The question lingered between them, obvious and intentional, with Anna growing more anxious by the second. She needed to know. Needed to understand what had truly happened to him.
She did not rember him ever telling her how he died.
But now, as Daniel himself reflected on it, sothing in his expression shifted.
Sothing uncertain.
Sothing incomplete.
"I... don’t know," he admitted quietly.
Anna blinked.
"You don’t know?" she repeated, disbelief evident in her voice.
It made no sense.
How could he rember their past? Their marriage. Their child. Her death.
And yet not rember his own?
Her heart pounded harder.
Daniel saw the questions forming in her eyes, the fear hidden beneath her confusion, and he spoke quickly.
"It is not that I rember nothing," he explained calmly. "I only recalled fragnts during the last session."
Anna listened carefully.
"Before I could see more," he continued, "I suffered a severe headache. Jason had to stop the session midway."
At the ntion of Jason, Anna’s brows furrowed slightly.
Daniel rarely spoke about that day in detail.
He had only ntioned that he was trying to recover pieces of his past through guided mory sessions. But he had never explained what had happened when things went wrong.
Now, he told her everything.
"It ended abruptly," he said quietly. "Before I could see anything clearly."
He paused.
"I never saw how I died."
Anna felt a chill run down her spine.
He had not even realized it himself.
He did not know whether he had died naturally... or if soone had taken his life too.
"This is not helping," she muttered under her breath.
Her mind raced.
If soone had pushed her... then who was it?
And why?
And if Daniel could not rember his own death...
Was it possible that he had been silenced too?
Her fingers curled tightly into the blanket.
The possibility made her uneasy.
Because it ant one thing.
Whoever had wanted her gone... might have wanted him gone as well.
And if that was true...
Then this was never an accident.
It was sothing deliberate.
Sothing planned.
She looked at Daniel, her chest tightening.
What frightened her the most was not the past.
It was the present.
Because if the truth had been buried once...
What was stopping it from repeating itself?
"Should I et Jason again?" Daniel asked gently.
His voice pulled her out of her spiraling thoughts.
"I could try another session," he continued. "Maybe I will rember more."
He watched her carefully.
He did not want her to carry this burden alone.
He had brought this up because he wanted answers. Because he wanted to know who had taken her from him. Why no one had uncovered the truth. Why he had lived and died believing a lie.
But now, seeing the distress in her eyes, he questioned whether reopening those mories was the right choice.
"I do not want you to worry," he added softly.
Anna looked at him.
Worry was inevitable.
Because this was no longer just about mory.
It was about danger.
It was about truth.
And the terrifying possibility that the person responsible had never truly left their lives.
Her voice was quiet when she spoke.
"If rembering puts you in danger..."
She could not finish the sentence.
Daniel reached for her hand, holding it firmly.
"I am not afraid of rembering," he said.
His grip tightened slightly.
"I am afraid of not knowing."
Because ignorance had cost them everything once. And now they don’t want to repeat the sa.
***
[Bennett Mansion]
"Yesterday, I summoned Officer Clent regarding the ongoing investigation on Collin," Hugo said calmly, setting his teacup aside with deliberate precision.
The soft clink of porcelain against the saucer echoed faintly in the otherwise quiet dining room.
Roseline, who had been eating monts ago, froze.
Her fork hovered above her plate before she slowly lowered it. She did not look at him. Instead, her gaze remained fixed on the untouched food before her, her posture carefully controlled.
"Unfortunately," Hugo continued, his voice steady and asured, "they have not been able to locate him whatsoever."
A shallow breath escaped her before she could stop it.
She reached for her glass of juice, her fingers wrapping around it as if anchoring herself. She lifted it to her lips, taking a small sip to steady her nerves.
"Is there anything else he ntioned?" she asked, her voice carefully neutral.
She tried to sound unaffected.
Uninterested.
But she could feel Hugo’s eyes on her.
Watching.
Observing.
Waiting.
"Indeed," Hugo replied.
He paused intentionally, letting the silence stretch just enough to make her uncomfortable.
Roseline’s fingers tightened slightly around the glass.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him lean back in his chair, his expression unreadable save for the faint curl at the corner of his lips.
"He said," Hugo continued slowly, "that you visited the hospital the very sa day Collin escaped."
Roseline’s face paled instantly.
Her grip on the glass loosened just enough that it nearly slipped from her hand. She caught it quickly, her fingers trembling despite her effort to remain composed.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
But she forced herself to breathe.
Forced herself to think.
"That is just a coincidence," she said carefully.
Her voice did not betray her.
Not yet.
"I rember visiting the doctor that day," she added. "It was the sa hospital."
She lifted her eyes then, cautiously eting Hugo’s gaze.
He was still watching her.
Still smiling faintly.
Not warmly.
Not kindly.
But knowingly.
As if he were not listening to her words, but asuring the truth behind them.
Roseline held his gaze, refusing to look away first.
But inside, unease coiled tightly in her chest.
"But is it not surprising to call it a coincidence?" Hugo asked calmly.
Roseline’s breath caught.
For a split second, her composure faltered, but she quickly forced a smile onto her lips. It was practiced. Controlled.
"Yes," she agreed lightly. "It is."
She lifted her glass again, more to occupy her hands than out of thirst.
Hugo did not touch his cup.
He simply watched her.
"So," he continued, his voice smooth but deliberate, "why did you visit the doctor? And how is it that I was not aware you were unwell?"
The smile on Roseline’s face stiffened.
Her eyes flickered away from his, and she let out a soft laugh, as if dismissing the matter entirely.
"It was nothing serious," she said. "Just a routine checkup."
She set the glass down carefully, ensuring her hands did not betray their trembling.
"I did not want to trouble anyone by calling the doctor ho," she added. "So I decided to visit the hospital myself."
Her explanation was reasonable.
Simple.
Believable.
But Hugo did not respond imdiately.
The silence stretched.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Then, finally, he spoke.
"But the doctor you were supposed to et," he said slowly, his gaze never leaving her face, "inford that you never arrived."
Roseline’s heart slamd violently against her ribs.
Her fingers curled against her lap beneath the table.
"And that you cancelled the appointnt the very sa day."
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