She Promised Her Best Friend She’d Never Love His Brother — Then He Found the Photograph She Hid for Ten Years
Chapter 2
Ten years earlier, Clara had watched Julian leave from the same driveway where she and Marcus had spent their childhood summers.
Marcus had been furious.
Clara had been heartbroken.
But she had never admitted the second part.
Instead, she had made Marcus a promise.
“Nothing will ever come between us.”
She meant it.
At least, she thought she did.
Now Julian was back.
And somehow, the promise felt heavier than ever.
The following morning, Julian called.
“I need someone to coordinate the reopening of my family’s workshop.”
Clara almost laughed.
“You want me to organize a garage?”
“It’s more than a garage.”
His voice became serious.
“My father left it abandoned.”
“Why reopen it now?”
“Because I think someone has been going through it.”
Clara’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“Someone?”
“I found the locks changed.”
She hesitated.
“Okay.”
When she arrived that afternoon, the workshop looked frozen in another decade.
Dust covered the machinery.
Old racing trophies stood behind cracked glass.
Julian walked beside her.
“You shouldn’t be here alone,” he said.
“Are you worried about me?”
“I’m worried about whoever is looking.”
She studied him.
“You’ve changed.”
“So have you.”
Neither mentioned how.
They entered the office.
Julian pulled open a drawer.
Empty.
“Someone took something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
A sound came from beneath the floor.
Both turned.
Julian crouched.
He tapped the wooden boards.
One section sounded hollow.
He pried it open.
Beneath the floor was a narrow staircase.
Clara stared into the darkness.
“Was this here before?”
Julian shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Want to find out what’s down there?”
Clara knew she should say no.
Instead, she followed him.
At the bottom was a locked metal door.
And scratched across it were three words:
YOU WERE WARNED.
