Chapter Six

Noah’s POV 

The night felt colder than usual when I stepped back into my tiny apartment. I shut the door and leaned against it, breathing slowly, trying to calm the storm pounding inside my chest. My hands were still shaking from everything that had happened at the mansion. Adrian’s voice kept replaying in my head—his confusion, the pain in his eyes, the way he said he wished he remembered me.

It hurt.

But it also kept me standing.

I wandered deeper inside and switched on the small lamp in the living room. Warm light filled the space, but it didn’t bring comfort. Without him, the apartment felt too quiet, too empty. Every corner carried a memory—him falling asleep on the worn couch after long days, the time he tried cooking and burned eggs in the tiny kitchen, the nights he held me through nightmares that dragged him back to his childhood.

“He’s alive,” I whispered into the silent room.

“He’s alive… and he remembers something. Even if it’s small.”

It should have comforted me. But all I could see was Victoria’s triumphant expression, her smug hand on his arm like she had already won. Part of me wanted to storm back into that mansion and drag Adrian away from everything suffocating him. But I knew rushing in would only make things worse.

I needed a plan.

I needed help.

I needed someone who believed me.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. I froze. It was far too late for anyone to visit.

I approached the door carefully and checked the peephole. My breath stalled.

Nathan Hayes—Adrian’s COO—stood there, looking tired, uneasy, and completely out of place in my rundown hallway.

I unlocked the door just a crack. “Nathan? Why are you here?”

Relief and tension flickered across his face. “I need to talk to you. Can I come in?”

I hesitated. He’d stood beside Victoria earlier, silent while she tried to break me. But now… he looked human. Maybe even afraid.

“…Fine,” I said, stepping aside. “Make it quick.”

Nathan walked in, scanning the apartment with something that looked like guilt. “I didn’t know this was where you lived,” he said quietly. “Adrian never told me.”

“He didn’t get the chance.”

I folded my arms. “Why are you here, Nathan?”

He exhaled shakily. “Because something isn’t right. Victoria moved Adrian to a private facility tonight. No notice to the board. No legal documentation.”

My stomach twisted. “He’s not at the hospital anymore?”

“No.” He shook his head. “She transferred him the moment you left—like she was waiting for you to walk out. And she barred me from visiting.”

The floor seemed to tilt beneath me. “Where did she take him?”

“I don’t know.” He swallowed hard. “She refuses to tell anyone.”

“She’s doing something to him,” I whispered. “He sounded drugged earlier. And tonight he could barely stand.”

Nathan nodded. “Sedatives. Strong ones. I saw the chart before they moved him.”

Rage flared through me. “She’s keeping him confused on purpose.”

“And isolated,” he murmured. “Which is even worse.”

I clenched my fists. “We need to find him.”

Nathan nodded. “That’s why I’m here. Adrian may not remember everything, but today… I saw the way he looked at you. He trusts you more than anyone.”

My throat tightened. “Then help me.”

He pulled a folder from his coat and set it on my table. “I’ve been investigating. Victoria owns several private medical facilities—remote, high-security, no public access.”

“That sounds exactly like her,” I muttered.

“There’s one she bought last year. Extremely private. It doesn’t appear on company records—only her personal accounts.”

“Where?”

“Woodcrest Valley. About an hour from here.”

My heart pounded. “He’s there.”

Nathan’s expression confirmed it. “I think so.”

For a moment, we just stared at each other—two people caught in the same web. Under his usually emotionless exterior, he looked like someone who had finally reached his breaking point.

“You don’t owe me anything,” I said softly. “Helping me could destroy your career.”

He laughed bitterly. “My career? Noah… I stayed silent too long. I watched that family tear Adrian apart piece by piece. I started working for him because he believed in me. Now I can’t even look at myself in the mirror.”

His voice cracked. It surprised me.

“He’d want someone in his corner,” I whispered.

Nathan nodded, wiping his face. “I want to be that person now.”

Before I could respond, my phone vibrated.

A message from an unknown number—just one audio file.

A chill crept down my spine.

I pressed play.

Static.

Then—

“Noah… I don’t know if you can hear me. I don’t know where I am. They’re lying to me. They’re drugging me. I can’t think. I can’t remember your face… but I know you exist. I know you’re real. Don’t let them take that from me. Please… find me.”

My breath hitched. Tears blurred my vision.

“What is it?” Nathan asked.

I handed him the phone. He listened—and horror spread across his face.

“They’re drugging him,” he whispered. “And he knows.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. “He’s scared, Nathan.”

Nathan stood abruptly. “We’re getting him out. Tonight.”

“Tonight?” I echoed.

“Yes. Before they increase the dosage. Before he forgets you completely.”

My phone buzzed again.

A new message.

Same number.

“He doesn’t have much time.”

Nathan’s face drained of color. “Who sent that?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

But a strange instinct told me someone inside that facility was risking everything to warn me.

Nathan grabbed his keys. “Get your coat. We leave now.”

I snatched it with trembling hands—not from fear this time, but from something dangerously close to hope.

Because Adrian still remembered me—some part of him did.

Enough to reach out. Enough to fight.

As I walked out beside Nathan, I whispered into the night:

“I’m coming for you, Adrian. Whatever they’ve done, whatever they’re still doing… I’m coming.”

We got into his car, and the doors locked automatically.

“We’ll reach the valley in forty minutes if we’re fast,” Nathan said.

I buckled my seatbelt. “Then drive.”

He stepped on the gas, and we sped into the darkness.

Silence filled the car until Nathan spoke quietly:

“Noah… once we find him, everything will change.”

I stared out into the night. “I know.”

And under my breath, I added—

“That’s why we have to get there first.”