Chapter 46 Archive of Lies
Chloe looked stunned for a minute but she quickly went to the front door, bolted it and turned the open sign around.
For a second, Elena just stood there and looked at the "Closed" sign on the door and then back at the woman who was trembling in front of her.
“I don't know how to make sense of all of this. I grieved him for so long and seeing him just brought back sad memories." Chloe sniffled. "He was in the military and we were planning to get married before his first official assignment.”
"Julian never told me all this.”
Chloe shrugged. "I can't imagine why. Maybe we're not talking about the same man.”
“You have to help me, I think we're talking about the same man."
Chloe threw her hands up in exasperation. “But how?!"
“I don't know, okay?" Elena groaned. “It's just a nudge. A feeling, an intuition, call it what you like. But I know Julian had been lying to me and seeing him yesterday in that park, I had a feeling he was lying once more."
Chloe held her face and then sighed. “I have an idea. I'm taking you somewhere."
They didn't talk much as they left, Chloe grabbed her keys, her hands still shaking, and they walked out into the bright Savannah sun.
"The records office is ten minutes away," Chloe said. "If there’s proof, then it has to be there. Death certificates, accident reports, everything."
As they walked, Elena looked at Chloe’s face. She looked so much like the woman Julian should be with. She looked docile and obedient and pretty. They looked nothing alike.
"I have to ask," Elena said as they turned a corner. "Your name is Chloe Miller. You said he was Samson Miller. Did you... were you already married?"
Chloe shook her head, a sad smile touching her lips. "No. It was just a coincidence. We had the same last name. In college, everyone used to tease us about it. They’d say we were siblings, and we’d just laugh and say we were meant to be. It was one of the things that brought us together. We had this amazing love story, Elena. It was perfect until that mountain pass ruined everything."
They reached the city records office. It was a squat brick building that looked like it hadn't been updated since the seventies. Inside, a woman sat behind a glass partition, typing slowly on a keyboard.
"We need to see the archives from ten years ago," Elena said, stepping up to the window. "Military accidents. Specifically the death records for Samson Miller."
The secretary didn't even look up. "The archives manager is out for the day. You’ll have to come back in a week. File a request form at the desk."
"I don't have a week," Elena said, her voice rising. "I’m leaving this town in twenty-four hours. I need those records now."
"Policy is policy," the woman said, finally looking up with a bored expression. "Check back next Wednesday."
Elena didn't hesitate. She reached into her purse and pulled out a thick envelope of cash, part of what she had kept from Eva’s "loan." She slid it under the glass.
The secretary’s eyes widened as she saw the sheer amount of money sitting there. It was more than she probably made in three months.
Chloe gasped, grabbing Elena’s arm. "Elena! That is way too much. Are you sure about this? This is a small town, you can't just—"
"I’m sure," Elena said, her eyes fixed on the secretary. "I want the truth, and I want it now. Is the manager still out, or can we find a way into that room?"
The secretary looked at the money, then at the empty hallway behind her. She moved with surprising speed, grabbing the envelope and dropping it into her drawer.
Then she cleared her throat, stood up and pulled a heavy ring of keys from her belt.
"Follow me," she whispered. "And be quick."
She led them through a set of double doors and down a flight of stairs into the basement.
The archives were a maze of floor-to-ceiling metal shelves filled with gray boxes. The woman pointed to a section labeled 'M' and then disappeared back upstairs.
Chloe moved through the aisles like she had been there before. She stopped at a box labeled ‘Military Casualty Reports: 2015-2016’. She groaned as she pulled the heavy box down and set it on a dusty table.
"Help me find it," Chloe said.
They dug through the files and finally, Chloe pulled out a manila folder. It was thick, with a red 'Confidential' stamp that had faded with time.
She opened it and a small, plastic-sleeve photo album slid out.
Elena picked it up and at once, her heart stopped.
She stared at the first photo. It was Julian. There was no doubt about it. The bone structure, the height, the way he stood with his head slightly tilted to the left, it was him.
But he looked younger, maybe twenty-two. His eyes were a deep, warm brown, not the icy blue that looked at her every morning. And right there, cutting into his hairline, was the thin, jagged scar Chloe had pointed out that day.
"It's him," Elena whispered, her voice failing her. "It’s really him."
Chloe leaned over her shoulder, a sob breaking from her throat. "That was taken two weeks before the accident. Look at his eyes, Elena. He was so happy then."
Elena flipped through the pages. There were photos of Samson in uniform, Samson laughing with Chloe at a beach, Samson standing next to an older man who looked vaguely familiar.
"How?" Elena asked, her head spinning. "How did he go from a dead soldier in a mountain pass to a billionaire's lawyer in Chicago? He’s been living with me for weeks. He’s my husband. And he hasn't said a single word about any of this. He looked you in the eye and told you he didn't know you."
"He looked like he didn't know me," Chloe said, touching the photo of Samson’s face. "But how is that possible? Does he have amnesia? Or is he just that good of a liar?"
"He's a damn good liar," Elena hissed. "I’ve been living with a stranger, Chloe. Our marriage was a contract, but I didn't think it was built with such gravity of lies! He's been deceiving me for months!"
Elena felt betrayed and angry. She grabbed the photo album, tucking it under her arm.
"Wait!" Chloe called out as Elena started toward the stairs. "What are you doing? Where are you going? Can I... can I see him again? I love him, Elena. I never stopped."
Elena stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned around. .
"The man you loved died ten years ago in those mountains, Chloe," Elena said coldly. "The man back at that hotel... he’s a cold, detached bastard. He doesn't have a heart and he doesn't care about you or me."
"Elena, please—"
"Stay away from him," Elena warned. "For your own sake. If he’s what I think he is, he’s dangerous."
Elena stormed up the stairs. The secretary was waiting by the door, her face pale.
"You can't take that!" the woman hissed, pointing at the album. "If my boss finds out the record is missing, I’ll lose my job!"
Elena didn't even slow down. She reached into her purse, pulled out another massive wad of cash, and threw it at the woman's feet. .
"Tell your boss a pipe burst and ruined it," Elena snapped. "Or tell him you lost it. I don't care. Just stay out of my way."
She burst through the front doors of the records office and flagged down a taxi.
As she slid into the back seat, her phone began to vibrate in her purse. She pulled it out and saw eight missed calls from Julian. A string of text messages followed.
‘Where are you?’
‘The town spa says they don't have a booking for you.’
‘Elena, pick up your phone.’
She didn't reply. She couldn't even look at his name without feeling a wave of nausea.
She stared at the photo album in her lap, at the brown eyes of the boy.
She spent the ride to the hotel booking a flight on her phone. She didn't care about the riverfront tour or the stupid romantic dinner.
She was going back to Chicago without that chronic liar!