Chapter 2 - SHE SAID HER NAME WAS ANNA
The maid stood up quickly.
“My name is Anna.”
Her voice shook.
Damian stared at her.
“No.”
She held Oliver against her hip.
“My name is Anna Vale.”
“Put my son down.”
Oliver tightened both arms around her neck.
“No!”
Damian’s chest burned.
“Eliza, put him down.”
“I said my name is Anna.”
Celeste moved closer.
“She’s manipulating you.”
Damian looked at her.
Celeste stopped.
There was something in his face that made even the guests step back.
Damian turned to the security chief.
“Lock the gates.”
A nervous laugh came from somewhere in the room.
Damian didn’t smile.
“Nobody leaves.”
The room erupted.
“Damian,” Celeste hissed, grabbing his arm. “You can’t trap two hundred people in your house.”
“I can trap every person on my property until I know why a woman who looks exactly like my dead wife is holding my son.”
The security chief nodded.
“Understood.”
The main doors closed.
Phones immediately came out.
Damian pointed toward the guests.
“Anyone posts one picture, one video, one word online, security removes you and my lawyers finish the conversation tomorrow.”
Most phones disappeared.
The maid—Anna—looked ready to run.
Damian noticed.
“So don’t.”
She looked at him.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
Oliver touched her face.
“Mommy has a boo-boo.”
He traced the scar near her temple.
The woman closed her eyes.
Damian felt sick.
Eliza had no scar there.
But a crash like hers could have caused one.
“Where did you get that?” he asked.
“An accident.”
“What accident?”
“I don’t know.”
He blinked.
She swallowed.
“I woke up in a clinic almost two years ago. I didn’t know my name. I didn’t know where I lived. I didn’t know anybody.”
“Amnesia?”
“That’s what the doctor said.”
Celeste folded her arms.
“How convenient.”
The woman’s face hardened for the first time.
“You think I enjoy waking up every morning not knowing who I am?”
Celeste opened her mouth.
Damian cut her off.
“What clinic?”
“Saint Orla.”
Damian frowned.
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“It was private.”
“Where?”
“About six hours north.”
“Doctor’s name?”
She hesitated.
“Dr. Mercer.”
Celeste’s expression changed.
Barely.
But Damian saw it.
His head turned.
“You know that name?”
Celeste recovered instantly.
“No.”
“You reacted.”
“I reacted because this is insane.”
Damian studied her.
Anna shifted Oliver to her other arm.
The child suddenly reached beneath the collar of her uniform.
He pulled out a thin chain.
Something gold flashed.
Anna tried to stop him.
Too late.
A small pendant fell against her chest.
Damian stepped closer.
His heart slammed.
It was a half-moon necklace.
He had given Eliza that necklace on their first anniversary.
On the back, he had engraved four words.
Always find your way home.
Damian’s voice dropped.
“Where did you get that?”
Anna looked down at the pendant.
“I woke up wearing it.”
Celeste turned away.
Damian saw her reach for her phone.
He moved fast.
He grabbed the phone from her hand.
“What are you doing?”
“Give that back.”
“Who were you calling?”
“No one.”
The screen was locked.
Damian held it up.
Celeste’s face went cold.
Then the phone buzzed.
A message appeared across the screen.
May you like
Only five words.
SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD.
