Chapter 4 Phantom Love

Jason sat on the edge of his hotel bed, gripping the napkin Olivia had given him.

Ask Evelyn- those two words continued to play in his mind like a warning, like a door he was looking forward to open but was feeling skeptical and a little bit scared to open. His mother had always been guarded about her past, but this-this was something else. Something he could never have imagined.

And Olivia-who was she really?

He looked at his phone with deep concentration as his fingers hovered over the number she put in his phone. He took a very deep breath like someone who was not having the intention to breathe again and pressed the call button.

One ring.

Two.

Three. He was tensed, then

Voicemail.

Jason frowned and tried again.

Still no answer.

A strange frustration settled in his chest. Why did it feel like she was pulling the strings? Like he was walking into a trap without knowing where the walls were?

His grip tightened around the phone. Damn it, Olivia, damn it.

A knock at the door snapped him out as he was lost thoughts.

"Dude, you in there or did you finally drown in whiskey?" Jason exhaled. Nathan.

"Come in," he called.

Nathan strolled in, wearing his usual cocky grin. Tall, built like a gym instructor, and carrying the self-assurance of someone who never second-guessed himself, Nathan had been Jason's closest friend since college.

But tonight, Jason wasn't in the mood for his antics.

Nathan plopped down on the couch, grabbing the half-empty whiskey glass on the table. He took a sip, then raised an eyebrow. "Alright, what's up with you? You've got that 'I just met a woman who wrecked my entire worldview' look."

Jason leaned back against the headboard. "Something like that." but why did a thought like that come to your mind, Jason asked

Nathan smiles. "Guess I figured it right. Who is she? What has she done to you?"

Slow down with the question, Jason said.

Jason hesitated. "Her name is Olivia."

Nathan whistled. "Ah, the mystery woman from the bar? The one you vanished with?" He shook his head. "Come on, man. You barely know her, and you're already obsessed?"

Jason ran a hand through his hair. "She's... different."

Nathan leaned forward. "Different how?"

Jason exhaled. "She knows things about me. About my family. And she told me something-something that's messing with my head."

Nathan's smirk faded. "What did she say?" Jason hesitated, debating whether to tell him about the napkin, about his mother's connection to Olivia. But something held him back.

Instead, he shrugged. "Just cryptic stuff. Like she knows more than she's letting on."

Nathan sighed, shaking his head. "Listen, man. You're a billionaire. Women study you. They learn things to get close to you." He leaned back. "And let's not ignore the fact that you have a serious weakness for older women."

Jason shot him a look. "This isn't some cheap infatuation."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it?"

Jason said nothing.

Nathan sighed. "Look, just... be careful. I've seen you get reckless before, but something about this feels off."

Jason nodded, but he wasn't really listening. His thoughts were already drifting back to Olivia.

And the nagging feeling that he had known her long before tonight.

That night, sleep came in an unusual manner.

And then, the dream came.

Jason was back in his childhood home.

The grand staircase loomed in the dim light, the air thick with something he couldn't name. Everything felt off. The walls, the furniture-everything was exactly as he remembered. And yet, there was something unnatural about it.

A presence.

And then, she was there.

Olivia.

Standing at the foot of the stairs.

She was dressed differently-no sleek black dress, no confident smirk. She looked... younger. Her green eyes weren't teasing or seductive. They were wide, haunted.

She wasn't looking at him. She was looking through him.

"Jason," she whispered.

His breath caught. "Olivia?"

But something was wrong.

Her lips moved, but no sound came out. Her face twisted, like she was trying to warn him-

Then, suddenly, a shadow moved behind her.

Jason's pulse spiked. Someone was there. Someone was reaching for her-

He tried to move, to shout, but his body wouldn't respond.

And then-

Darkness. Jason jolted awake, drenched in sweat. His chest heaved as he sat up, the dream still clinging to him like smoke.

His phone buzzed beside him, the glow of the screen casting eerie shadows across the room.

A message.

From an unknown number.

Jason's breath hitched as he read the words.

"You're starting to remember, aren't you?"

His blood turned to ice.

He shot up from the bed, heart hammering.

This wasn't coincidence.

Olivia knew something. And whatever it was, it had been buried deep in his past.

But now, the past was clawing its way back to the surface.

And Jason wasn't sure he was ready to face it.

A truth he can't escape.

His phone buzzed again.

A second message.

"Meet me tomorrow. We need to talk."

Jason swallowed hard.

He had been chasing Olivia for answers.

But now, it looked like she was ready to give them