Chapter 174: The Woman in the Footage

Chapter 175 – The Woman in the Footage

The room fell into complete silence.

Aria stared at the frozen image on the monitor as if looking away would make it disappear. The grainy security footage showed the stranger standing outside the gate, but it was the woman beside him who held everyone's attention. Her face was blurred by interference, impossible to recognize, yet the silver pendant resting against her chest was unmistakable.

Without thinking, Aria reached for the necklace hanging around her own neck.

Her fingertips trembled.

"I've seen this before," she whispered.

Daniel looked at her immediately.

"Where?"

She shook her head, frustrated.

"I don't know."

The harder she searched her memory, the further the answer slipped away.

An analyst stepped closer to the monitor. "I've enhanced every frame we recovered. This is the clearest image we have."

Daniel folded his arms.

"Can you identify the pendant?"

"It doesn't appear in any public database."

The analyst hesitated.

"But there is something strange."

"What?"

He enlarged the image until only the pendant filled the screen.

"Look closely."

Daniel leaned in.

So did Aria.

Around the edge of the pendant was a pattern of tiny engraved symbols. They weren't decorative. They formed a sequence.

Coordinates.

Daniel's expression changed.

"Can you isolate them?"

"I'm trying."

The computer processed the image while everyone waited.

Seconds felt like minutes.

Finally, a location appeared on the screen.

It wasn't a city.

It wasn't a street.

It was an abandoned estate several hours outside the city.

The room grew quiet again.

One of the officers frowned.

"According to public records, that place burned down nearly twenty years ago."

Aria's heart skipped.

Twenty years.

The same period the stranger had hinted at.

Daniel looked at her.

"Does that place mean anything to you?"

She opened her mouth to answer.

Before a single word came out, another memory flashed through her mind.

A child running through white flowers.

A stone fountain.

A woman kneeling with tears in her eyes.

Then a large iron gate.

The gate from her memory...

Looked exactly like the gate shown in the satellite image of the abandoned estate.

Aria staggered backward.

Daniel caught her before she fell.

"What did you remember?"

She stared at the screen, her face drained of color.

"I've been there."

The room froze.

Daniel searched her face carefully.

"When?"

A tear rolled slowly down her cheek.

"I don't know..."

Her voice barely rose above a whisper.

"But I think..."

She looked back at the image of the ruined estate.

"...that's where my life really began."