Chapter 3: The Man Outside the Church

Amelia barely slept that night. The photograph from the church lay on her bedside table, and Sophie's warning kept repeating in her mind. She had known Sophie for almost ten years. They had shared secrets, celebrated birthdays together and supported each other through difficult moments. If there was one person Amelia believed she could trust without hesitation, it was Sophie.

Yet Sophie had attended a wedding Amelia couldn't remember, and now she was begging her not to meet the man who claimed to be her husband.

At seven in the morning, Amelia called her.

Sophie answered after several rings.

“Amelia, please don't start asking me questions this early.”

“Then tell me why you sent that message.”

There was a pause.

“I was trying to protect you.”

“From Alexander?”

“From what happened three years ago.”

Amelia sat on the edge of her bed. “What happened three years ago, Sophie? Did I leave him? Did something happen at the wedding? Why does everyone speak as if I'm supposed to remember a life I never lived?”

“I can't explain everything over the phone.”

“Then meet me.”

“I can't.”

“Why?”

Sophie sighed. “Because I'm leaving town this morning.”

Amelia stood up immediately. “You're doing what?”

“I need some time away.”

“You can't keep running every time I ask you about my own life.”

“Amelia, listen to me. If Alexander tells you that you disappeared voluntarily, don't believe him.”

The call ended before Amelia could ask another question.

Amelia stared at her phone in disbelief. She tried calling again, but Sophie didn't answer.

For a few minutes, she considered cancelling the meeting with Alexander. However, the thought of allowing another day to pass without answers frustrated her. She had spent enough time listening to people tell her what she should and shouldn't do. If Alexander knew the truth, she would hear it from him.

At exactly four o'clock, Amelia entered the café on Madison Avenue.

She spotted Alexander immediately.

He sat near the window, wearing a dark blue suit. A glass of water stood untouched in front of him. He looked through the window until he noticed her approaching.

Then he stood.

“Amelia.”

She stopped a few feet away. “Mr Hayes.”

His expression changed slightly at the formal greeting, but he pulled out the chair opposite him.

“Please, sit.”

She sat without taking her eyes off him.

For several seconds, neither spoke. Amelia studied his face, searching for a familiar expression or a memory that might suddenly return. He looked at her as if he had waited years for this moment.

“You look exactly the same,” he finally said.

“Apparently, you remember me very well.”

“I remember everything about you.”

“Then this should be easy. Tell me why I don't remember you.”

Alexander lowered himself into his chair.

“Three years ago, we got married. We were happy, Amelia. Not perfect, but happy. You were working at an advertising agency, and I was building my company. We didn't have much time together, but we made it work.”

“Why did you disappear from my life?”

His fingers tightened around the glass.

“One evening, you told me you needed to visit Sophie. You said you would return before midnight. I waited for you, but you never came.”

“And you didn't look for me?”

“I searched everywhere. I called your friends, visited your apartment and contacted the police. Nobody could tell me where you were.”

Amelia frowned. “What about my family?”

“You told me you had no close relatives. Sophie was the only person you trusted enough to discuss your personal life with.”

That answer unsettled her.

“Did I leave you a message?”

Alexander looked away briefly.

“Yes.”

“What did it say?”

“You said you couldn't stay married to me anymore.”

Amelia stared at him. “I would remember writing something like that.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you telling me this?”

“Because I don't believe you wrote it.”

For the first time since entering the café, Amelia noticed something different in his expression. Beneath his controlled appearance was a man carrying unanswered questions of his own.

She leaned forward.

“Did you ever find out what happened to me?”

“No.”

“Did you have enemies? Someone who might have wanted to hurt you through me?”

Alexander didn't answer immediately.

“There was someone who strongly opposed our marriage.”

“Who?”

“My mother.”

Amelia blinked. “Your mother?”

“Victoria Hayes never approved of you. She believed you were interested in my money and influence. She made that clear from the beginning.”

“Did she know I disappeared?”

“She knew.”

“And what did she say?”

Alexander looked directly at her.

“She told me you had finally made the sensible decision to leave.”

Amelia felt a chill run through her.

“That's a strange thing for a mother to say when her son is looking for his missing wife.”

“I thought so too.”

He reached into his briefcase and removed a small photograph. It showed Amelia sitting on a sofa, laughing while Alexander stood behind her with his arms around her shoulders.

She looked genuinely happy.

“Where was this taken?” she asked.

“Our house.”

“We lived together?”

“Yes. And there's something else you should know.”

He placed another photograph on the table.

This one showed Amelia standing outside a hospital entrance. She wore a light blue dress, and her face looked tired. Alexander stood beside her, holding her hand.

“What was I doing at a hospital?”

Alexander's expression became serious.

“You were there the night before you disappeared.”

“Why?”

“I was hoping you would tell me.”

Amelia looked up sharply.

“You mean you don't know?”

“No. But I found something in our house last week that made me realise your disappearance may have been connected to that visit.”

He slid a folded paper across the table.

It was a hospital appointment card bearing Amelia's name.

The date was three years old.

Before she could read the rest, Alexander's phone rang. He glanced at the screen and immediately stood.

“Excuse me.”

He moved a short distance away to answer.

Amelia looked down at the card again. Beneath her name was a department she couldn't quite make sense of.

Then her own phone vibrated.

An unknown number had sent a message.

**Leave Alexander alone. He doesn't know the truth about the night you disappeared.**

A second message arrived almost immediately.

**And if you want to know who was waiting outside that church, look behind you.**

Amelia slowly turned towards the café entrance.

A man in a grey coat stood out

side the window, staring directly at her.

The moment their eyes met, he walked away.

But not before Amelia recognised the face from the wedding photograph.

The man whose face had been covered with black ink.