Chapter 7: The Voice From The Past
The voicemail ended.
But my mother’s final words remained.
The person standing beside you right now.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
I looked at Adrian.
Then Daniel.
Then back at Adrian.
My mind desperately searched for a simple answer.
A villain.
A hero.
Someone to blame.
But every time I found one, another truth destroyed it.
The old apartment felt like a courtroom.
And I was the only person who didn’t know the crime.
“Play it again.””
My voice sounded empty.
Adrian looked at me.
“Vivian.””
“Play it again.””
Daniel reached toward the phone.
I stepped back.
“Don’t touch it.””
He stopped.
For once, Daniel listened.
I picked up the old phone with shaking hands and pressed the voicemail button.
My mother’s voice filled the room again.
“Vivian…”
I closed my eyes.
“If you’re hearing this, then I’m already gone.””
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“And Adrian has finally told you the truth.””
I looked at Adrian.
His face was pale.
“He was never the person you needed to fear.””
The words sounded impossible.
Because minutes ago, I had believed the opposite.
“Because he wasn’t the one who killed your father.””
My heartbeat became louder.
“The person who did…”
The pause.
That terrible pause.
“…is the person standing beside you right now.””
The voicemail ended.
I opened my eyes.
Nobody spoke.
Then Daniel slowly said:
“Vivian.””
I looked at him.
“Don’t.””
His expression changed.
“Listen to me.””
“No.””
“You need to understand what she meant.””
“What she meant?””
My voice rose.
“My dead mother left a message saying the person beside me killed my father.””
I looked between them.
“And you both expect me to calmly discuss who she was talking about?””
Adrian stepped forward.
“I know how it looks.””
I laughed.
“Do you?””
He stopped.
“Do you really?””
Because suddenly, everything about him felt different.
The way he looked at me.
The way he knew things.
The way he had spent months trying to get close.
Maybe it wasn’t because he loved me.
Maybe it was because he was guilty.
“Tell me the truth.””
Adrian looked down.
“I don’t know who she meant.””
I stared.
“You don’t know?””
“No.””
“Then why did you look afraid?””
His silence answered.
I stepped back.
“You do know.””
“No.””
“You do.””
“Vivian—”
“Stop saying my name like you’re trying to bring me back.””
The pain on his face almost made me regret it.
Almost.
Daniel watched quietly.
Too quietly.
I turned toward him.
“What aren’t you telling me?””
Daniel looked away.
That was enough.
“You know something.””
He didn’t deny it.
“Daniel.””
He took a breath.
“Your mother wasn’t talking about Adrian.””
“Then who?””
He looked at me.
And for a moment, I saw something I had never seen before.
Fear.
Not manipulation.
Not confidence.
Fear.
“Vivian…”
The lights suddenly flickered.
The room went dark.
Again.
A second later, the sound of the front door closing echoed through the apartment.
My body froze.
“Did someone come in?””
Adrian immediately moved.
“Stay behind me.””
I almost laughed.
“Why?””
He looked at me.
“Because I don’t know who it is.””
That answer scared me more than anything.
A shadow moved in the hallway.
Daniel reached into his coat.
I noticed.
“You have a weapon?””
He looked at me.
“No.””
The lie was obvious.
Before I could say anything, a voice came from the hallway.
“Don’t move.””
A woman stepped into the room.
She was holding a small flashlight.
Older.
Tired.
But familiar.
I stared.
Because I had seen her before.
Not in my memories.
In my mother’s photographs.
“Who are you?””
The woman looked at me.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You really don’t remember.””
My stomach tightened.
“Remember what?””
She lowered the flashlight.
“My name is Clara.””
Daniel’s expression changed.
“You shouldn’t be here.””
Clara looked at him with disgust.
“Neither should you.””
Adrian stepped forward.
“Clara.””
She looked at him.
“You failed her.””
The words hit him.
I noticed.
Because Adrian accepted them.
“Wait.””
I looked at her.
“You know him?””
Clara nodded.
“I knew all of you.””
All of us.
The phrase made my skin crawl.
“Explain.””
She looked at the notebook on the table.
Then at the USB drive.
Then at me.
“Your mother knew this day would come.””
“How?””
“She planned for it.””
“She knew I would lose my memories?””
“Yes.””
