Part 28
Alex's POV
Aura had always been good at staying unseen.
That was how she'd survived before him — reading people, tracking movements, memorizing patterns.
So when Adrian sent the message to his security contact, she saw it the moment it left his phone.
He'd used a private channel, encrypted, hidden under an old friend's name.
But encryption meant nothing to her.
She'd learned how to follow the echoes — metadata, log trails, timing delays.
He didn't know she'd been trained for this long before she met him.
Still, when she saw his message, her heart didn't harden.
It ached.
Find out who she really is. Quietly.
He was afraid.
Not of her presence, but of her truth.
And fear could be fixed — she'd done it before.
That night she sat in her apartment, surrounded by documents that didn't exist.
Birth records that weren't hers, contracts forged from dead names, photos from cities she'd never visited.
It wasn't about hiding herself anymore.
It was about keeping the illusion alive long enough for him to feel safe again.
She whispered softly into the quiet:
"You don't need to look for me, Adrian. I will always be with you."
Still, a part of her hurt — the part that wanted him to want the truth.
To see the woman beneath the masks and still call her name without fear.
So she wrote the note.
You don't have to search for me. I'll tell you when you're ready.
Her handwriting was steady, even though her hands trembled.
It wasn't a threat; it was a promise.
A promise that she'd wait until he could understand what she'd done — why she'd done it.
Before dawn, she slipped into the parking garage and placed the note on his dashboard.
She lingered there for a moment, fingers brushing the cool glass, feeling the faint echo of his presence from the night before.
You were supposed to be safe, she thought again. Even if I had to be the danger that protects you.
Then she walked away, her reflection fading in the rearview mirror, the scent of flowers following her like a shadow.