Chapter 3: The Name They Erased
The words followed me long after Silas stopped speaking.
Someone changed your story.
I had spent years feeling like my family controlled the way people saw me.
But I never imagined they had changed something from before I even understood who I was.
"What does that mean?"" I asked.
Silas looked at the crowd around us.
"Not here.""
My sister immediately stepped forward.
"Then maybe you shouldn't say things like that in front of everyone.""
Silas turned.
"Why?""
Felicity hesitated.
Because she didn't have an answer.
My father did.
"Enough.""
His voice was sharp.
The same voice he used when I was a child and he wanted me to stop asking questions.
But this time, I didn't lower my head.
"What happened?"" I asked him.
He looked at me.
For a moment, I saw something I had rarely seen.
Fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
"I don't know what he's talking about," my father said.
Silas gave a humorless smile.
"That's interesting.""
My father stiffened.
"Why?""
"Because sixteen years ago, when I woke up in the hospital, I was told the young girl who saved me was named Felicity.""
The room went silent.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"What?""
Silas looked at me.
"I was told Felicity Carter was the brave young girl who found me.""
I looked at my sister.
She looked back at me.
And for once, she had no perfect smile.
No clever response.
Nothing.
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because suddenly, every strange moment from my childhood started connecting.
The missing photos.
The forgotten stories.
The way Felicity always seemed to become the hero of things I had done.
"No," I whispered.
My father looked away.
That hurt more than anything.
"Jenna—"
"No.""
My voice shook.
"You knew?""
Nobody answered.
That was the answer.
My chair scraped backward as I stood.
"You knew.""
My father sighed.
"Jenna, it was complicated.""
"Complicated?""
I stared at him.
"Someone took something I did and gave it to her.""
My sister crossed her arms.
"You were thirteen.""
I turned toward her.
"What does that mean?""
"It means you don't understand how things work.""
Her words were calm.
Too calm.
That was Felicity's talent.
She could hurt people while sounding reasonable.
"You were always emotional," she continued.
"You exaggerated things.""
I stared at her.
"I held a man's hand while he was trapped in a car.""
"And?""
The single word shocked me.
Felicity shrugged.
"You were a kid helping someone. It wasn't some heroic moment.""
A few guests gasped.
Silas stood slowly.
"Be careful.""
His voice was quiet.
But everyone heard the warning.
Felicity looked at him.
"I'm just being honest.""
"No," Silas said.
"You're being cruel.""
That landed.
Because everyone knew it was true.
My sister looked around the room.
She realized people weren't seeing her the way they had ten minutes earlier.
They weren't seeing the perfect bride.
They were seeing something else.
A woman who had spent years standing on someone else's achievements.
"I was young," Felicity said.
She looked at me.
"We all made mistakes.""
But she didn't apologize.
That was the part that hurt.
Even now.
Even after being exposed.
She still wasn't sorry.
I looked at my father.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
He rubbed his forehead.
"I thought it would cause problems.""
"For who?""
He didn't answer.
Silas placed the photograph back on the table.
"Jenna, after the accident, I tried to locate you. I wanted to thank your family.""
I looked at him.
"And?""
"The hospital records had a different name.""
My stomach tightened.
"What name?""
He looked toward Felicity.
"Felicity Carter.""
Everything inside me went still.
A memory surfaced.
I was thirteen.
Sitting in my father's kitchen.
Diane telling me, "Don't make everything about you.""
Felicity holding a newspaper clipping.
A story about a teenager who saved a man after a crash.
Her name.
Her picture.
Her praise.
I had asked why my name wasn't there.
My father had told me:
"Don't ruin this for your sister.""
I had forgotten that.
Or maybe I had forced myself to forget.
Silas looked at me carefully.
"Do you remember the necklace?""
I frowned.
"What necklace?""
"The one you were wearing that night.""
I touched my neck unconsciously.
I hadn't worn a necklace in years.
But I remembered.
A small silver heart my mother had given me before she died.
"I lost it.""
Silas nodded.
"No.""
I looked at him.
"What?""
"You didn't lose it.""
He reached into his jacket again.
This time, he pulled out a small envelope.
"I kept it.""
My breath stopped.
Inside was a silver heart necklace.
Older.
Scratched.
But unmistakable.
The room disappeared.
Because I knew that necklace.
I had cried when I lost it.
I thought it was gone forever.
Silas looked at me.
"The paramedics found it near the car. I kept it because I hoped someday I would find the girl who saved my life.""
My eyes filled.
Not because of the necklace.
Because for the first time in years, someone remembered something about me that my own family had erased.
Then a voice came from behind us.
"Silas.""
Everyone turned.
It was the groom.
Ethan Montgomery.
He looked pale.
Confused.
Like he had just heard something he never expected.
"There's something you need to know.""
Silas looked at his son.
"What?""
Ethan swallowed.
He looked at Felicity.
Then at me.
"I found something in her old family documents last week.""
My sister's face changed.
"Ethan, don't.""
But he continued.
"It was a letter.""
Silas stood still.
"What letter?""
Ethan looked at me.
May you like
And his next words changed everything.
"It was written by Jenna's mother.""
