Chapter 4 - The Voice That Was Mine
The phone screen stayed frozen.
My name was still there.
Recorded by: Emma Carter.
I stared at it until the letters became blurry.
"No."
The word escaped my mouth before I even realized I had spoken.
Everyone in the room was watching me.
Adrian.
Julian.
Victoria.
Three people who seemed to know a truth I had never even imagined.
I looked at Adrian.
His face was filled with confusion.
Not anger.
Not accusation.
Confusion.
And somehow, that hurt more.
"Adrian, I swear..."
My voice shook.
"I have never seen that phone before."
He didn't answer immediately.
His eyes moved from the screen to my face.
Like he was searching for a lie.
Or searching for the woman he believed he knew.
Then he whispered:
"I know."
Those two words almost broke me.
Because after everything...
After nine months of rumors.
After everyone saying I only wanted his money.
After his family treating me like an enemy.
The one person I needed to trust me still did.
But that made the question even more terrifying.
If I didn't record that message...
Who did?
Victoria watched me carefully.
"You don't remember."
I turned toward her.
"Remember what?"
She looked at the phone.
"That night."
My stomach tightened.
"What night?"
"The night Adrian crashed."
The room became silent.
Adrian looked at his mother.
"Explain."
Victoria didn't look away.
"You were there."
I froze.
"What?"
She looked at me.
"You were at the scene."
My heartbeat became louder than the monitor.
"No."
I shook my head.
"That's impossible."
But the second I said it, a strange feeling moved through me.
A small crack appeared in my memory.
A sound.
A light.
A voice.
I closed my eyes.
And suddenly...
A flash.
Rain hitting glass.
A phone ringing.
Someone screaming my name.
I opened my eyes.
I couldn't breathe.
Adrian noticed.
"Emma?"
I grabbed the edge of the chair.
"I..."
The memories were there.
But they weren't complete.
Like pages had been ripped from a book.
"I remember driving."
Nobody moved.
"I remember calling you."
I looked at Adrian.
"But after that..."
My voice disappeared.
After that, nothing.
A blank space.
Nine months missing from my own mind.
Julian slowly stepped forward.
"Because someone made sure you forgot."
I looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
He looked at his mother.
Victoria's face changed.
"Julian."
But he continued.
"You think Adrian was the only victim that night?"
Adrian stared at him.
"What are you saying?"
Julian looked at me.
"You were in the car."
The room tilted.
"No."
I whispered.
"I wasn't."
"You were."
Julian reached into his jacket and pulled out another photograph.
This time, he handed it to Adrian.
Adrian looked at it.
Then his expression changed.
I watched his fingers tremble.
"What is this?"
Julian said nothing.
I stepped closer.
Adrian slowly turned the picture toward me.
It was a security camera image.
A black car.
A mountain road.
And two people standing beside the vehicle after the crash.
One was Adrian.
The other...
Was me.
My hand covered my mouth.
I couldn't understand.
I couldn't remember.
But the image was real.
"Why don't I remember this?"
Nobody answered.
Then Adrian looked at his mother.
"Did you erase her memory?"
Victoria looked away.
That was enough.
My entire body went cold.
"You knew?"
Victoria finally spoke.
"I was trying to protect you."
I laughed.
A broken, empty sound.
"Protect me?"
I looked around the room.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
I pointed at the door.
"Protect me from what?"
Nobody answered.
"From the truth?"
My voice became louder.
"From knowing my husband was almost killed?"
From knowing I was there?"
I looked at Adrian.
"From knowing I might have been the last person with you before the accident?"
Adrian's expression softened.
"Emma."
I shook my head.
"No."
Tears filled my eyes.
"Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you feel sorry for me."
The words hurt him.
I saw it.
But I couldn't stop.
Because suddenly I wasn't just fighting his family.
I was fighting my own missing memories.
My own mind.
My own past.
Victoria walked closer.
"Emma, listen to me."
I stepped back.
"No."
Her voice remained calm.
"The night of the accident, Adrian discovered something."
"What?"
She looked at Adrian.
"He discovered Clara was alive."
Adrian closed his eyes.
I understood.
The photo.
The message.
Everything was connected.
Victoria continued.
"He was going to meet her."
I looked at Adrian.
"Why?"
He looked ashamed.
"Because I needed answers."
"About what?"
He stayed silent.
Victoria answered for him.
"About your marriage."
My heart stopped.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian looked at me.
"Emma..."
I waited.
But he couldn't say it.
That scared me more than anything.
Because Adrian Vale was never afraid of words.
Not in business.
Not in life.
But now...
He was afraid.
"Before I met you," he finally said, "I found out Clara left behind a secret."
"What secret?"
His eyes filled with regret.
"A child."
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
A child.
The word felt unreal.
"You have a child?"
"No."
His answer came immediately.
"I don't know."
I didn't understand.
"You don't know?"
Adrian looked at the floor.
"When Clara disappeared, she was pregnant."
My heart sank.
"And you never found her?"
"No."
"Until now?"
He looked at the photograph.
"Until someone wanted me to find her."
The monitor beside him beeped faster.
Julian crossed his arms.
"Now you understand."
I looked at him.
"Understand what?"
He smiled sadly.
"That this was never about money."
He pointed toward Adrian.
"It was about destroying everything he loved."
The door suddenly opened.
A nurse entered.
She stopped when she saw everyone inside.
"Mr. Vale?"
Nobody answered.
The nurse looked nervous.
"I apologize, but there is someone here asking to see Mr. Vale."
Adrian immediately looked toward the door.
"Who?"
The nurse hesitated.
Then she looked at me.
"She said her name was Clara."
The world stopped.
Adrian went completely still.
Victoria dropped her phone.
Julian whispered something I couldn't hear.
And then the woman appeared behind the nurse.
Alive.
Older than the photograph.
But unmistakable.
She looked directly at Adrian.
Then at me.
May you like
And she said:
"Emma... we need to talk about the night you tried to kill my husband."
