Emma read the sentence again.

Your past knows where you are.

For several seconds, she couldn’t breathe.

The apartment suddenly felt smaller.

Darker.

Colder.

Mia watched her carefully.

“Emma?”

She didn’t answer.

“Who sent this?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re lying.”

Emma folded the letter.

“I said I don’t know.”

Mia stepped closer.

“You know exactly who it is.”

Emma looked away.

For months, she had tried to forget the man who had broken her heart.

But some memories refused to disappear.

His name was Lucas.

They had been together for three years.

He had promised her forever.

Then she discovered that he had been seeing someone else.

When Emma confronted him, he didn’t apologize.

He simply said:

“You’ll never find anyone who loves you the way I did.”

Those words had stayed with her.

She had left the city the following week.

She never looked back.

At least, she had tried not to.

Mia sat beside her.

“Do you think Lucas found you?”

“I don’t know.”

“You have to tell Ethan.”

Emma immediately shook her head.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want him involved.”

Mia stared at her.

“You care about him.”

Emma looked down.

“That’s exactly why.”

---

The next morning, Emma woke up early.

She barely slept.

Her phone showed a message from Ethan.

Breakfast?

She stared at it.

For a moment, she considered telling him everything.

Then she typed:

Sure.

She couldn’t lose him.

Not yet.

---

Ethan was waiting outside the café.

The moment he saw her, his smile appeared.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

He studied her face.

“You didn’t sleep.”

“I’m fine.”

He sighed.

“You know, you’re becoming terrible at lying.”

Emma tried to smile.

“I’m just tired.”

He didn’t believe her.

But he didn’t push.

They sat at their usual table.

Ethan ordered her favorite coffee.

Emma looked at him.

“How do you remember everything?”

“I pay attention.”

She smiled.

“I wish everyone did.”

His expression softened.

“I wish you would let me.”

“Let you what?”

“Know what’s really going on.”

Emma looked down.

She knew this moment would come.

But she wasn’t ready.

“Ethan…”

He reached across the table.

“You don’t have to tell me everything.”

She looked at him.

“But?”

“But don’t shut me out.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I don’t want my past to ruin this.”

Ethan gently held her hand.

“Your past can’t ruin something unless you let it.”

She wanted to believe him.

She almost told him.

Then her phone vibrated.

Unknown number.

You should have stayed away from him.

Emma’s face went pale.

Ethan noticed.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

She turned the phone over.

But Ethan had already seen her expression.

He knew something was wrong.

---

That evening, Emma returned to her apartment.

The lights were on.

She stopped outside the door.

She knew she had turned them off.

Her hand trembled as she opened it.

Nothing appeared to be missing.

Everything looked normal.

Then she noticed something on her pillow.

A photograph.

It was a picture of Emma and Ethan walking along the beach.

It had been taken that afternoon.

Emma’s blood ran cold.

Someone had been watching them.

She immediately called Ethan.

He answered on the first ring.

“Emma?”

“Where are you?”

“At home.”

“Come here.”

He didn’t ask questions.

“I’ll be there.”

Twenty minutes later, Ethan arrived.

Emma showed him the photograph.

His expression changed immediately.

“Who took this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Have you received other messages?”

She hesitated.

“Emma.”

She handed him her phone.

He read the messages.

His jaw tightened.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was scared.”

He looked at her.

“Of him?”

“Of losing you.”

Ethan stepped closer.

“You can’t lose someone who hasn’t left.”

She looked into his eyes.

“What if he hurts you?”

“Then we deal with it together.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then explain it to me.”

Emma finally broke.

“His name is Lucas.”

She told him everything.

The relationship.

The betrayal.

The lies.

The reason she left.

Ethan listened without interrupting.

When she finished, he asked:

“Does he know where you live?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Does he know about me?”

She shook her head.

“He does now.”

Silence.

Ethan looked at the photograph again.

“We need to report this.”

Emma nodded.

“Okay.”

He took her hand.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

She whispered:

“I’m afraid.”

“I know.”

He pulled her into his arms.

Emma rested her head against his chest.

For the first time in years, she allowed herself to cry without hiding it.

---

The following day, Emma and Ethan went to the police.

The photograph was submitted as evidence.

The threatening messages were saved.

An investigation began.

But there was a problem.

Lucas couldn’t be found.

His old address was empty.

His phone was disconnected.

His social media accounts had disappeared.

It was as if he had vanished.

Ethan wasn’t convinced.

“He’s still somewhere.”

Emma looked at him.

“How do you know?”

“Because people who want to disappear don’t usually leave photographs behind.”

Emma shivered.

---

That afternoon, Ethan took Emma somewhere unexpected.

His grandfather’s old house stood on the edge of the countryside.

It was quiet.

Beautiful.

Surrounded by trees.

Emma looked around.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Because I want you somewhere safe.”

She smiled faintly.

“You think this place is safe?”

“I know it is.”

They walked inside.

The house smelled like old books and wood.

Emma noticed photographs covering the walls.

Ethan as a child.

His parents.

His grandfather.

His childhood.

She stopped at one photograph.

A little boy stood beside an older man.

“That’s you.”

Ethan smiled.

“Unfortunately.”

“You were cute.”

“I still am.”

Emma laughed.

He smiled.

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

They walked into the kitchen.

Ethan prepared dinner.

Emma watched him.

“You can cook?”

“A little.”

“How little?”

“You’ll find out.”

He made pasta.

It wasn’t perfect.

The sauce was slightly too salty.

Emma laughed after the first bite.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s terrible.”

He stared at her.

“You said that last time.”

“And you still cooked.”

“I was hoping you’d improve.”

He laughed.

“You’re impossible.”

They ate together.

For a few hours, the fear disappeared.

There was no Lucas.

No threatening messages.

No past.

Just two people sitting across from each other.

After dinner, they went outside.

The sky was filled with stars.

Emma sat on the wooden steps.

Ethan sat beside her.

“Do you regret meeting me?”

She looked at him.

“Never.”

“Even with everything happening?”

“Especially because of everything.”

He smiled.

She leaned against his shoulder.

“I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Ethan became completely still.

“What?”

Emma looked embarrassed.

“I said I think…”

“I heard you.”

He smiled.

Then he gently turned toward her.

“Emma.”

“Yes?”

“I’m not letting you finish that sentence with ‘think.'”

She laughed.

He whispered:

“I love you.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Already?”

“I tried not to.”

“Did it work?”

“No.”

She smiled.

“Good.”

He kissed her forehead.

Then her cheek.

Then finally, softly, her lips.

The kiss was warm and gentle.

A promise without words.

But before they could say anything else, a car stopped outside the gate.

Emma’s smile disappeared.

Ethan stood.

The headlights switched off.

A man stepped out.

Emma couldn’t see his face.

Then the man slowly walked toward them.

Ethan moved in front of Emma.

The stranger stopped several feet away.

He raised his head.

Emma’s heart stopped.

She knew that face.

Lucas.

He smiled.

“Hello, Emma.”

And suddenly, the summer that had brought her love…

Was about to become the summer that tested it.

To be continued…