Chapter 7: The Night Damon Forgot
Damon read the message again.
Then again.
The words refused to change.
*Ask yourself why you don’t remember the night Emma disappeared.*
His fingers tightened around the phone.
The room was silent.
Too silent.
Everyone was watching him.
Waiting.
For a reaction.
For anger.
For denial.
But Damon felt something worse.
Confusion.
Because buried beneath five years of grief was a memory he had never questioned.
The night Emma died.
The night his entire world ended.
He remembered the phone call.
He remembered driving through the rain.
He remembered arriving at the hospital.
He remembered a doctor telling him there was nothing they could do.
But before that?
Before the call?
Before the hospital?
There was something missing.
A blank space.
A hole in his own mind.
Damon slowly looked at Ethan.
“You knew.””
Ethan’s face changed.
“Damon…”
“You knew I couldn’t remember.””
Nobody spoke.
Damon turned toward Alexander.
“My father?””
Alexander remained calm.
“That is the one thing I never took from you.””
Damon’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?””
“It means the truth was always inside you.””
Alexander walked toward the table.
“You just buried it.””
Damon shook his head.
“No.””
But his voice lacked certainty.
He hated that.
He hated the small part of himself that wondered.
Alexander noticed.
“You remember pieces, don’t you?””
Damon didn’t answer.
Because he did.
Fragments.
Not memories.
Fragments.
Emma standing in their kitchen.
Her face pale.
Her voice shaking.
A sentence he could never fully understand.
Damon, if anything happens to me, promise me you’ll look at the beginning.
The beginning of what?
He never knew.
Or maybe he forgot.
“Tell me.””
Damon looked at Ethan.
His voice was quiet.
“Tell me what happened that night.””
Ethan looked away.
“I can’t.””
Damon stepped forward.
“You owe me.””
“I know.””
“Then tell me.””
Ethan closed his eyes.
For years, he had carried the secret.
Now it was crushing him.
“Emma called me.””
“When?””
“The night of the accident.””
Damon froze.
“You said you met her before.””
“I did.””
“What did she tell you?””
Ethan hesitated.
“She said she found something.””
“What?””
Ethan looked at Alexander.
Then back at Damon.
“She said you knew.””
Damon’s heart sank.
“Knew what?””
“That your father’s money was connected to your company.””
Damon shook his head.
“No.””
“She said she confronted you.””
The room went quiet.
Damon stared.
“I never talked to her about that.””
Ethan’s expression was painful.
“That’s what she believed.””
“What does that mean?””
Ethan took a breath.
“She thought you were protecting Alexander.””
The words cut deeper than Damon expected.
Because suddenly, memories started returning.
Not clearly.
Not completely.
But enough.
An argument.
A storm.
Emma crying.
His own voice raised.
The sound of glass breaking.
Damon grabbed his head.
“Stop.””
Everyone looked at him.
Lily stepped closer.
“Daddy?””
He didn’t hear her.
Because he was remembering.
The night he lost Emma.
Not the hospital.
Not the accident.
Before.
Their house.
The kitchen.
Rain hitting the windows.
Emma standing across from him.
“You knew.””
Her voice.
That was it.
That was the memory.
Damon’s breathing became uneven.
He remembered.
“You knew.””
Emma had said those words.
Not about the accident.
About the money.
About his father.
Damon had been angry.
Because he thought she was accusing him.
He had told her she was paranoid.
He had told her she was looking for enemies.
Then she had looked at him like she didn’t recognize him.
And she said something else.
Something he had forgotten.
“I don’t know what hurts more. The fact that you knew, or the fact that you think I’m stupid enough not to notice.””
Damon stepped backward.
“No.””
Ethan watched him.
“You remember.””
Damon looked at him.
“I argued with her.””
“Yes.””
“I was angry.””
“Yes.””
“She left.””
“Yes.””
Damon’s face changed.
“And I let her go.””
Nobody answered.
Because it was true.
The last moment he had with Emma wasn’t a goodbye filled with love.
It was an argument.
The last thing he gave her was anger.
A tear fell from his eye.
“No…”
Lily reached for his hand.
“Daddy.””
He looked down at her.
She looked scared.
Damon immediately knelt.
