Chapter 7: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Claire stared at the phone.
The screen continued glowing.
MOTHER.
The word looked impossible.
Wrong.
Like a mistake.
Her mother had died seven years ago.
Cancer.
A funeral.
A wooden box lowered into the ground.
Claire remembered standing in the rain.
She remembered Ethan holding her hand.
She remembered Lily not even being born yet.
Her mother was gone.
So why was Ethan’s phone ringing with her name?
“Answer it,” Claire whispered.
Ethan didn’t move.
“Ethan.””
His face had gone pale.
“Answer the phone.””
Slowly, he picked it up.
The room was silent enough that Claire could hear the faint sound of breathing from the other end.
Ethan pressed the phone to his ear.
“Hello?””
Nobody spoke.
Then his expression changed.
“Where are you?””
Claire’s heart stopped.
Ethan listened.
Then said:
“No. She can’t know yet.””
Claire grabbed the edge of the bed.
“Who is it?””
Ethan ended the call.
Nobody answered.
“Who was that?””
He looked at her.
And Claire saw something she had never seen before.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Not worry.
Pure fear.
“Ethan.””
He sat down.
“I need you to listen to me.””
“I’ve listened enough.””
“Claire.””
“Who called you?””
He closed his eyes.
“Your mother.””
Claire felt anger rise.
“You think I’m stupid?””
“No.””
“Then don’t lie to me again.””
“I’m not.””
“My mother is dead.””
“Yes.””
“Then explain.””
Ethan had no answer.
That terrified her.
Later that evening, Claire was discharged.
She refused to go home.
Not until she knew the truth.
Detective Harris arranged a temporary place for her and Lily.
A small guest apartment near the station.
Lily slept in the next room.
Claire sat on the couch surrounded by documents.
Medical records.
Old photographs.
Everything that proved her life wasn’t what she thought.
At midnight, she heard footsteps.
She grabbed her phone.
But it was only Ethan.
Standing outside the door.
“You shouldn’t be here.””
“I know.””
“Then why are you?””
He looked exhausted.
“Because I found something.””
Claire hesitated.
“What?””
Ethan handed her an envelope.
“I found it hidden in my office.””
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A young woman stood beside a hospital bed.
Claire recognized herself immediately.
But the woman beside her—
She froze.
It was her mother.
Alive.
Younger.
Standing next to a doctor.
And behind them was a sign.
Claire read it slowly.
“Memory Recovery Project.””
Her hands began shaking.
“What is this?””
Ethan swallowed.
“The program you were part of.””
Claire looked at him.
“You told me my mother died.””
“She did.””
“Then how is she here?””
“I don’t know.””
A sound came from the hallway.
Both of them turned.
Lily stood there holding her rabbit.
Her eyes were half open.
“Mommy?””
Claire immediately went to her.
“What is it, baby?””
Lily looked past her.
At Ethan.
Then she said something that made Claire’s blood turn cold.
“Grandma said Daddy would forget.””
Claire stopped.
“What?””
Lily rubbed her eyes.
“Grandma said he wasn’t supposed to remember.””
Ethan went completely still.
Claire slowly turned toward him.
“What did she mean?””
He looked terrified.
“Claire…”
“No.””
She stepped back.
“No more protecting me.””
Then the apartment lights flickered.
A shadow moved outside the window.
Someone was standing there.
Watching.
Ethan saw them too.
His face changed.
“Get Lily.””
Claire grabbed her daughter.
“Who is it?””
Ethan whispered:
“The person who knows what really happened eight years ago.””
The window shattered.
And the person outside called Claire by a name she had never heard before.
Not Claire.
Something else.
Something that made her realize one terrifying truth.
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She had not forgotten the past.
Someone had erased it.
