Chapter 1: The Voice From The Past
“Nia… don’t turn around.””
Those five words destroyed everything I thought I knew.
My fingers tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white. I could barely breathe. The restaurant that had felt warm and elegant seconds earlier suddenly felt like a trap.
The candle flame between Daniel and me flickered softly.
The waiter laughed somewhere behind me.
A couple at the next table clinked their glasses together.
Normal sounds.
A normal night.
Except the dead man on my phone was telling me not to look behind me.
“Who is this?”” I whispered.
I already knew.
My heart knew before my mind allowed it.
There was no way.
There couldn’t be.
But then the voice came again.
“Nia, listen to me. Whatever Daniel tells you tonight, don’t believe him.””
The air left my lungs.
I stared across the table.
Daniel Reed.
The man who had held my hand while I cried for months.
The man who had stood beside me at the police station.
The man who told me, with tears in his eyes, that sometimes people disappear because they don’t want to be found.
The man who helped me accept that Marcus was gone.
Dead.
That was the word everyone used.
Dead.
Even though no body was ever found.
Even though a small part of me never stopped waiting.
Daniel looked up from his phone.
“You’re pale.””
I forced a smile.
“I’m fine.””
He studied me carefully.
“You sure?””
There was something strange in his voice.
Not concern.
Not exactly.
Something else.
Something I couldn’t identify.
The phone was still pressed against my ear.
The voice on the other end whispered.
“Hang up before he notices.””
I froze.
“How do you know he’s looking at me?””
A pause.
Then Marcus answered.
“Because I’m looking at him too.””
My stomach dropped.
I almost turned around.
Every part of me wanted to see him.
Wanted proof.
Wanted to see Marcus standing there alive after three years of nightmares.
But fear held me still.
Because if Marcus was alive…
Why had he let me believe he was dead?
And why was he hiding from Daniel?
I ended the call.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Then I placed my phone face down beside my wineglass.
Daniel leaned back.
“Bad news?””
“No.””
“You don’t look like someone who got good news.””
I laughed softly, pretending.
“I just got surprised.””
“By who?””
The question came too quickly.
A little too naturally.
I noticed.
Maybe because I had spent three years learning every detail about Daniel’s expressions.
Every movement.
Every pause.
“You’re curious tonight,” I said.
He smiled.
“About you? Always.””
Before, that smile would have comforted me.
Tonight, it made me uncomfortable.
I looked at him differently.
For three years, I had believed Daniel was the person who saved me.
But what if he was the person I needed saving from?
The thought was terrifying.
Because Daniel wasn’t some stranger.
He wasn’t a villain from a story.
He was family.
Marcus had trusted him.
I had trusted him.
We built our company around him.
When Marcus disappeared, Daniel became the person who kept everything from falling apart.
He handled the business.
He dealt with the lawyers.
He answered questions I couldn’t answer.
He was the person who stayed when Marcus left.
Or at least, that was what I believed.
“You’ve been quiet,” Daniel said.
I looked at him.
“Have I?””
“Yes.””
He reached across the table.
His hand covered mine.
Three years ago, that gesture would have felt comforting.
Tonight, I noticed something.
His wedding ring finger was empty.
Of course.
Daniel wasn’t married.
But for some reason, I had never noticed how often he touched that finger when he was nervous.
A habit.
A small movement.
A clue.
“You’re hiding something,” I said.
His expression changed for half a second.
Almost invisible.
Almost.
“What makes you say that?””
“Nothing.””
“Nia.””
The way he said my name made my chest tighten.
Marcus used to say my name like it was something precious.
Daniel said it like a warning.
“You know you can tell me anything,” he said.
I smiled.
“I know.””
But inside, I was thinking:
Can I?
Can I tell you that the man you helped me bury just called me?
Can I tell you that I heard his voice?
Can I tell you that he warned me about you?
The waiter arrived with our food.
A perfect interruption.
A perfect escape.
For a few minutes, we pretended everything was normal.
Daniel talked about business.
I nodded.
I laughed when I was supposed to laugh.
I took small bites of food I couldn’t taste.
But my mind was somewhere else.
Three years earlier.
The night Marcus disappeared.
The night that changed everything.
Marcus had never been the kind of man who vanished.
That was what made everyone believe something terrible happened.
Marcus Reed was organized.
Predictable.
The type of person who charged his phone before the battery reached fifty percent.
The type of person who texted if he was running five minutes late.
The type of person who left notes around the apartment reminding me to buy coffee.
He loved details.
He loved plans.
He loved me.
At least, I thought he did.
The last night I saw him, we had dinner at home.
He was distracted.
I remember that clearly.
He kept looking at his laptop.
Checking messages.
Standing up and walking away to answer calls.
I asked him what was wrong.
He smiled and said:
“Nothing you need to worry about.””
I hated that answer.
Because Marcus never said things like that.
Later that night, he kissed my forehead.
He told me he had to meet someone.
Someone from work.
He promised he would be back within an hour.
He never came home.
His car was found near the river.
The driver’s door was open.
His phone was destroyed.
No wallet.
No keys.
No Marcus.
The police searched for weeks.
Then months.
Eventually, everyone stopped saying “missing.””
They started saying “gone.””
Daniel was the one who sat beside me when they closed the case.
“He wouldn’t want you waiting forever,” Daniel told me.
I hated him for saying that.
But I needed someone to say it.
Because hope had become a prison.
A year passed.
Then another.
Then another.
And slowly, painfully, I started living again.
With Daniel.
I hated myself for it at first.
I thought loving someone new meant betraying Marcus.
But Daniel told me:
“Marcus would want you happy.””
Maybe that was why I believed him.
Maybe that was why tonight hurt so much.
Because if Marcus was alive…
Then everything I built my life on was a lie.
My phone vibrated again.
I looked down.
One message.
Unknown number.
My heart stopped.
*DON’T TRUST HIM. ASK HIM ABOUT THE NIGHT MARCUS DISAPPEARED.*
I stared at the screen.
Daniel noticed.
“What is it?””
I locked my phone.
“Nothing.””
His smile disappeared.
“Nia.””
“What?””
“Why are you lying to me?””
The restaurant suddenly felt smaller.
I looked at him.
“How do you know I’m lying?””
Silence.
Just for a moment.
But enough.
Enough to know.
Daniel knew.
Maybe not everything.
But something.
He leaned closer.
“I think we need to talk.””
My heartbeat became louder.
“About what?””
His eyes moved toward my phone.
May you like
Then back to me.
“About Marcus.””