“I’m okay.””
But he wasn’t.
Because the truth was worse than any lie.
Emma hadn’t just disappeared.
She had left believing he was against her.
Alexander watched silently.
“You see?””
Damon looked up.
His father continued.
“Your wife wasn’t running from me.””
He pointed toward Damon.
“She was running from the man she thought you had become.””
Damon stood slowly.
“No.””
Alexander raised an eyebrow.
“You still deny it?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because I know Emma.””
His voice strengthened.
“She would have been angry. She would have been hurt. But she would never believe I wanted to hurt her.””
Alexander smiled.
“That’s where you’re wrong.””
Damon looked at him.
“Because you don’t know her like I do.””
The room became tense.
Damon stepped closer.
“You controlled her.””
“No.””
“You threatened her.””
“No.””
“You destroyed her life.””
Alexander’s expression remained cold.
“She made her choice.””
Damon’s hands curled into fists.
“Where is she?””
Alexander looked toward the window.
“Still hiding.””
“From you?””
A pause.
Then:
“From you.””
Damon shook his head.
“Why would she hide from me?””
Alexander didn’t answer.
Ethan did.
“Because of the recording.””
Damon turned.
“What recording?””
Ethan looked guilty.
“The one Emma made that night.””
“What recording?””
Ethan opened another file.
Inside was a small memory card.
“She left this with me.””
Damon stared.
“Why didn’t you give it to me?””
“Because she told me not to.””
The answer hurt.
Damon looked at the card.
“What’s on it?””
Ethan’s voice was low.
“Your conversation.””
The room went silent.
Damon looked at Alexander.
“My conversation with Emma?””
“Yes.””
“Then play it.””
Ethan hesitated.
“Damon…”
“Play it.””
Ethan inserted the card into a small device.
A few seconds of static.
Then a voice.
Emma.
Damon froze.
Her voice.
Alive.
Close.
“Damon, please listen to me.””
His heart broke.
Then his own voice came through.
Angry.
Frustrated.
“You’re making this bigger than it is, Emma.””
Damon closed his eyes.
The memory was returning.
Emma’s voice shook.
“You don’t understand what your father has done.””
His own voice.
“He built my company.””
“He controlled your company.””
“He gave me an opportunity.””
“He bought your loyalty.””
Damon felt sick.
Because hearing himself was worse than remembering.
Then Emma said:
“The worst part is you know I’m right.””
Silence.
Then his voice.
“You should leave if you don’t trust me.””
The room went still.
Damon opened his eyes.
No.
He remembered.
He had said that.
The words he wished he could take back.
Emma’s voice became quiet.
“Maybe I should.””
The recording continued.
A door opening.
Emma crying.
Then Damon’s voice.
“Don’t come back until you decide who you’re loyal to.””
The audio stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Damon stood frozen.
Because for the first time, he understood.
Emma hadn’t disappeared because she stopped loving him.
She disappeared because she thought he had chosen someone else.
His father.
His legacy.
His money.
His name.
Lily looked up at him.
“Daddy?””
Damon turned.
“I’m sorry.””
The words came out broken.
“I’m so sorry.””
He hugged her.
And for the first time that night, Alexander looked uncertain.
Because Damon wasn’t angry anymore.
He was focused.
He wiped his eyes.
Then looked at his father.
“Where is Emma?””
Alexander didn’t answer.
Damon stepped closer.
“Where is my wife?””
Alexander’s expression hardened.
“You still don’t understand.””
“Then make me understand.””
Alexander stared at him.
Then slowly smiled.
“She isn’t hiding from you.””
A pause.
“She’s hiding something from you.””
Damon frowned.
“What?””
Alexander reached into his pocket.
He pulled out another photograph.
Then placed it on the table.
Damon looked down.
And his entire body went cold.
Because the picture showed Emma.
Holding Lily.
But Lily wasn’t a baby.
She was older.
Five years old.
The photograph was taken after Emma supposedly died.
On the back were three words.
*“Ask about Lily.””*
Damon looked up.
His voice barely existed.
“What are you saying?””
Alexander smiled.
“The child you just found…”
May you like
He leaned closer.
“…is not the only secret your wife kept from you.””
