MasukCHAPTER SEVENTY OneThe Promise I ForgotRyan’s POVThe mansion was unusually quiet that afternoon, yet the silence around me did nothing to calm the storm inside my heart. Ever since Gomez admitted the truth, I had been carrying the missing page, the old drawing, and the necklace with me as though I was afraid they might disappear if I let them out of my sight. For years, I believed those things would lead me to the person I had been searching for. Now they had finally done exactly that, yet I found myself wishing I had never needed them at all. If I had simply listened to my heart instead of chasing a broken memory, Scarlett would never have spent so many days believing she was standing behind someone else.I looked down at the drawing once more before folding it carefully and placing it inside the envelope. Every line on the paper felt heavier than before because I finally understood what it represented. It was not only a memory from the past. It was proof that fate had brought Sca
CHAPTER SEVENTY The Page She HidRyan’s POVThe drive back to the mansion felt longer than usual.The envelope containing the missing page rested on the seat beside me.I glanced at it several times, but I never reached for it.For years, I had wanted answers.Now they were only a few inches away.Yet I found myself afraid to open the envelope.Not because I feared the truth.Because I knew the truth would change everything.The morning sun had already risen, but my mind was still trapped in the events of the previous night.The drawing.Scarlett’s name.The matching necklace.The missing records.Nothing about my life looked the same anymore.By the time I arrived at the mansion, everyone was beginning their day.The maids greeted me politely.The guards bowed as I walked past.I answered with a small nod before going straight to my office.I closed the door behind me.Locked it.Then I placed the envelope on the desk.For several long moments, I simply stared at it.Finally, I reac
CHAPTER Sixty NIn’sThe Missing PageRyan’s POVThe file remained open on my desk for hours.I had read every page.Every sentence, every detail but the more I learned, the less certain I became.The truth was no longer a straight path.It was a collection of broken pieces scattered across years of memories.I looked at the old records again.Gomez was there, that much was clear.Her name appeared in the documents, her presence was confirmed.But something was missing.The records never clearly said she was the child from my memory.They only said she was connected to that day.Connected.That word bothered me.Because for years, I had filled in the blanks myself.I had taken the pieces I knew and created the answer I wanted.I found a person.I found a name.I found a memory.And I stopped searching.But now I understood something.Finding someone was not the same as finding the truth.⸻I called my assistant into the office.He walked in carrying another folder.“You found somethin
CHAPTER Sixty Rufht The Things She Never SaidRyan’s POVI stood in the hallway for several minutes after the call ended.I didn’t move? I didn’t follow Gomez, I didn’t ask questions.I simply stood there, trying to understand what I had just heard.Because the words were simple.But the meaning behind them was not.He knows too much now.Those words continued repeating in my mind.Who was she talking about?What did she mean by too much?And why did she sound afraid?For years, I had believed my search ended when I found Gomez.I believed I had finally found the person connected to the most important memory of my childhood.But now, everything felt different.Not because I wanted to believe Gomez was lying.Because I didn’t.That was what made everything harder.If she had been cruel or obvious, it would have been easier.If she had given me a reason to doubt her from the beginning, I could have accepted it.But Gomez had memories.She had emotions.She had moments that felt real.A
CHAPTER SIXTY Seven Ryan’s POVI stayed in my office until the early hours of the morning.The piece of paper was still on my desk.The drawing was still in front of me.And the name written at the bottom was still impossible to ignore. Scarlett.I had read it so many times that I had memorized every line.The handwriting.The shape of the letters.The small marks from years ago.Everything about it felt real.But my mind refused to accept it completely.Because accepting it meant questioning everything I believed.For years, I had searched for one person.One memory.One answer.I had convinced myself that finding her would finally explain the emptiness I carried from my childhood.And now…The answer I had been searching for might have been beside me the entire time.I closed my eyes.“No.”The word came out quietly.Not because I didn’t believe it.Because I was afraid of believing it.⸻I picked up the old photograph again.The one with two children.The one I had ignored because
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVENRyan’s POVI stayed awake long after everyone in the mansion had gone to sleep.The empty screen of my computer remained in front of me.The file was gone.The information I had been searching for was gone.But the one thing I could not erase was the word I had seen before it disappeared.Scar.Four letters.Only four letters.Yet somehow, they felt heavier than everything else I had found.I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.I tried to convince myself that it meant nothing.There were many names that could begin with those letters.It could be a coincidence.It had to be a coincidence.Because the other possibility was something I was not ready to accept.If Scarlett was connected to that day…If Scarlett was connected to the memory I had spent years searching for…Then everything I believed about my past would change.⸻The next morning, I called my assistant again.“Did you find anything about the deleted file?”His voice came through the phone.“We ar
CHAPTER fourRyan POVI took her home last night.Even now, sitting alone in my office, I still could not understand why.Bringing Scarlett Hayes to my pack had never been part of my plans.In fact, if anyone had asked me yesterday morning what I would be doing today, this would have been the last
CHAPTER THREE — Scarlett POVFor a moment, nobody moved.The silence in the hall after he said those words felt heavy, like the air itself had been pressed down on everyone’s shoulders.I could still feel the shock in my body and my stepmother was still holding my arm, but her grip had loosened sli
CHAPTER TWOScarlett POVToday was the announcement, I was supposed to run awayI did not run this time.Maybe I should have.Maybe if I had left before the announcement started, I could have kept pretending there was still a chance that something would change.But I didn’t.So I sat there with eve
CHAPTER ONE — My Opponent Scarlett's POV This was the last game of the season and I kept telling myself not to think too much about it, but my mind wouldn’t stop going there no matter what, like it was stuck on a loop I couldn’t break out of.The last game meant everything or nothing for me, ther







