Chapter 3: The Woman Everyone Forgot
I didn’t sleep that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the video.
Evelyn’s hand.
The bottle.
The poison.
But worse than that, I saw my father’s face when she mentioned my mother.
A face full of guilt.
At 3:17 in the morning, I found him sitting alone in the living room.
The lights were off.
He was holding an old photograph.
“Dad?””
He looked up.
For a moment, he looked like a stranger.
Not the powerful businessman everyone feared.
Just a tired man holding onto a memory.
“You should be sleeping.””
“I should be getting answers.””
He looked down.
“I know.””
I sat across from him.
“Who was my mother?””
His fingers tightened around the photo.
“Her name was Anna.””
“I know her name.””
My voice shook.
“I want to know why Evelyn said you chose her over Mom.””
My father looked away.
“I made mistakes.””
“That’s not an answer.””
He sighed.
“When your mother and I separated, Evelyn was there.””
I felt something break inside me.
“You were already with her?””
“No.””
He looked at me.
“Not at first.””
I wanted to believe him.
But too many secrets had already appeared.
“Then what happened?””
Before he could answer, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“Who is it?””
He didn’t answer.
The phone kept ringing.
Finally, he picked up.
“Hello?””
A woman’s voice came through.
I couldn’t hear everything.
Only my father’s reaction.
“What?””
He stood up.
“You’re alive?””
My heart stopped.
Alive?
Who was alive?
My father walked away from me.
But I followed.
“Who is that?””
He ended the call.
Nobody spoke.
Then he whispered:
“Your mother.””
The world seemed to tilt.
“That’s impossible.””
He looked terrified.
“I thought she was dead.””
I stared at him.
“You thought?””
He closed his eyes.
That one sentence told me everything.
He didn’t know.
He had never known.
A knock came at the door.
Three slow knocks.
My father and I looked at each other.
Then he walked toward it.
When he opened the door, I saw a woman standing outside.
Older.
Pale.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
She looked at me.
And whispered:
“My daughter.””
I couldn’t move.
May you like
Because the woman standing there…
Was the mother I had buried in my heart for twelve years.