Chapter 6 - The Daughter They Erased
The video started playing.
Nobody moved.
Not even Victoria.
The woman on the screen looked like me.
Not exactly.
But enough.
Same eyes.
Same expression.
Same small scar above my eyebrow.
A scar I got when I was twelve years old.
A scar Adrian always said made me beautiful.
But this woman was younger.
And she was holding a baby.
My hands became cold.
Because the woman on the screen was smiling.
Not the forced smile I had worn for six months.
Not the careful smile I used when people questioned my sanity.
A real smile.
A smile from a time when I still trusted the world.
Then the woman on the screen whispered:
"If you're watching this, Adrian already took her..."
The video stopped.
The room stayed silent.
I looked at Victoria.
"Who was that?"
She didn't answer.
"Victoria."
Her eyes moved toward the screen.
Then toward me.
"That was you."
The words hit harder than anything Adrian had ever said.
"No."
My voice came out weak.
"No, it wasn't."
Victoria didn't argue.
She just looked at me with sadness.
And that scared me more.
Because Victoria had lied to me before.
But right now...
She looked like she was telling the truth.
Elena stepped forward.
"Explain."
Victoria took a slow breath.
"Claire had a daughter before Emma and Lily."
I felt dizzy.
"That's impossible."
Victoria looked at me.
"Adrian told you she died."
My heart started racing.
"But I would remember."
Victoria lowered her voice.
"Would you?"
That question stayed in the air.
Because suddenly I didn't know.
I wanted to say yes.
I wanted to scream that I knew my own life.
My own children.
My own memories.
But there were things I couldn't explain.
The missing hours.
The forgotten days.
The moments where I felt like I was waking up inside someone else's life.
I looked at Elena.
She was watching me carefully.
"Claire."
I swallowed.
"What?"
"Do you remember being pregnant before Emma?"
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
Because I didn't.
I remembered Emma.
I remembered Lily.
But before that...
There was nothing.
Just silence.
A blank space.
Victoria walked closer to the table.
"The first time Adrian tried to convince everyone Claire was unstable wasn't six months ago."
She pointed at the screen.
"It started after the birth of Sarah."
The name.
Again.
Sarah.
My body reacted before my mind did.
A strange pain moved through my chest.
Like my heart remembered something my brain refused to accept.
"What happened to her?"
Victoria looked away.
"Adrian said she died."
"Did she?"
Victoria didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"No."
The word destroyed me.
I grabbed the edge of the table.
"No."
My voice shook.
"No, if I had another child, I would know."
Victoria looked at me.
"Adrian made sure you didn't."
Elena stepped closer.
"What did he do?"
Victoria hesitated.
Then she opened another file.
Inside were medical records.
Not fake ones.
Real ones.
The first page was dated six years earlier.
The patient name:
Claire Bennett.
The diagnosis:
Postpartum trauma.
But underneath was a handwritten note.
Not from a doctor.
From Adrian.
"Memory suppression successful."
My stomach turned.
I couldn't breathe.
"He experimented on me."
Victoria looked at the paper.
"Yes."
The anger came before the fear.
Six months.
Six months of people telling me I was broken.
Six months of doctors asking me to explain my own mind.
Six months of wondering if I was the problem.
And all that time...
The person who claimed to love me was the reason I couldn't remember my own child.
"Where is she?"
Nobody answered.
I looked at Victoria.
"Where is my daughter?"
Her expression changed.
"I don't know."
I almost screamed.
"You don't know?"
Victoria looked ashamed.
"I only know Adrian moved her."
"Where?"
She shook her head.
"Somewhere safe."
"Safe from who?"
Victoria looked at me.
"From you."
I froze.
"What?"
Victoria's voice became quiet.
"Adrian convinced everyone you were dangerous."
My hands started shaking.
"He told people I hurt my own daughter."
Victoria nodded.
"That was the plan."
Elena looked confused.
"Why would he do that?"
Victoria looked at the files.
"Because Sarah was the only person who could expose him."
I stared at her.
"She was a baby."
Victoria shook her head.
"No."
She looked at me.
"She wasn't the threat because of what she knew."
A pause.
"She was the threat because of who knew."
Elena immediately understood.
"Someone saw something."
Victoria nodded.
"Yes."
"Who?"
Victoria looked at the photograph of Emma.
Then at me.
"Your daughter."
I felt my heart stop.
"Emma?"
"Emma saw Adrian taking Sarah."
The room went silent.
I remembered Emma.
Seven years old.
Hiding a syringe in her shoe.
Trying to save Lily.
Trying to save me.
She had been fighting this battle for years.
And I never knew.
A police officer entered the room.
"Detective Ramirez."
Elena turned.
"What happened?"
The officer looked nervous.
"We found another hard drive."
"Where?"
"In Adrian's office."
He handed her a small black device.
Elena connected it to the computer.
Thousands of files appeared.
Most were encrypted.
But one folder opened automatically.
The name made my blood run cold.
"FAMILY."
Inside were videos.
Hundreds.
Years of recordings.
Adrian had filmed everything.
Birthdays.
Arguments.
Private conversations.
Moments where my children thought they were alone.
I felt sick.
"He was watching us."
Elena nodded.
"Yes."
Then she clicked the oldest file.
A video from seven years ago.
The screen showed a hospital room.
I saw myself.
Holding a newborn baby.
Crying.
Smiling.
Happy.
I heard my own voice.
"Her name is Sarah."
My knees almost gave out.
Because I remembered.
Not everything.
But enough.
The warmth.
The tiny fingers.
The feeling of becoming a mother.
Then Adrian entered the room.
Younger.
Smiling.
Carrying flowers.
The video continued.
He leaned toward me.
And whispered something.
Something the old Claire on the screen heard.
Something I had forgotten.
The audio was unclear.
Elena increased the volume.
The words finally became audible.
"If anyone asks, she never existed."
I couldn't move.
The video continued.
The younger version of me looked confused.
"What?"
Adrian smiled.
A smile I knew too well.
The smile before a lie.
Then the video cut.
Another file opened.
A more recent recording.
The date was from three days before Emma went to the police.
Adrian was sitting in the hidden room.
Across from him was Daniel Cross.
The man we thought had disappeared.
I leaned closer.
Because this was the first time I saw his face.
Adrian looked at him.
"You said Claire would never remember."
Daniel smiled.
"She wasn't supposed to."
A pause.
Then Adrian placed a folder on the table.
And said:
"Then we need to remove the last person who can bring Sarah back."
Elena froze.
"Who is the last person?"
The video zoomed in.
Daniel opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of a woman.
A woman I recognized immediately.
Because she was standing outside my old house.
Watching my children.
And underneath the picture was written:
Rachel Bennett.
My sister's name.
But I didn't have a sister.
I never had a sister.
At least...
That's what Adrian told me.
Then my phone suddenly rang.
The screen showed an unknown number.
May you like
And when I answered, a little girl's voice whispered:
"Mom... please don't let him find me."
