Chapter 5

Aaren Crane POV:

My first few months in Haven's Bend, Oregon, were characterized by a deliberate, almost militant, avoidance of human connection. I was a ghost in plain sight, a shadow slipping through the coastal fog. I had chosen the name "Anna Reed," a simple, unassuming alias, easy to remember, easier to forget.

I spoke only when necessary. "Coffee, please," I'd say to the local barista, my eyes focused on the swirling patterns in my cup. "Just the essentials," I'd tell the grocery clerk, counting out exact change. My interactions were transactional, devoid of warmth, designed to build invisible walls around a bruised and wary heart.

The townspeople, a close-knit bunch, initially tried to draw me in. A friendly nod, an invitation to a community potluck, a casual inquiry about my past. But my polite, distant smiles and carefully vague answers soon put an end to their efforts. They labeled me "the quiet one," "the reserved newcomer," and eventually, they simply left me alone.

It was exactly what I wanted. The anonymity was a balm, a cool compress on a burning wound. Here, I wasn't Graham's trophy wife, not the silent partner in his grand narrative. I was just Anna. A woman with no past, no expectations, and no one to disappoint. The solitude, which once seemed a terrifying prospect, had become my most trusted shield, protecting me from the echoes of a life I had so desperately fled.

I bought a small, unassuming cottage with a wide porch and a view of the churning Pacific. It wasn't grand, but it was mine. Here, I found my way back to art, not with the dazzling, expensive jewels that had once been my medium, but with clay. Pottery. Earthy, humble, grounding. There was a raw, visceral satisfaction in shaping something beautiful from dirt. My hands, once accustomed to the delicate precision of gold and diamonds, now reveled in the messy, tactile joy of the wheel.

I opened a small pottery studio, tucked away from the main street. No fanfare, no grand opening. Just a simple sign, "Haven Clay Studio." My ambition wasn't fame or fortune, but the quiet satisfaction of creation. The intricate, delicate designs of my past had given way to simpler, more organic forms-bowls, mugs, vases, each bearing the imprint of my hands, my renewed spirit.

I began to teach. Mostly children, their small, eager hands covered in clay, their faces lit with pure, unadulterated joy. There was a six-year-old boy named Leo, with bright, curious eyes, who would insist on showing me every lopsided creation. His unburdened enthusiasm was infectious, a gentle current pulling me back toward the light. Seeing their simple delight in creation, in the process itself, reminded me of the pure, uncorrupted essence of art, stripped of ego and expectation. It was a profound lesson in rediscovering purpose.

One afternoon, a discreet email arrived from the private investigative firm I had hired two years ago. "Status Update: Graham Hobbs." My stomach tightened, a familiar clenching that even two years of peace hadn't entirely eradicated.

I opened the encrypted attachment. A detailed report of Graham's activities. "Mr. Hobbs continues his public mourning of his late wife, Aaren Crane," the report read. "He has funded several maritime safety initiatives in her name. His architecture firm, Hobbs-Garza, has seen unparalleled success, largely attributed to Ms. Elia Garza's continued presence and innovative contributions. Mr. Hobbs has also made significant purchases of contemporary jewelry art, specifically pieces by an anonymous designer whose work bears a striking resemblance to Ms. Crane's earlier, unreleased designs."

A bitter, sardonic laugh escaped me. He was buying my ghost. He mourned an image, a carefully constructed narrative of a grieving widower. He wasn't mourning me. He was mourning the convenient accessory he had lost, the woman who played her part so dutifully. He was rewriting our history, making himself the tragic hero.

"Is he still looking for me?" I typed back, the words cold and precise.

The reply came swiftly. "His public efforts have ceased. However, our deep-cover operatives indicate a continued, private obsession with locating any trace of you. He is particularly fixated on the anonymous jewelry designer's work, believing it to be a posthumous expression of your genius."

He was buying my old work. He was collecting pieces of a phantom, trying to piece together a memory he had never truly cherished when it was alive. He wanted to possess my art, just as he had wanted to possess me. It wasn't love; it was a desperate attempt to reassert control over a narrative he had lost. His "grief" was a performance, a self-serving penance.

A wave of something akin to satisfaction, mixed with a chilling apathy, washed over me. He was suffering, in his own way. But it wasn't for me, Aaren. It was for his own guilt, his own shattered image.

"Continue to ensure no trace of Aaren Crane links to Anna Reed," I instructed the firm. "Erase every digital footprint, every financial transaction that could connect my past to my present. Make sure Aaren Crane is irrevocably dead."

I closed my laptop, the screen reflecting my calm, determined face. Outside, the ocean roared, a constant, reassuring presence. They thought they knew loss. They thought they knew me. But the woman they mourned was a construct, a shattered reflection.

The real me, Anna Reed, was here, amidst the clay and the sea air, breathing for the first time. Graham Hobbs could search for his ghost all he wanted. He would never find her. She was gone. And I, in my quiet revolution, was finally free.