Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The door opened slowly.
And Adrian Cole walked into the hospital room.
I stopped breathing.
For one second, nobody moved.
Not Clara.
Not Vanessa.
Not me.
Because Adrian was supposed to be somewhere else.
A police station.
A holding room.
Anywhere except here.
His eyes immediately found mine.
Then they moved toward Clara.
"You need to leave."
Vanessa said it first.
Not with anger.
With fear.
Adrian closed the door behind him.
"I don't have time for this."
I stepped backward.
"How did you get here?"
He ignored my question.
Instead, he looked at the envelope in my hand.
My heart dropped.
He knew.
"You found it."
His voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
I held the envelope tighter.
"What is this?"
Adrian looked at Clara.
For a moment, something changed in his expression.
Pain.
Not guilt.
Pain.
"Ask her."
Clara looked away.
I felt something break inside me.
Everyone knew something except me.
Everyone had been protecting a secret.
And I was the only person standing in the middle of it.
"Enough."
My voice came out louder than I expected.
"I want the truth."
Nobody answered.
The silence was worse.
I looked at Adrian.
"You were arrested."
He nodded.
"I was."
"And now you're here."
"Yes."
"How?"
He looked toward the hallway.
"The same way someone got onto my yacht without being noticed."
That sentence made everyone freeze.
Someone else had been on the yacht.
Someone who wasn't invited.
I remembered the photo.
The person standing behind Clara.
The person everyone thought had left.
I pulled out my phone.
I showed Adrian the image.
His face changed instantly.
Not shock.
Recognition.
"Who is that?"
I asked.
Adrian didn't answer.
"Adrian."
His jaw tightened.
"That is Marcus Vale."
The name meant nothing to me.
But Vanessa reacted.
She covered her mouth.
Clara closed her eyes.
I looked between them.
"Who is Marcus Vale?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Clara whispered:
"Emma's husband."
The room became silent again.
I stared at her.
"Emma was married?"
Clara nodded slowly.
"Before the accident."
I looked at Adrian.
"And you knew?"
He looked down.
"Yes."
My anger grew.
"You all knew she was alive."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
His voice became serious.
"We knew someone wanted us to believe she was alive."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Before he could answer, the hospital lights flickered again.
Everyone looked toward the door.
Adrian immediately moved.
He stood between us and the entrance.
"Everyone stay back."
That was when I realized something.
Adrian wasn't acting like a criminal.
He was acting like someone protecting us.
The door opened.
A doctor walked in.
Everyone relaxed.
Almost.
Then Adrian looked at the doctor.
And his expression changed.
Because he knew him.
The doctor removed his glasses.
"Hello, Adrian."
Nobody spoke.
Adrian stared.
"Marcus."
My blood ran cold.
The man from the picture.
The man who was supposed to be dead.
The man whose name had been hidden from me.
He smiled.
But there was nothing friendly about it.
"I knew you'd come here."
Adrian stepped forward.
"You poisoned Clara."
Marcus laughed softly.
"No."
He looked at Clara.
"She poisoned herself."
Everyone froze.
"What?"
Clara's face turned pale.
Marcus continued.
"She knew what was inside that envelope."
I looked at the envelope.
My hand shook.
"What is inside?"
Marcus looked at me.
For the first time, his expression changed.
Curiosity.
"You really don't know."
I didn't answer.
He smiled.
"Olivia Hart."
Hearing my full name from him made my stomach turn.
"You have no idea why Clara kept you close all these years."
I looked at Clara.
She started crying.
"Don't listen to him."
Marcus continued.
"Ask her about the night your father disappeared."
The room went silent.
My father.
A memory I had buried for years.
A night nobody wanted to discuss.
I looked at Clara.
"Why does he know about that?"
She didn't answer.
I felt tears forming.
"Clara."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Because I was there."
I stepped back.
"What?"
She looked broken.
"I wasn't supposed to tell you."
The machine beside her started beeping faster.
Adrian looked at Marcus.
"You need to leave."
Marcus smiled.
"You still think you're in control."
Then he reached into his coat.
Vanessa immediately moved.
"Don't."
Marcus pulled out a small black device.
A remote.
My heart stopped.
"What is that?"
Nobody answered.
Marcus pressed a button.
A sound came from my phone.
A notification.
Unknown number.
I looked down.
A new message appeared.
It contained one sentence.
"Your mother didn't die in that fire."
I couldn't move.
My mother.
A woman I had spent half my life believing was gone.
I looked at Adrian.
He looked terrified.
Not confused.
Terrified.
"Olivia..."
His voice was different.
Like he had been afraid of this moment.
"What?"
He took one step toward me.
"You were never supposed to find out."
I stared at him.
"Find out what?"
Nobody answered.
Then another message arrived.
This time, it included a photo.
A recent photo.
Taken inside the hospital.
I opened it.
My hands went numb.
Because the picture showed Clara's hospital room.
Taken from outside the door.
And standing beside my bed in the reflection of the glass...
May you like
was a woman I recognized.
A woman who was supposed to be dead.
