Chapter 7: The Day Ryan Forgot
Ryan spent the next hour staring at the same message.
“You saved my life.”
The words felt impossible.
Not because he didn’t believe Emily.
Because a small part of him was afraid that he did.
There was a strange feeling inside him.
A memory trying to surface.
A door in his mind that had been locked for years.
But every time he reached for it, something pushed him away.
Detective Hale noticed his expression.
“What happened?”
Ryan slowly handed him the phone.
The detective read the message.
His face changed.
“You received this from Emily?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Just now.”
Detective Hale looked around the apartment.
“That’s impossible.”
Ryan looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Emily’s phone has been missing since the night she disappeared.”
Ryan frowned.
“Then how did she send this?”
Detective Hale did not answer.
Because neither of them had an explanation.
They returned to the station with the USB drive.
The file inside was encrypted.
For hours, technicians tried to open it.
Ryan sat in silence.
His mind kept returning to one question.
What happened three years ago?
He searched through his memories.
Nothing.
No Emily.
No Claire.
No rescue.
Only fragments.
Rain.
A road.
A voice.
Then nothing.
At 4:36 in the morning, the computer finally unlocked.
Everyone in the room became silent.
A folder appeared.
The name:
PROJECT MIRROR.
Detective Hale looked concerned.
“What is that?”
Ryan stared.
“I don’t know.”
Inside were hundreds of files.
Photos.
Reports.
Surveillance videos.
Names.
Ryan opened the first document.
PROJECT MIRROR:
Behavioral Analysis Program.
Purpose:
Identify individuals capable of influencing high-risk subjects.
Ryan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Detective Hale continued reading.
“It means they were studying people.”
“Why?”
The detective scrolled down.
Then stopped.
His expression changed.
Ryan noticed.
“What?”
Hale turned the screen.
At the bottom of the document was a signature.
Director Lucas Reed.
Ryan felt his blood turn cold.
“Lucas…”
The café cashier.
The man who served Emily coffee every morning.
The man who knew her routine.
He wasn’t just watching her.
He was part of something much bigger.
Ryan opened another file.
A video.
The timestamp was three years ago.
The location:
Downtown bridge.
Ryan pressed play.
The screen showed a rainy night.
A younger Ryan walking alone.
Then he stopped.
Because he saw something.
A woman running.
A car approaching.
A crash.
Ryan stood frozen.
The video continued.
The woman fell.
The car disappeared.
And Ryan ran toward her.
Ryan’s breathing became heavy.
“That’s…”
Detective Hale looked at him.
“You remember?”
“No.”
Ryan stared.
“That’s impossible.”
On the screen, Ryan knelt beside the injured woman.
Her face was hidden.
But then she looked up.
The camera caught her face.
Young.
Terrified.
Emily.
Ryan stepped backward.
“No…”
Detective Hale watched him.
“You saved her.”
Ryan shook his head.
“But why don’t I remember?”
The video continued.
A second person appeared.
A man.
He approached Ryan and Emily.
The video quality was poor.
But Ryan recognized him.
Lucas Reed.
Ryan’s eyes widened.
“He was there.”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
The video ended.
A final file opened automatically.
A document.
Subject:
Ryan Carter.
Status:
Memory alteration successful.
Ryan stopped breathing.
“What?”
Detective Hale read the screen.
“Memory alteration?”
Ryan grabbed the chair.
“No.”
The words felt unreal.
“You’re saying someone erased my memory?”
The detective looked serious.
“Yes.”
Ryan stared at the screen.
“But why?”
A new line appeared.
Procedure reason:
To protect Subject Ryan Carter from retaliation.
Ryan looked confused.
“Protect me?”
Then another line appeared.
Additional note:
Subject Ryan must not remember Claire Morgan.
Ryan felt like the world collapsed.
Claire Morgan.
Emily’s real name.
Someone had erased his memory of her.
Not because he was irrelevant.
Because he was important.
At that moment, every piece began connecting.
The café.
Emily watching him.
The list.
The investigation.
The fake rescue.
All of it.
Ryan was not randomly pulled into Emily’s life.
He had already been part of it.
Years before.
Later that morning, Detective Hale received a call.
His face changed while listening.
“What happened?” Ryan asked.
The detective ended the call.
“Derek escaped.”
Ryan immediately stood.
“Where?”
“He’s heading here.”
“Why?”
Hale looked worried.
“Because he found something.”
Ten minutes later, Derek entered the station.
He looked exhausted.
But alive.
Ryan rushed toward him.
“Where were you?”
Derek ignored the question.
He looked at Ryan.
“You remembered.”
Ryan froze.
“What?”
Derek looked at Detective Hale.
“You told him?”
Hale shook his head.
“He found the files.”
Derek closed his eyes.
“Then it’s worse than I thought.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“What happened three years ago?”
Derek looked at him.
“I was there.”
Ryan’s expression changed.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
Derek looked guilty.
“Because I promised Emily.”
Ryan felt anger rising.
“You all knew except me?”
Derek lowered his head.
“You weren’t supposed to remember.”
“Why?”
Derek looked at him.
“Because the night you saved Emily…”
A pause.
“You didn’t just save her.”
Ryan waited.
“You exposed someone.”
“Who?”
Derek looked toward the window.
Then whispered:
“Your own father.”
The room became silent.
Ryan stared.
“My father?”
Derek nodded.
“The man behind Project Mirror.”
Ryan felt numb.
His father had died years ago.
Or at least that was what he believed.
Derek continued:
“And the person who ordered your memory to be erased…”
Ryan whispered:
“Who?”
Derek looked directly at him.
“Emily.”
Ryan froze.
“No.”
Derek’s voice broke.
“She did it to save you.”
Before Ryan could respond, every screen in the police station suddenly turned black.
A message appeared.
Not from Lucas.
Not from Emily.
From someone else.
Someone who should have been dead.
The message read:
“Ryan Carter.”
“You finally remembered.”
A second line appeared.
“Now I can come home.”
Ryan stared at the name appearing beneath the message.
His entire body went cold.
May you like
Because the person who sent it…
was his father.
