He said my name.”

Jason's voice changed.

“What?”

“He said my name after I was leaving.”

Silence.

“Jason?”

“I'm here.”

“You know what that means.”

“I know.”

“He remembers.”

“Yes.”

Miyaka closed her eyes.

For years she had imagined what would happen if she ever saw Moises again.

She had imagined him running toward her.

She had imagined slapping him.

She had imagined crying.

She had imagined demanding an explanation.

She had even imagined pretending she didn't care.

She had never imagined this.

A man who looked at her as though she were a stranger while secretly remembering everything.

“I want to know why,” she said.

Jason took a breath.

“Then be careful.”

Miyaka frowned.

“Why?”

“Because if Moises is lying about remembering you, there's probably a reason.”

The call ended a few minutes later.

Miyaka remained beside her car.

The wind moved through the parking lot, carrying the faint smell of rain.

She looked up at the sky.

Dark clouds were gathering in the distance.

For some reason, she thought of the mango tree.

She remembered the rain.

The three of them beneath its branches.

And the promise they had made.

No matter what.

Her chest tightened.

She got into the car.

This time, she didn't start the engine immediately.

She simply sat there, hands resting on the steering wheel.

Then she made herself a promise of her own.

If Moises wanted to pretend she was a stranger, fine.

But she wasn't going to accept the lie.

Not anymore.

---

Inside Laurent Industries, Moises hadn't moved.

The moment Miyaka left, the controlled expression he had worn in front of her disappeared.

He sat behind his desk and stared at the closed door.

His hands were clenched.

He could still hear her voice.

You used to hate thunderstorms.

She remembered.

Of course she remembered.

How could he have expected anything else?

He opened the drawer of his desk.

Inside was a small wooden box.

He stared at it for several seconds before taking it out.

The box was old.

Its edges were worn, and the tiny brass clasp had begun to lose its shine.

Moises opened it.

Inside were things no one in his company would ever believe he kept.

A faded friendship bracelet.

A small metal keychain.

A photograph.

And a folded piece of paper.

He picked up the photograph first.

The same one he had carried for years.

Three children beneath a mango tree.

His thumb rested over Miyaka's face.

“You shouldn't have come here,” he whispered.

But he knew that wasn't fair.

She hadn't known what waited for her.

She hadn't known that the moment she walked into his office, every carefully buried memory would come rushing back.

He closed his eyes.

The night he had left came back with painful clarity.

The rain.

The shouting.

His father's terrified expression.

The black car waiting outside.

The warning.

You will not contact her.

Moises opened his eyes.

His breathing had become heavier.

He remembered asking why.

He remembered being told that Miyaka's family was involved in something they didn't understand.

He remembered being threatened.

And most of all, he remembered the letter he had written to her.

The one that had never reached her.

His fingers tightened around the edge of the desk.

Someone had made sure she never received it.

Someone had made sure he never received hers.

That was the part he still didn't understand.

At first, he had believed his father had been responsible.

Years later, he wasn't so sure.

There had been too many missing documents.

Too many altered records.

Too many people who refused to answer simple questions.

And recently, someone had started digging into the same past Moises had spent years trying to uncover.

His phone rang.

Moises looked at the screen.

Unknown number.

He answered.

“Hello?”

There was silence.

Then a distorted voice spoke.

“You should have stayed away from her.”

Moises stood immediately.

“Who is this?”

“You know what happened the last time you got close.”

His grip tightened around the phone.

“Who are you?”

The caller laughed softly.

“You think bringing her back into your life will change anything?”

Moises's expression hardened.

“If you touch her—”

“You still don't understand.”

The line went dead.

Moises stared at the phone.

For several seconds, he didn't move.

Then his eyes went to the window.

Miyaka had only been in his office for a few minutes.

Someone knew.

Someone had been watching.

His jaw tightened.

He immediately pressed a number on his phone.

“Find out everything about Miyaka Reyes's current movements.”

A voice answered on the other end.

“Everything?”

“Everything.”

“Is she in danger?”

Moises looked at the old photograph on his desk.

He thought about the voice.

You should have stayed away from her.

“Yes,” he said quietly.

“She might be.”

---

That evening, Miyaka returned to the garage.

She needed noise.

She needed movement.

Most importantly, she needed something that wouldn't ask her to explain how she felt.

Her motorcycle sat beneath the fluorescent lights.

She ran her fingers along the handlebar before putting on her gloves.

Jason watched from across the garage.

“You're going somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Out.”

“Miyaka.”

She looked at him.

“What?”

“You shouldn't race tonight.”

“I didn't say I was racing.”

“You didn't have to.”

She smiled faintly.

“You know me too well.”

“That isn't always a good thing.”

She started the motorcycle.

The engine roared to life.

For a moment, the sound drowned out everything else.

The questions.

The memories.

Moises.

The mysterious phone call he hadn't told her about.

The feeling that somehow, without her realizing it, she had stepped into a story that had started long before she returned.

Jason moved closer.

“Miyaka.”

She looked at him through her helmet.

“What?”

He hesitated.

Then he said something that made her hand freeze on the throttle.

“Before you leave, there's something I never told you about the night Moises disappeared.”

Miyaka slowly removed her helmet.

“What?”

Jason looked toward the garage door.

Then back at her.

“I was there.”

The motorcycle continued running beneath them.

Miyaka stared at him.

“You were there?”

Jason nodded.

“And there's something I saw that night.”

His face had gone pale.

“Something I should have told you years ago.”

Miyaka's heart began pounding.

“What did you see?”

Jason swallowed.

Then he whispered,

“Moises didn't leave alone.”