“Reborn With the Future in My Hands”

Chapter 9: What Amelia Remembers

Ethan's phone remained in his hand.

[Amelia Rose's survival is now uncertain.]

The words refused to disappear from his mind.

He looked at Victor.

“What does that mean?”

Victor shook his head.

“I don't know.”

“You said you knew why someone wanted Amelia dead.”

“I said I found records connected to her. I never said I understood everything.”

Ethan's eyes hardened.

“Then start understanding.”

Victor glanced toward the shattered window.

“We need to leave.”

“Not yet.”

“Ethan, whoever fired that shot knew exactly where we were.”

“So?”

“So they knew about our meeting.”

Ethan looked around the café.

The customers were gone.

The waiter was hiding behind the counter.

No police sirens yet.

That bothered him.

Someone had fired a gun in the middle of the city, and there was no immediate response.

Either the shooter was extremely careful—

or someone had made sure nobody would respond quickly.

Ethan stood.

“Where's Amelia?”

Victor's expression changed.

“I don't know.”

Ethan immediately called her.

No answer.

Again.

Nothing.

His stomach tightened.

He opened their last conversation.

Her final message was still there.

**I'll be at home tonight.**

Ethan checked the time.

It had been almost an hour.

He called again.

This time, the call connected.

But there was no voice.

“Amelia?”

Silence.

“Amelia, can you hear me?”

A faint sound came through the phone.

Breathing.

Then a whisper.

“Ethan…”

He stood completely still.

“Where are you?”

“I don't know.”

“What happened?”

“I was in my room.”

Her breathing became unsteady.

“Someone came into the house.”

Ethan's face hardened.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Where are your parents?”

“I don't know.”

“Amelia, listen to me. Lock the door and don't leave the room.”

“I already did.”

A pause.

“Ethan…”

“Yes?”

“I remember something.”

His heart stopped.

“What?”

“I've seen that warehouse before.”

Ethan exchanged a look with Victor.

“When?”

“I don't know.”

“Try to remember.”

Amelia was silent.

Then she spoke slowly.

“I was little.”

“How little?”

“Maybe four or five.”

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

“That would have been around 2000.”

“Yes.”

“What did you see?”

“A woman.”

Ethan felt a chill.

“Elena?”

“I don't know her name.”

“Describe her.”

“She had blood on her clothes.”

Victor stepped closer.

Ethan put the phone on speaker.

Amelia continued.

“She was holding my hand.”

Ethan and Victor looked at each other.

“She told me not to cry.”

“What else?”

“She said someone was coming.”

“Who?”

“I don't know.”

“Amelia, think.”

Silence.

Then Amelia suddenly gasped.

“I remember a door.”

“What door?”

“There was a number.”

Ethan's pulse increased.

“Which number?”

“B-17.”

Victor's face went pale.

Ethan's grip tightened around the phone.

“Amelia, what happened inside B-17?”

“I don't remember.”

“You must have seen something.”

“I remember a man.”

“What man?”

“He was talking to my mother.”

Ethan froze.

“Your mother?”

“Yes.”

“Was Elena your mother?”

Silence.

“I don't know.”

Ethan looked at Victor.

The mystery was becoming more complicated.

If Amelia had memories from 2000, why did she remember a woman connected to the 1996 fire?

Unless—

The woman hadn't disappeared in 1996.

She had survived.

And she had remained close to Amelia.

“Amelia,” Ethan said carefully, “what did the man say?”

She began crying quietly.

“I remember one sentence.”

“What sentence?”

“He said…”

Her voice broke.

“He said, ‘The girl must never remember who she really is.’”

Ethan's blood ran cold.

Victor whispered,

“Oh God.”

Ethan ignored him.

“Amelia, who was the man?”

“I don't know.”

“Look around you. Is there anything nearby that can help you remember?”

A long silence followed.

Then Amelia spoke again.

“There is a box.”

“What box?”

“Under my bed.”

“Open it.”

“I can't.”

“Why?”

“Because someone is outside my door.”

Ethan immediately stood.

“Amelia, listen carefully. Do not open the door.”

“I won't.”

“I'm coming.”

“Ethan…”

“What?”

“There's something else.”

“What?”

“I know your father.”

Ethan froze.

“What?”

“I saw him that night.”

Victor stared at Ethan.

Amelia's voice became quieter.

“He was with the woman.”

Ethan's mind raced.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Amelia, what was my father doing?”

“I don't know.”

Then she whispered something that made Ethan's blood run cold.

“He gave the woman a baby.”

Silence.

Ethan couldn't breathe.

A baby.

The same child Richard had mentioned.

The same child Elena had supposedly carried out of the warehouse.

But Amelia had been a child herself.

How could she remember?

Unless the memory wasn't hers.

Unless someone had shown it to her.

Or unless Amelia had been there much earlier than anyone knew.

Ethan looked at Victor.

“Take me to the Rose house.”

Victor shook his head.

“That's suicide.”

“I don't care.”

“You should.”

Ethan's phone suddenly crackled.

Amelia screamed.

Then the line went dead.

“Amelia!”

No response.

Ethan immediately ran toward the café entrance.

Victor grabbed his arm.

“Wait.”

“Let go.”

“Think.”

Ethan stopped.

Victor pointed toward the street.

A black SUV had just stopped outside.

Two men stepped out.

Ethan's expression hardened.

“They found us.”

Victor looked at him.

“Then we're already too late.”

The SUV's rear door opened.

A third person stepped out.

A man wearing a dark coat.

He looked directly at Ethan.

Then he raised his phone.

Ethan's phone vibrated.

Unknown Number.

One message.

**You should have listened to your father.**

Another message arrived.

**Amelia is not the girl you think she is.**

Ethan stared at the screen.

Then the final message appeared.

**And neither are you.**