Chapter 4

The hospital corridor erupted into chaos.

Doctors and nurses rushed from room to room while security officers searched every exit.

But the man with the scar had vanished.

It was as though he had never been there.

Saria sat frozen on the hospital bed, her hands wrapped tightly around the blanket.

She could still see the syringe.

Still hear the nurse’s trembling voice.

It would have stopped her heart within minutes.

Someone wanted her dead.

The terrifying part wasn’t that someone had tried to kill her.

It was that they had failed before.

The car accident hadn’t been an accident at all.

“You can’t stay here anymore.”

The voice belonged to Detective Noah Zayes.

He stood near the door, flipping through a thin file containing Saria’s medical records.

He was in his early thirties, dressed in a black suit instead of a police uniform, with observant hazel eyes that seemed to miss nothing.

“I’m assigning officers outside your room until you’re discharged,” he said.

Dan folded his arms.

“My private security can handle that.”

Noah looked at him calmly.

“With all due respect, Mr Carter, your private security didn’t stop someone from entering the hospital.”

Lucas couldn’t hide his frown.

“He’s got a point.”

Dan shot him a warning glance.

“This isn’t the time.”

Saria watched the three men carefully.

One wanted to protect her.

One claimed to love her.

And one had just entered her life.

Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that every person in the room was hiding something.

Later that afternoon, Noah returned alone.

He closed the door behind him.

“I need to ask you a few questions.”

Saria nodded.

“I’ll try.”

“Do you remember seeing the attacker’s face before today?”

“No.”

“His voice?”

She hesitated.

“It sounded”

She closed her eyes.

“familiar.”

“Familiar how?”

“I don’t know.”

Noah wrote something in his notebook.

“Memory often returns in fragments. Don’t ignore even the smallest detail.”

Before leaving, he paused at the door.

“Miss Benn…”

“Yes?”

“If anyone tells you not to trust the police…”

His expression turned serious.

“tell me immediately.”

The words lingered in the room long after he had gone.

That night

Sleep refused to come.

The storm outside had returned.

Rain lashed against the hospital windows.

Lightning flashed across the dark sky.

Saria sat by the window, staring into the rain.

Her fingers absentmindedly touched the wedding ring Dan insisted belonged to her.

It felt foreign.

Like it belonged to someone else.

Suddenly

Another sharp pain exploded inside her head.

She cried out.

The room blurred.

A voice echoed through her mind.

“Don’t sign it!”

A man’s desperate shout.

Papers scattered across a polished wooden desk.

Someone grabbed Saria’s wrist.

“You have no choice.”

Another voice.

A woman this time.

Cold.

Elegant.

Threatening.

“If you don’t marry Dan”

“your daughter dies.”

The vision shifted.

A tiny silver bracelet slipped from a child’s wrist.

On it were engraved two words.

Lily Ben.

Saria gasped.

“Lily”

Tears filled her eyes.

“Lily…”

The little girl from her first memory.

She had a name.

“Lily.”

Another image flashed before her.

A little girl with curly black hair wrapped her arms around Saria’s waist.

“I love you, Mommy.”

The warmth of that hug felt so real.

Then

Bang!

A gunshot echoed.

The child screamed.

Everything dissolved into darkness.

Saria opened her eyes with a gasp.

She was back in her hospital room.

Her entire body shook.

“Lily…”

The name escaped her lips before she could stop it.

The door opened immediately.

Dan rushed inside.

“What happened?”

Saria looked at him.

“Who is Lily?”

For the first time since they met…

Real fear crossed Dan’s face.

His color drained.

“W-What did you say?”

“Lily.”

The name hung heavily between them.

“I remembered it.

Dan remained silent.

His hands slowly curled into fists.

Then, forcing a calm smile, he said,

“I don’t know anyone named Lily.”

Saria stared at him.

He was lying.

She didn’t know how.

She didn’t know why.

But she knew.

Before she could press him further, Lucas appeared at the doorway.

His eyes moved between them.

“What’s going on?”

Saria looked directly at him.

“Do you know someone named Lily?”

Lucas froze.

The flowers he was carrying slipped from his hands.

They scattered across the floor.

“You remembered…”

he whispered.

“So she really exists.”

Saria’s heartbeat thundered in her ears.

“You know her?”

Lucas looked toward Dan.

“You never told her?”

Dan’s voice turned dangerously quiet.

“Leave.”

“No.”

“You’ve lied long enough.”

“Lied about what?” saria cried.

Neither man answered.

The silence was louder than any confession.

Finally, Lucas looked at Saria.

His eyes were filled with sorrow.

“Lily…”

“is the reason everything happened.”

Before he could say another word, Dan grabbed him by the collar.

“Not another word.”

The two men glared at each other.

Saria felt as though the walls were closing in.

“Lily is alive, isn’t she?”

Neither answered.

“Tell me!”

Still…

Silence.

Then Detective Noah rushed into the room.

“We’ve got a problem.”

Everyone turned toward him.

“What happened?” Dan asked.

Noah held up a small evidence bag.

Inside was a silver bracelet.

Engraved on the metal were the words:

Lily Ben.

“We found this,” Noah said quietly, “inside the destruction of the SUV.”

Saria's breath caught.

It was the same bracelet from her memory.

The room fell silent.

Noah looked directly at saria.

“Miss Ben”

“I think this child is connected to your accident.”

The color drained from Saria's face.

If Lily had been in the vehicle that night

Then where was she now?

Alive?

Missing?

Or…

Something no one in the room was willing to say aloud.

Outside, another crack of thunder split the night.

Deep in the shadows of the hospital parking lot, a woman watched Saria's room from inside a black sedan.

She lowered her sunglasses despite the darkness.

A cruel smile curved across her lips.

“So,” she murmured, “the memories are returning faster than I expected.”

She picked up her phone and dialed a number.

“Prepare the second phase.”

There was a pause before she added,

“If Saria leaves this hospital alive…”

“everything we’ve built for the last six years will collapse.”

She ended the call.

Then she whispered a name that sent a shiver through the night.

“Welcome back, Princess.”

The mystery had just become much bigger than a failed marriage.

Saria Ben wasn’t only hiding memories.

She was hiding an identity she didn’t even know she had.