The Vanishing Past

Chapter 5

Lena woke before dawn, her body still tense from the night. The journal was concealed beneath her dresser drawer, but it weighed on her chest like a rock. She had slept little, replaying Ethan's reaction in her mind, the way he'd stood in the doorway, watching her.

Couldn't sleep?

Those words had been offhand, so simple. But his smile-it had been calculated.

She turned her head to glance at him. Ethan lay next to her, his breathing slow and even, one arm flung across his chest, lying Peacefully.

She crept silently out of bed, her feet barely making a sound on the hardwood floor. She breathed shallowly, her ears tuned for the merest variation in Ethan's breathing.

Nothing.

He was still asleep.

Swallowing, Lena crossed the room, her heart pounding as she knelt in front of the dresser. Her fingers found the false panel, pressing softly until it sprang open. The notebook was still there, just where she'd left it.

She hesitated, glancing back at Ethan one last time.

Then she turned to the next page.

Lena, if you're reading this, then you don't remember. But you need to trust yourself. Something isn't right.

Her handwriting. A message from her past.

She turned the page.

He says he's my husband, but I don't remember him. He says I love him, but I don't feel it. I should. If it were real, I would feel it, wouldn't I?

Lena's heart pounded.

I think he's lying to me. And I think I've known for a long time.

The words blurred as her breath came in short gasps.

She knew it.

She had known something was wrong before the accident, but Ethan had erased it.

She turned more pages, her hands trembling. But as she turned them, her heart sank.

The rest of the journal was blank.

The warning-the truth has been torn out

A terrifying realization struck her.

Someone had ripped out the pages.

And only one person would have done that.

There was a rustle of sheets behind her.

Lena had just enough time to shove the journal into the drawer before she felt him behind her.

"Lena?"

She turned, forcing a smile.

Ethan was at the foot of the bed, running a hand through his dark hair. His eyes blinked sleepy, but something in the set of his shoulders was wary.

"Why are you up so early?" he questioned, his voice raspy with sleep.

Her heart pounded, but she spoke casually. "Just restless."

His eyes darted to the dresser.

For a moment, she was certain he knew.

But then he smiled, stepping closer to her. "Come here," he whispered, drawing her into his arms.

Lena stiffened, but she let him pull her close, his lips grazing a soft kiss on her forehead. His touch was warm, soothing-wrong.

"We don't have to hurry anything," he whispered. "Your memories will come back when they're ready."

Lena pretended to nod.

But she wasn't waiting anymore.

She had to find out what he had erased.

And she had to do it before he realized she was already remembering.

---

Later that morning, Ethan left for work, leaving Lena by herself for the first time. As soon as the front door closed behind him, she shifted into high gear.

If Ethan had ripped pages from her diary, he would have hidden them somewhere.

She searched the dresser again, pulling out each drawer, feeling along the backs and bottoms of them for a second false compartment. Nothing.

She walked to the closet, running her hands along the shelves, pushing neatly stacked clothes aside, and rummaging between them. Nothing yet.

Frustration ate at her.

Where would he stash something like that?

Her eyes landed on his office next.

She hesitated. Ethan never told her the room was off-limits, but he never invited her in, either.

That was enough to raise her suspicions.

Lena crept to the door, her heart racing. She turned the knob, half-expecting that it would be locked.

It wasn't.

She slipped inside, shutting the door behind her.

The office was spotless, and everything was in its place. A massive mahogany desk took over the room, papers stacked in neat piles. A filing cabinet stood against the other wall.

Lena got to the desk first, pulling slowly on the drawers. The first several were empty save for office supplies.

Then she reached a locked one. Her stomach tightened.

Locked drawers meant secrets.

She searched the office for a key, checking the bookshelf and the small drawers in the filing cabinet. Nothing.

Then her eyes landed on Ethan's blazer draped over the chair.

She dived her hand into the pocket, her breath catching when her fingers closed around something small and metallic. It was a key.

Her hands shook as she fitted it into the lock. With a gentle click, the drawer slid open.

Inside, beneath a stack of papers, she found them.

The torn-out pages.

Ripped from her diary, neatly folded together.

Her heart pounding, she unfolded them, scanning the first few lines.

And then she froze.

He's not who he says he is.

The words on the page were a scream trapped in ink.

His name isn't Ethan. I don't know who he is. But I know I have to go.

A shiver ran down her spine.

She turned the page.

I found something. His real identity. But he caught me before I could get away. If something happens to me, it's because of him.

Lena clamped her hand over her mouth to muffle a gasp.

Ethan- or whoever he was lied about everything.

Her hands trembled as she turned the final page.

If I don't get out, I have to have someone know the truth.

And then, scrawled at the bottom in hurried handwriting-

A name - One she didn't recognize.

Noah Graves.

Lena stared at the name, her mind reeling.

Who was he?

She had no time to ponder as the sound of a car engine outside got closer.

Her heart leaped into her throat.

It was Ethan.

She shoved the pages into the drawer, relocked it, and returned the key to his blazer just as the front door opened.

She was by the bookshelf, pretending to read, by the time Ethan entered.

"Hi," he said, setting down his briefcase. "What are you up to?"

Lena turned, forcing a smile. "Just looking around."

He studied her for a moment, his face impossible to read.

Then he smiled.

"I was thinking," he said, "that we could sneak away for the weekend. Somewhere quiet, just the two of us."

Lena's blood ran cold.

She knew what this was - a test.

Ethan was testing her.

And if he suspected she was remembering, she'd never get another chance.

Lena pretended a happy smile, edging closer to him.

"That sounds perfect," she lied.

Since she had no choice.

But she did know one thing for certain-

She needed to locate Noah Graves.

And she needed to do it before Ethan realized she knew the truth.