Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Remembered Everything
The room went silent.
Not the kind of silence that came from peace.
The kind that came before something broke.
I stared at the woman standing in the doorway.
Clara.
The woman from the photograph.
The woman everyone thought was dead.
The woman who had just accused me of trying to kill my own husband.
My first instinct was to laugh.
Because it was impossible.
Because none of it made sense.
But nobody laughed.
Not Adrian.
Not Julian.
Not Victoria.
They all looked at her like they had been waiting for this moment.
"Emma."
Clara said my name again.
Her voice was calm.
Almost too calm.
"Do you remember me?"
I couldn't answer.
My mind was searching through memories that weren't there.
A face.
A voice.
A moment.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
"I don't know you."
Clara looked hurt.
But only for a second.
Then she looked at Adrian.
"Of course she doesn't."
Adrian's expression changed.
"What are you saying?"
Clara walked slowly into the room.
The nurse immediately stepped away.
Everyone felt the tension.
Even strangers could feel it.
Clara stopped beside Adrian's bed.
For a long moment, she looked at him.
Not like someone seeing an old friend.
Like someone seeing a person who had caused years of pain.
"You really woke up."
Adrian swallowed.
"Clara."
The way he said her name made my chest tighten.
Not because I was jealous.
Because there was history there.
A history I knew nothing about.
"Where have you been?"
Adrian asked.
Clara smiled faintly.
"That's the first question you ask?"
"What should I ask?"
She looked at him.
"Why I disappeared?"
Nobody moved.
Then Adrian quietly said:
"Yes."
Clara looked away.
"Because your family made sure I had no choice."
Victoria immediately stepped forward.
"Enough."
Clara turned toward her.
"Still pretending you're protecting everyone?"
Victoria's face hardened.
"You don't know what you're talking about."
Clara laughed softly.
"I know exactly what I'm talking about."
She reached into her bag.
She pulled out a small envelope.
My heart sank.
Another envelope.
Another secret.
She placed it on the table.
"This is what Adrian was trying to find before the accident."
Adrian looked at it.
"What is it?"
Clara looked at him.
"The truth about your father."
The room changed.
Adrian's expression became serious.
"My father?"
Clara nodded.
"Your father didn't die because of a heart attack."
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Adrian.
He had never told me his father’s death was suspicious.
Because apparently, everyone in this family carried secrets like they carried their names.
"What does that have to do with the accident?" Adrian asked.
Clara looked at Julian.
Then Victoria.
Then me.
"It has everything to do with it."
Julian stepped forward.
"You're lying."
Clara ignored him.
"Adrian discovered that your father's company wasn't built the way everyone believed."
She looked at me.
"And he discovered that someone in this family had been hiding evidence for years."
I felt a chill.
"Who?"
Clara looked directly at Victoria.
Nobody moved.
Victoria's face remained emotionless.
But her hands tightened.
That small movement told me everything.
Adrian noticed too.
"Mother."
Victoria looked at him.
"Don't."
"Is it true?"
She didn't answer.
Adrian's voice became stronger.
"Is it true?"
Victoria closed her eyes.
For a moment, she looked exhausted.
Then she said:
"Your father made mistakes."
Adrian stared at her.
"That's not an answer."
"No."
Victoria looked at him.
"It's the only answer you need."
I felt anger rising inside me.
"No."
Everyone looked at me.
I stepped closer.
"We have spent nine months being told pieces of the truth."
I looked at Victoria.
"Nobody gets to decide what we can handle anymore."
Clara watched me.
Then she nodded slightly.
"You finally understand."
I looked at her.
"Understand what?"
She looked at Adrian.
"That everyone around you has been protecting their own secrets."
Adrian looked at me.
"I never wanted you involved."
I turned toward him.
"But I was involved."
His eyes lowered.
"Yes."
The word hurt.
Because he admitted it.
The accident.
The secrets.
The missing memories.
All of it.
I was part of it.
I just didn't know how.
Clara walked toward me.
Slowly.
I didn't move.
"You don't remember the night of the accident because someone gave you a drug."
My breath stopped.
"What?"
Adrian looked shocked.
"What are you talking about?"
Clara looked at me.
"You were drugged before you arrived at the mountain road."
My hands went cold.
"No."
"Yes."
"Who?"
Clara looked toward Victoria.
But Victoria spoke first.
"Be careful."
Her voice was low.
"Some truths destroy more than lies."
Clara smiled sadly.
"That's exactly why you buried them."
Adrian looked between them.
"Emma was drugged?"
Clara nodded.
"She was never supposed to remember."
My heartbeat increased.
"Remember what?"
Clara became quiet.
Too quiet.
Then she said:
"The last conversation you had with the person who caused the crash."
The room froze.
I felt dizzy.
Because suddenly, the missing memory wasn't just a blank space.
It was something someone had stolen.
"Who was it?"
Adrian asked.
Clara looked at him.
"Someone you trusted."
Julian laughed.
A nervous laugh.
"You expect us to believe this?"
Clara turned.
"Why don't you ask him?"
She pointed at Adrian.
"Ask him what he heard before the crash."
Everyone looked at Adrian.
I did too.
Because I realized something.
He had said he heard voices.
Conversations.
Plans.
But he never told me everything.
"Adrian."
My voice was quiet.
"What did you hear?"
He didn't answer.
His silence scared me.
"Adrian?"
His eyes met mine.
And I saw pain.
"I heard someone arguing with you."
My heart stopped.
"With me?"
He nodded.
"At the mountain."
I couldn't breathe.
"What did they say?"
Adrian looked down.
"I couldn't hear everything."
"Then what did you hear?"
His fingers tightened around the blanket.
"One sentence."
Nobody moved.
"What sentence?"
Adrian looked at Clara.
Then at me.
And whispered:
"They said..."
He stopped.
Like saying it out loud would make it real.
"Adrian."
I begged.
"Tell me."
His eyes filled with fear.
"They said..."
The door suddenly opened.
A man in a black suit rushed into the room.
He looked terrified.
"Mr. Vale."
Adrian turned.
The man held a tablet in his hand.
"We found the original accident recording."
Everyone froze.
Julian's face changed.
Victoria stepped back.
Clara stopped breathing.
The man looked at Adrian.
"But there's something you need to see first."
He placed the tablet on the table.
The screen turned on.
A security video appeared.
A timestamp.
The night of the crash.
Then the camera zoomed in on the person standing beside Adrian's car.
I leaned closer.
My blood turned cold.
May you like
Because the person in the video was holding Adrian's phone.
And she was wearing my wedding dress.
