Chapter 6 - The Person Who Erased My Memories
The person slowly walked into the light.
And I recognized the face immediately.
My entire body froze.
Because the person standing at the bottom of the stairs was not a stranger.
Not a hidden enemy.
Not someone from a story I had never heard.
It was someone I had trusted.
Someone who had held my hand when I was scared.
Someone who had told me everything would be okay.
My old doctor.
Dr. Evelyn Carter.
For years, I remembered her as the kind woman who helped me recover after the fire.
The woman who sat beside my hospital bed.
The woman who told me I was lucky to be alive.
But now she stood in front of me with a cold expression.
Like she had been waiting for this moment.
"Hello, Elena."
My stomach turned.
I couldn't speak.
My father stepped forward immediately.
"You."
Dr. Carter smiled.
"I knew eventually she would remember."
Vincent's face became dark.
"You were never supposed to get near her."
She looked at him.
"You still don't understand, Vincent."
Her eyes moved toward me.
"She was never supposed to remember."
Those words made my blood run cold.
I looked at Vincent.
Then my father.
Then my mother.
"What is she talking about?"
Nobody answered.
I felt anger replacing fear.
"No."
My voice shook.
"Not again."
Everyone looked at me.
"I am done standing here while everyone decides what I can and cannot know."
I pointed at Dr. Carter.
"Tell me."
She looked almost amused.
"Your memories were not lost because of the fire."
Silence.
"What?"
She slowly walked closer.
"The fire gave us an opportunity."
My mother covered her mouth.
My father looked furious.
"You promised."
Dr. Carter looked at him.
"And you broke the agreement."
Agreement.
The word hit me.
"You made a deal?"
My father didn't answer.
That was enough.
I stepped back.
"My entire life..."
My voice cracked.
"All of you changed my entire life."
Dr. Carter looked at me.
"You should be thanking us."
I stared at her.
"Thanking you?"
"Yes."
She tilted her head.
"Because if you remembered everything, you would have gone after them."
"Who?"
She smiled.
"The people who destroyed your family."
I waited.
But she didn't explain.
She wanted me confused.
She wanted control.
Just like everyone else.
Vincent moved closer.
"Don't listen to her."
Dr. Carter laughed softly.
"You always were protective of her."
Vincent's expression changed.
"You know nothing about me."
"Oh, I know everything."
She looked around the room.
"I know about the night your father disappeared."
My father became tense.
I noticed.
"What happened that night?"
Dr. Carter looked at me.
"Your father made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"He trusted the wrong people."
My eyes moved toward my father.
He looked away.
The letter.
The betrayal.
The person close to him.
Everything started connecting.
"Who betrayed him?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Dr. Carter answered.
"Your mother."
The room exploded with silence.
I looked at my mother.
She immediately shook her head.
"No."
My father stepped forward.
"Don't."
But Dr. Carter continued.
"She was the one who gave them access."
My mother's face broke.
"That isn't true."
I looked between them.
I didn't know who to believe anymore.
My entire life had become a battlefield of secrets.
"Mom?"
She looked at me.
And the pain in her eyes was real.
"I never betrayed your father."
"Then explain."
She couldn't.
That hurt.
Because even innocent people looked guilty when they stayed silent.
Dr. Carter smiled.
"See?"
She turned toward me.
"Everyone lies."
I wanted to hate her.
But part of me was terrified.
Because she was right about one thing.
Everyone had lied.
Dr. Carter reached inside her coat and pulled out a small folder.
She placed it on the table.
"This is the truth about your memories."
I didn't move.
Vincent looked at the folder.
"Don't open it."
Dr. Carter smiled.
"Why?"
She looked at me.
"Because then she will know what you all did."
My hands tightened.
"What does that mean?"
She opened the folder herself.
Inside were medical documents.
My name.
My picture.
Hospital records.
My heart started racing.
One page caught my attention.
Memory Reconstruction Procedure.
I stared.
"What is this?"
My father looked devastated.
My mother began crying.
Dr. Carter answered.
"Your memories were removed."
The room went silent.
"Removed?"
"Not completely."
She smiled.
"Hidden."
I touched the paper.
"No."
"You were given a new identity."
My breathing became faster.
"Why?"
Dr. Carter looked at me.
"Because you saw something that night."
My hand stopped.
"What?"
She leaned closer.
"Something nobody wanted you to remember."
A memory flashed through my mind.
A room.
Smoke.
Someone screaming.
A man's voice.
My father's voice.
And another voice.
A woman's voice.
I grabbed my head.
Pain exploded behind my eyes.
Vincent immediately caught me.
"Elena."
I pushed him away.
"I remember something."
Everyone froze.
"What did you see?" my father asked.
I closed my eyes.
"I was hiding."
The memory became clearer.
"I was under a table."
My mother covered her mouth.
"I heard people arguing."
"Who?"
I opened my eyes.
"I don't know."
Then another image appeared.
A person holding a gun.
A person standing near my father.
A person whose face I couldn't see.
But I remembered one thing.
A necklace.
A silver necklace with a small black stone.
Dr. Carter's expression changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
"You know that necklace."
She became silent.
Vincent noticed too.
"You know."
Dr. Carter stepped back.
"No."
"You reacted."
"No."
My father looked at her.
"Evelyn."
The way he said her name changed everything.
Not like a stranger.
Like someone who had known her for years.
Dr. Carter looked at him.
"You should have stayed dead."
The room froze.
My father looked shocked.
"What did you say?"
She realized her mistake.
Too late.
Vincent moved immediately.
"Everyone stay back."
Dr. Carter reached into her bag.
My heart stopped.
But she didn't pull out a weapon.
She pulled out a photograph.
She placed it on the table.
"Look carefully, Elena."
I looked down.
It was a picture from the night of the fire.
My father.
My mother.
Vincent.
Dr. Carter.
And another person.
Someone standing behind them.
Someone whose face had been hidden.
But I recognized the necklace.
The same necklace from my memory.
My hands began shaking.
Because the person in the picture was not a stranger.
It was someone I knew.
Someone I had loved.
Someone who had been part of my life before the fire.
I looked at Dr. Carter.
"Who is that?"
She stared at me.
And whispered:
"The person who raised you after your memories were erased."
My blood turned cold.
Because I knew that person.
I knew their voice.
I knew their smile.
I knew their name.
Then my phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
One sentence.
Ask your father why he let your real mother die.
I looked up.
My mother was gone.
May you like
The chair where she had been sitting was empty.
And the back door of the room was slowly opening...
