Chapter 6: The Memory I Was Forced to Forget
The sound of my younger voice coming from the speakers felt like someone had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart.
“Dad… I saw what happened to Mom.””
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
My father stared at the screen like he was looking at a ghost.
“What is this?”” he whispered.
Maria didn’t answer.
She just let the recording continue.
The image was blurry. It looked like an old security camera, hidden somewhere inside the house.
A little girl ran through the hallway.
Me.
Twelve years younger.
My hair was messy. My pajamas were wrinkled. My face was covered in tears.
Then my younger self stopped near the staircase.
“Dad!”” my child voice screamed.
“Mom didn’t leave! She was hurt!””
My stomach twisted.
I remembered crying that night.
I remembered searching for my mother.
But I didn’t remember the rest.
A shadow appeared on the recording.
Someone walked toward me.
A woman.
Evelyn.
Even after all these years, I recognized her.
She knelt down beside my younger self.
The sound became clearer.
“Sweetheart,” Evelyn said softly.
“You had a bad dream.””
“No!”” little me cried.
“I saw her!””
Evelyn looked around.
Then she whispered something that made my blood freeze.
“You don’t want your father to lose everything, do you?””
My father stepped back.
“No…”
My mother covered her mouth.
She was crying silently.
The recording continued.
Little me shook my head.
“I want my mom.””
Evelyn smiled.
A fake, gentle smile.
“Then forget what you saw.””
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
I felt sick.
Not because I learned Evelyn had lied.
I already knew that.
I felt sick because I realized she had stolen something from me.
My own memories.
My childhood.
My truth.
My father slowly sat down.
“She manipulated you.””
I looked at him.
“You believed her.””
His face collapsed.
“I was grieving.””
“You believed her.””
“I was wrong.””
I laughed bitterly.
“Wrong?””
My voice cracked.
“You buried my mother. You let me think she abandoned me.””
“I thought—”
“You thought she left?””
He looked away.
And that hurt more than anger.
Because it meant he had never questioned it.
My mother walked toward me.
“Please.””
I looked at her.
“I’m sorry.””
Those two words broke something inside me.
Not because they fixed anything.
Because I knew she meant them.
“I spent twelve years thinking you didn’t love me.””
She started crying.
“I loved you every second.””
“Then why didn’t you come back?””
She looked at my father.
And he understood.
“There was more,” he whispered.
My mother nodded.
“I was trapped.””
Maria opened another file on her laptop.
“There’s something else.””
My father looked exhausted.
“How much more?””
Maria hesitated.
“Enough to explain everything.””
She clicked.
A scanned document appeared.
A legal agreement.
My name was written on it.
I moved closer.
“What is that?””
My father read it.
Then his face went pale.
“This is a guardianship transfer.””
“What does that mean?””
My mother answered quietly.
“It means Evelyn planned to take control of you.””
I stared at the paper.
My signature was there.
Except I had never signed it.
My father noticed too.
“This is forged.””
Maria nodded.
“She created fake documents claiming your mother abandoned you and that you needed a legal guardian.””
My hands shook.
“She was trying to erase my mother.””
“And replace her,” Maria said.
The room became silent.
Then my father’s phone rang.
Everyone froze.
The screen showed an unknown number.
My father answered.
“Who is this?””
A man laughed.
A familiar laugh.
The same laugh from the recording.
My father’s expression changed.
“What do you want?””
The voice replied:
“You found the old files.””
Nobody spoke.
My father put the phone on speaker.
The man continued.
“But you’re still missing the most important part.””
My mother stepped closer.
“Who are you?””
The man laughed again.
“You really don’t recognize me, Anna?””
My mother’s face went white.
Because she did.
“I thought you were dead.””
The man chuckled.
“I thought you would be too.””
My father gripped the phone.
“What do you want?””
A pause.
Then the man said:
“I want the one thing your daughter inherited from her mother.””
I looked at my mother.
“What did I inherit?””
Nobody answered.
Then the man whispered:
“The original recording.””
The call ended.
And suddenly I understood.
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The video Maria found wasn’t the beginning of the truth.
It was only the part someone wanted us to find.