Chapter 9: The Memory She Buried
Daniel stared at the message.
The words felt heavier than the phone itself.
Ask your sister what she remembers from the night your parents died.
He slowly looked at Lily.
She immediately noticed his expression.
“What?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Daniel?””
Everyone watched him.
Michael looked concerned.
“What did it say?””
Daniel turned the phone around.
The room went silent.
Lily’s face lost color.
“I don’t remember.””
Daniel looked at her.
“You don’t remember anything?””
She shook her head quickly.
“I told you. I only remember pieces.””
“What pieces?””
She closed her eyes.
“A song.””
Everyone waited.
“My mother singing.””
“Anything else?””
Lily’s breathing became uneven.
“A car.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“What about the car?””
She touched her head.
“I don’t know.””
“Lily.””
“I don’t know!””
Her voice broke.
“I was five years old, Daniel.””
The anger disappeared from his face.
“I know.””
“I spent my whole life trying to remember.””
Tears filled her eyes.
“And every time I got close, it disappeared.””
Daniel softened.
“Okay.””
But Michael looked worried.
“Lily.””
She looked at him.
“What?””
“You need to tell him.””
Her expression changed.
“Tell him what?””
Michael looked down.
“The memory you’ve been afraid of.””
Daniel turned.
“What memory?””
Lily stepped away.
“I don’t have one.””
Michael shook his head.
“Yes, you do.””
She looked angry.
“Don’t.””
“You remember the man who pulled you from the car.””
Everyone froze.
Daniel stared.
“What man?””
Lily covered her mouth.
“I don’t…”
Michael continued gently.
“You told me once.””
“Stop.””
“You said you saw your father arguing with someone.””
Daniel’s heart raced.
“Who?””
Lily looked terrified.
“I don’t know.””
Michael whispered:
“You knew.””
She closed her eyes.
And suddenly, the memory came back.
A dark road.
Rain against glass.
Her mother crying.
Her father shouting.
A man standing outside the car.
Lily opened her eyes.
“I remember.””
Daniel moved closer.
“What?””
She was shaking.
“There was someone there.””
“Who?””
She looked at him.
“Someone I knew.””
Daniel froze.
“Who?””
Lily whispered:
“Uncle Michael.””
The room went silent.
Michael closed his eyes.
Daniel stepped back.
“No.””
Lily started crying.
“I’m sorry.””
Michael looked devastated.
“Lily…”
“You were there.””
“Yes.””
“You were holding my father.””
“Yes.””
Daniel stared.
“You said you saved her.””
Michael nodded.
“I did.””
“But you were there.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Michael looked broken.
“Because I was afraid you would see only one moment.””
Daniel’s voice became cold.
“What moment?””
Michael swallowed.
“The moment where I arrived too late.””
Nobody spoke.
Then Robert suddenly grabbed the folder.
“Wait.””
Everyone looked at him.
The lawyer flipped through the pages.
“There’s something missing.””
“What?””
“The original witness statement.””
Daniel frowned.
“What about it?””
Robert looked terrified.
“The name was changed.””
Michael stepped forward.
“What?””
Robert pointed.
“The first version listed Michael Sterling.””
Daniel stared.
Then Robert turned the page.
“But the final version removed his name.””
Everyone went silent.
“Who changed it?””
Robert looked at Thomas’s old signature.
“Thomas Harrington.””
Daniel’s eyes widened.
A new truth began forming.
Thomas didn’t expose Michael.
He erased him.
Daniel looked at Victoria.
She had been silent the entire time.
“Did you know?””
Victoria looked at him.
Slowly…
She nodded.
Daniel felt crushed.
“You knew everything.””
“I knew parts.””
“You knew enough.””
Victoria’s eyes filled.
“I was trying to protect you.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Everyone says that.””
Victoria stepped closer.
“Daniel, please.””
“No.””
He shook his head.
“I spent my entire life losing people because everyone decided they knew what was best for me.””
Silence.
Then Lily spoke.
“Daniel.””
He looked at her.
She was crying.
“But there is one thing I remember.””
Everyone turned.
“What?””
She looked at Michael.
“When I woke up after the accident…”
Her voice trembled.
“The person holding me wasn’t Uncle Michael.””
Michael went still.
Daniel looked confused.
“Who was it?””
Lily closed her eyes.
A memory appeared.
A voice.
A smell.
A touch.
She whispered:
“It was a woman.””
Daniel’s heart stopped.
“A woman?””
Lily nodded.
“She kept telling me one thing.””
“What?””
Lily looked terrified.
“She said…”
A tear rolled down her face.
“‘Your brother must never find out what really happened.’”
Nobody moved.
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed again.
Another unknown message.
This time, it contained a photograph.
An old photograph.
A woman holding five-year-old Lily after the accident.
Daniel looked at it.
And dropped the phone.
Because the woman in the picture was someone he trusted.
Someone who had been beside him for years.
Someone who had been in the mansion all night.
May you like
The woman in the photograph was—
Victoria’s mother.
