Chapter 3

Saria didn’t breathe.

The note trembled in her hands.

Pretend you still have amnesia.

Your life depends on it.

She read the words again and again.

Each time, they seemed heavier than before.

Someone had slipped the note beneath her pillow while she was in the room.

Someone who had managed to enter without being noticed.

Someone who knew she was beginning to remember.

A knock sounded at the door.

Instinctively, saria crumpled the note and slipped it beneath the blanket just as Dan walked in.

He carried two cups of coffee.

“You look tired,” he said softly, setting one cup on the bedside table.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“I… not really.”

Dan pulled a chair closer.

“The doctor says you’ll be discharged tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

He smiled faintly.

“I’ve already prepared everything for you to come home.”

Home.

The word made saria uneasy.

A place she couldn’t remember.

A life she couldn’t recall.

A marriage she wasn’t sure had ever been real.

“Dan…”

“Yes?”

“What was I like before the accident?”

His expression softened.

“You laughed a lot.”

“Really?”

“You loved rainy evenings.

You collected old novels.

Every Sunday you made pancakes, even though they always turned out a little burnt.”

Saria couldn’t help smiling.

“Burnt pancakes?”

“You insisted they tasted better that way.”

For a brief moment, Dan looked less like a stranger and more like someone mourning the woman he had lost.

Then another thought crossed her mind.

“If we were so happy…”

She looked directly into his eyes.

“Why does Lucas think I was running away from you?”

The warmth disappeared from Dan's face.

“He wants to confuse you.”

“Why?”

“Because he has always wanted what belonged to me.”

Before saria could ask another question, Dan's phone rang.

He glanced at the screen.

His jaw tightened.

“I have to take this.”

He stepped outside.

The door clicked shut.

Saria waited a few seconds before quietly slipping out of bed.

Her injuries still hurt, but curiosity pushed her forward.

The door wasn’t fully closed.

She could hear Dan speaking in a low voice.

“I don’t care what it costs.”

Silence.

“No.”

Another pause.

“She cannot remember.”

Saria's heart skipped.

“If she starts talking…”

His voice dropped even lower.

“We’re all finished.”

Footsteps echoed in the hallway.

Saria hurried back into bed just as Dan returned.

He smiled as though nothing had happened.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

She forced herself to nod.

“I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“About going home.”

He kissed her forehead gently.

“You’ll be safe with me.”

Safe?

For some reason…

The word frightened her.

Later that afternoon, Lucas arrived carrying a bouquet of sunflowers.

“They’re brighter than hospital walls,” he joked.

Saria laughed despite herself.

“You seem determined to cheer me up.”

“I am.”

He placed the flowers in a vase.

“Someone has to.”

She hesitated.

“Lucas…”

“Hmm?”

“Were we really…”

She searched for the right words.

“…in love?”

Lucas looked away.

His smile faded.

“I wish the answer were simple.”

“What does that mean?”

He sighed deeply.

“You loved someone.”

Her heart raced.

“Who?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I do…”

He looked toward the closed door.

“…I’ll be signing your death warrant.”

A chill spread through Saria.

“What are you talking about?”

Before Lucas could answer, the lights suddenly went out.

The room was swallowed by darkness.

A few patients screamed in the hallway.

Emergency alarms began to beep.

“What happened?” Saria whispered.

Lucas stepped protectively in front of her bed.

“Stay behind me.”

Seconds later…

The emergency lights flickered on.

Everything glowed red.

The atmosphere became eerie.

Then saria noticed it.

The hospital room door…

Slowly…

Silently…

Began to open.

Creak…

Creak…

A figure dressed in black stepped inside.

His face was hidden beneath a cap.

It was the same man she had seen outside the window.

Lucas reacted instantly.

“Get down!”

The stranger pulled something from his pocket.

A syringe.

Its needle glinted beneath the red emergency lights.

He lunged toward Saria.

Lucas tackled him before he could reach the bed.

The two men crashed into the floor.

The syringe slid across the room.

Saria screamed.

The attacker shoved Lucas away with surprising strength.

For one terrifying second, his face became visible.

A long scar stretched across his left cheek.

His cold eyes met Saria’s.

Recognition flashed across his face.

“So…”

he whispered.

“You really are alive.”

Hospital security rushed into the room.

The attacker didn’t fight.

Instead, he threw a small metal object onto the floor.

Smoke exploded around them.

Within seconds, the room was filled with thick gray clouds.

People coughed.

Someone shouted.

By the time the smoke cleared

The man was gone.

Only the syringe remained on the floor.

A nurse picked it up carefully.

Her face turned pale.

“Oh my God”

“What is it?” Lucas demanded.

The nurse looked at the label attached to the syringe.

“It’s not medicine.”

“What is it then?”

Her voice shook.

“It’s a powerful drug.”

“It would have stopped her heart within minutes.”

Silence filled the room.

Saria stared at the empty doorway.

Someone had just tried to murder her.

Not kidnap her.

Not threaten her.

Kill her.

And the stranger’s words echoed inside her mind.

You really are alive.

As though…

Someone believed she should have died in that car crash.

Far down the hallway, hidden behind the corner, another pair of eyes watched everything.

The mysterious observer pulled out a phone.

“The first attempt failed,” he said quietly.

A woman’s cold voice answered from the other end.

“Then stop making mistakes.”

There was a brief pause before she gave her next order.

“I want Saria Ben dead before she remembers who she really is.”

The call ended.

The observer looked back toward Saria’s hospital room.

A cruel smile spread across his face.

“The game has finally begun.”