My breath caught.
“She knew?””
Clara nodded.
“She was the one who approved the procedure.””
I stared.
“No.””
“She believed it was the only way to save you.””
My eyes moved to Adrian.
Then Daniel.
Then back.
“Save me from what?””
Clara hesitated.
And that hesitation terrified me.
“From yourself.””
I felt anger rise.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
I stepped closer.
“Everyone keeps telling me I was dangerous.””
Clara shook her head.
“No.””
“Then what?””
“You weren’t dangerous.””
She looked at me sadly.
“You were protecting someone.””
“Who?””
Clara looked at Adrian.
Nobody answered.
I felt my patience disappear.
“Who?””
Finally, Clara said:
“Your brother.””
The room went silent.
I blinked.
“My what?””
“You had a brother.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“I don’t have a brother.””
“You did.””
“What happened to him?””
Clara looked down.
“He was the reason everything started.””
I felt dizzy.
“My brother?””
His face appeared in my mind.
Not a memory.
Just an empty space.
A missing person I had never known.
“What was his name?””
Clara whispered:
“Noah.””
The name hit me.
Not like a memory.
Like a wound.
I grabbed the table.
A flash.
A little boy.
Dark hair.
Holding my hand.
“Promise you won’t forget me.””
I gasped.
Adrian moved toward me.
“Vivian.””
I pushed him away.
“Noah.””
The name escaped my lips.
Everyone froze.
I looked around.
“How do I know that name?””
Clara’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because you loved him.””
My breathing became uneven.
“What happened to him?””
Nobody answered.
Then Daniel spoke.
“He died.””
I turned.
“How?””
Silence.
Clara looked at him.
“You know.””
Daniel’s face changed.
“Don’t.””
“You know exactly what happened.””
I looked between them.
“What happened?””
Clara’s voice was quiet.
“Your brother was part of Meridian’s first trial.””
My stomach twisted.
“He was a child.””
“Yes.””
“What did they do?””
She looked at Daniel.
“They tested the memory technology on him.””
The room became cold.
“And?””
Clara swallowed.
“He forgot who he was.””
I closed my eyes.
A child.
A boy who forgot his own life.
“What does this have to do with my father?””
Clara looked at Adrian.
“Everything.””
Adrian looked away.
I noticed.
“You know.””
He didn’t answer.
“Adrian.””
His voice was broken.
“Your father discovered what happened to Noah.””
“And?””
“He wanted revenge.””
“Against Meridian?””
“Yes.””
“And me?””
Adrian looked at me.
“You wanted to stop him.””
I frowned.
“Why?””
“Because your father was going to expose everything by destroying everyone involved.””
I shook my head.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“It does when you know what happened next.””
“What?””
Adrian’s eyes filled with guilt.
“Your father tried to kill Daniel.””
Daniel looked down.
“And you stopped him.””
I stared.
“I stopped him?””
Adrian nodded.
“You shot him.””
Again.
The words.
Again.
But this time, something changed.
A memory came.
Not blood.
Not fear.
A conversation.
My father crying.
A gun on the table.
His voice.
“He took my son.””
My voice.
“You took him first.””
I stumbled backward.
“No.””
Adrian reached for me.
I let him.
Because suddenly I remembered something.
Not everything.
But enough.
I remembered my father.
I remembered the gun.
I remembered pulling the trigger.
But I also remembered something else.
Someone standing behind him.
Someone whispering in his ear.
Someone who wasn’t Adrian.
Someone who wasn’t Daniel.
A third person.
A voice.
A voice I recognized.
I looked at Daniel.
“Who was there that night?””
Nobody answered.
My eyes locked onto him.
“Who was standing behind my father?””
Daniel went completely still.
And that reaction told me everything.
“You know.””
His silence became the truth.
I stepped closer.
“Who was it?””
Daniel whispered:
“Vivian…”
“Who?””
His face changed.
And for the first time, Daniel looked like a man who knew he couldn’t escape.
“It was your mother.””
I stopped breathing.
“My mother was there?””
Daniel nodded.
“But that’s not the part you forgot.””
My hands went cold.
“What part?””
He looked at me.
“The part where your mother wasn’t trying to save you.””
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A pause.
“She was trying to stop you from remembering who really pulled the trigger.””