Chapter 8 - The Woman Behind The Name
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
The final sentence remained in my mind.
"The real threat is Clara."
I looked at the woman standing across the room.
Clara.
The woman who had appeared from nowhere.
The woman who claimed to know the truth.
The woman who had just been accused by a recording made with my own voice.
For the first time since she entered the hospital room, Clara looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not confident.
Afraid.
Adrian noticed.
"Clara."
His voice was cold.
"Explain."
She didn't answer.
The silence was enough.
Julian slowly stepped away from the wall.
"I knew it."
Everyone looked at him.
"You knew?"
I asked.
Julian looked at me.
"I knew there was another player."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
Julian laughed.
"Because nobody would have believed me."
He pointed at Clara.
"Everyone thought she was the victim."
Clara's expression hardened.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
Julian smiled.
"Neither did Adrian."
The room became tense again.
I was exhausted.
Every few minutes, another truth appeared.
Another lie collapsed.
Another person became a possible enemy.
I looked at Adrian.
"Please."
My voice broke.
"Tell me what is real."
His expression softened.
Because he knew I wasn't asking about the accident anymore.
I was asking about everything.
Our marriage.
Our memories.
Our life.
Adrian looked at Clara.
Then back at me.
"I need to tell you what happened before I met you."
I nodded.
Finally.
No more secrets.
No more half-truths.
"I was investigating my father's death."
Everyone became quiet.
"My father left behind a company that looked successful from the outside."
Adrian stared at the floor.
"But inside, there were illegal deals. Hidden accounts. People paid to disappear."
I remembered the first envelope.
The secret accounts.
The warning.
"I found evidence."
Adrian continued.
"And that's when I met Clara."
Clara looked away.
"She worked with my father."
My eyes widened.
"What?"
Adrian nodded.
"She wasn't my wife because of love at first."
The words hurt.
But I waited.
"She was part of an investigation."
Clara interrupted.
"That's not the whole truth."
Adrian looked at her.
"No."
His voice became harder.
"But it's enough."
I watched Clara carefully.
The woman who had arrived claiming to expose everyone.
Now she looked like someone whose own story was falling apart.
"Then why did you marry her?" I asked.
Adrian looked at me.
"Because I believed she was helping me."
"Was she?"
He didn't answer.
That answer was enough.
I looked at Clara.
"What happened?"
Clara crossed her arms.
"You want to know what happened?"
Her voice became sharper.
"I lost everything because of Adrian."
Adrian's expression changed.
"I never betrayed you."
"You don't remember everything."
The words froze him.
"What does that mean?"
Clara stepped closer.
"You think your memory is complete?"
Nobody moved.
My heart started beating faster.
Because I knew that feeling.
The missing pieces.
The erased moments.
Clara looked at me.
"Both of you were manipulated."
I frowned.
"What?"
She pointed toward the tablet.
"That video wasn't created by you."
Everyone looked at her.
"The woman in that recording wasn't a message from the future."
She looked at Adrian.
"It was part of the trap."
Adrian stared.
"Then who made it?"
Clara didn't answer.
And that scared me.
Because everyone seemed to know something except us.
Julian walked toward the tablet.
"Wait."
He picked it up.
"The file information."
The man who brought the tablet checked it.
"What about it?"
Julian looked at the screen.
"The creation date."
He turned it toward us.
My stomach dropped.
The video had been created after the accident.
Nine months after.
"Impossible."
Adrian whispered.
The room went silent.
Because someone had created a message pretending to be from before.
Someone wanted us to believe a lie.
Someone wanted us to turn against each other.
I looked at Clara.
"Was this your plan?"
She looked offended.
"No."
"Then whose?"
Nobody answered.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
Everyone froze.
The sound was impossible.
His personal phone had been destroyed in the accident.
At least that's what everyone believed.
The man who brought the tablet looked confused.
"Mr. Vale?"
Adrian slowly reached for the phone.
It was sitting on the table.
Nobody had placed it there.
Nobody had noticed it.
He picked it up.
The screen showed one message.
No number.
No name.
Just four words.
YOU REMEMBERED TOO SOON.
Adrian's face changed.
I saw fear.
Real fear.
"What is it?"
I asked.
He didn't answer.
Another message arrived.
This time with a picture.
Adrian opened it.
And immediately dropped the phone.
I picked it up.
The picture was taken inside this hospital room.
Minutes ago.
All of us were visible.
Adrian.
Me.
Julian.
Victoria.
Clara.
But there was one more person in the image.
Standing behind us.
A person nobody had noticed.
A person who had been in the room the entire time.
My hands started shaking.
"Adrian..."
He looked at the picture.
His face became pale.
Because he recognized the person.
"That's impossible."
I looked at him.
"Who is it?"
He didn't answer.
His eyes stayed fixed on the screen.
Then he whispered:
"The man who died ten years ago."
The room went silent.
Victoria stepped backward.
Julian stopped breathing.
Clara covered her mouth.
And then the hospital lights suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Someone grabbed my arm.
I heard Adrian shout my name.
May you like
Then a voice whispered directly behind me:
"Emma... you finally remembered."
