Chapter 4: The Man Who Knows My Name

Hailey's POV

Things changed after that night.

Not dramatically. But slowly, like ice melting.

Evans started joining me for breakfast. He'd ask about my day, make jokes and even smile more.

We even had dinner together a few times. Real dinners, not just awkward meals where we avoided eye contact.

It was nice. Almost normal.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something.

Two weeks after our conversation, Mabel finally flew in from London.

I picked her up from the airport, and she practically tackled me in the arrivals hall.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" She squeezed me so hard I couldn't breathe. "You're married! To Evans Wilson! I still can't believe it!"

"Believe it," I said, laughing.

She pulled back and examined me. "You look good. Different. More... grown up."

"That's what happens when you become someone's wife overnight."

"I need details. All of them. Right now."

We went to a café near her hotel. I told her everything, the wedding, Chloe, the arrangement, how Evans and I were trying to make it work.

"So you're living together?" she asked.

"Separate rooms."

"Have you...?" She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"No! God, no. We're taking it slow."

"How slow? Like, have you at least kissed? Besides the wedding kiss?"

I stirred my coffee. "No."

"Hailey! You've been married for two weeks!"

"It's complicated, Mabel. We're still figuring things out."

She sighed dramatically. "You've been in love with him since we were teenagers. Now you're married. Just... kiss the man already."

"It's not that simple."

"Yes, it is. Life is short. Take what you want."

I wished it were that easy.

Later that afternoon, Mabel needed to find an apartment. She was moving to Paris permanently for a job opportunity.

"Come with me to look at places," she begged. "I need your expert opinion."

So I drove her around the city, looking at tiny apartments that cost more than my entire college tuition.

We were walking back to my car after the fifth viewing when Mabel grabbed my arm.

"That place was perfect! I'm taking it."

"Mabel, it's expensive—"

"I'll manage. Besides, now I'll be close to you! We can hang out all the time!"

I smiled. Having her nearby would be nice. The Wilson estate was beautiful but lonely.

We were crossing the street when I heard it.

The roar of an engine, tires screeching.

I looked up and saw a black car speeding toward us. Too fast, way too fast.

"Hailey!" Mabel screamed.

I froze. My brain stopped working. The car was going to hit me and I was going to die.

Then someone grabbed me.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me backward. We flew through the air and landed hard on the pavement on the other side of the street.

The car zoomed past, missing us by inches.

I couldn't breathe. My heart was hammering, everything hurt.

"Are you okay?"

I looked up at my savior.

It was him. The man from the bar the one who'd called me Nana.

He was even more handsome up close. Sharp jawline, Intense eyes and dark hair that fell across his forehead.

And his hand the one that had broken our fall was bleeding badly. The skin was torn. I could see bone.

"Oh God, your hand!" I gasped. "We need to get you to a hospital!"

"It's fine," he said calmly.

"It's not fine! You're bleeding everywhere!"

But then I saw something impossible.

The wound was closing. The skin was knitting itself back together within seconds, his hand looked completely normal, no blood, no torn skin. Nothing.

I stared at him in shock. "What... how did you..."

"You're seeing things," he said quickly. "The shock, probably."

"I saw your hand heal. I saw it."

He looked around nervously. People were starting to gather, asking if we were okay.

"We need to talk," he said urgently. "But not here. Please. You can't tell anyone what you saw."

"Why not?"

"Because they'll think you're crazy. Or worse, they'll come after me." His grip on my arm tightened. "Please, Nana. Trust me."

"Stop calling me that. My name is Hailey."

Something flickered across his face. Confusion? Disappointment?

"Right. Hailey. I'm Calix."

Mabel rushed over, her face pale. "Are you okay? That car almost killed you!"

"I'm fine," I said, still staring at Calix. "He saved me."

"Thank God." Mabel turned to Calix. "Thank you so much. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't been here."

"Just lucky timing," Calix said with a charming smile.

But his eyes stayed on me. Intense and searching.

"We should call the police," Mabel said. "That driver didn't even stop!"

"No police," Calix said quickly. "I'm sure it was just an accident."

"An accident? That car was aiming right for her!"

Was it? Had someone actually tried to kill me?

No. That was crazy. Who would want me dead?

"I need to go," Calix said. "But Hailey? Can I get your number? I want to make sure you're okay."

I should say no. This man was strange and suspicious. His hand had healed in front of my eyes.

But I heard myself giving him my number anyway.

He smiled. "I'll call you. We need to talk. Alone."

Then he disappeared into the crowd.

Mabel stared at me. "Who was that?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "But I think I'm about to find out."

That night, I couldn't sleep.

I kept replaying the moment over and over. The car speeding toward me, calix's hand healing instantly and the way he called me Nana, like he knew me.

I met him at the bar the other day and he called me nana, but i discarded him thinking he was mistaken for his nana. But now ??

But I'd never seen him before that night at the bar. Had I?

Around midnight, my phone buzzed.

Unknown number.