Chapter 4 - I thought the room would spin.Instead, everything became unnaturally clear.
The details sharpened.
The cracks in the wall.
The ticking clock.
The sound of rain against the window.
Even Ryan's breathing.
"The baby's real father?" I whispered.
Ryan nodded.
Dad stepped forward.
"Who?"
Ryan said nothing.
Dad grabbed his collar.
"Who?"
Ryan's eyes flicked toward me.
"I was trying to protect you."
I almost laughed.
"Protect me?"
"Yes."
"By beating me?"
"I never touched you."
I stared at him.
He raised both hands.
"Look at me."
I did.
He had no bruises.
No injuries.
No evidence.
Only a terrified wife with a pregnant belly.
That was always his strategy.
Make me look unstable.
Make himself look reasonable.
Dad's men searched the bedroom.
One found a locked drawer.
Another found several prescription bottles.
My name was printed on them.
I didn't recognize half of them.
Dad held one up.
"What are these?"
Ryan answered.
"Medication."
"For what?"
"Anxiety."
I shook my head.
"I never took them."
Linda suddenly rushed forward.
"She was supposed to!"
Dad turned.
"Supposed to?"
Linda froze.
Dad's voice became quiet.
"How long have you been giving my daughter medicine she didn't know she was taking?"
Linda said nothing.
Dad looked at the nurse.
"Take samples."
The nurse bagged the bottles.
Then she examined my pupils.
"When was the last time you felt dizzy?"
"Almost every day."
"Confused?"
"Yes."
"Memory problems?"
I nodded.
The nurse looked at Dad.
"She may have been sedated."
The room went silent.
Ryan backed away.
"No."
Dad looked at him.
"She told you she was dizzy."
Ryan's face tightened.
"I thought it was pregnancy."
"You never asked the doctor?"
"I did."
Dad smiled.
"Which is why you paid him."
Ryan's silence was enough.
Then his phone rang.
Everyone looked at it.
He didn't answer.
It rang again.
And again.
The number was blocked.
Dad nodded toward him.
"Answer."
Ryan hesitated.
Then pressed the screen.
"Hello?"
No one spoke.
Ryan listened.
His face slowly drained.
I watched him whisper:
"She's alive?"
Dad heard it.
"Who?"
Ryan ended the call.
Dad moved toward him.
"Who is alive?"
Ryan shook his head.
"No one."
Dad struck the phone from his hand.
It hit the floor.
The call remained active.
A distorted voice came through the speaker.
"Vincent."
Dad froze.
He knew that voice.
The voice continued.
"You should not have opened the blanket."
Dad's eyes hardened.
"Who are you?"
A soft laugh.
Then:
"Ask your daughter what happened the night she disappeared from the charity gala."
I stared at the phone.
I remembered.
Three years ago.
I had gone to a gala with Dad.
I remembered drinking champagne.
I remembered feeling dizzy.
Then nothing.
I woke up the next morning in a hotel room.
Ryan was there.
He said he found me wandering in the hallway.
I believed him.
I had no reason not to.
But now...
I suddenly remembered something.
A second man.
A silver watch.
A scar.
And a voice whispering:
"Don't trust Ryan."
I gasped.
Dad turned toward me.
"What?"
"I remember."
Ryan's face changed.
"What do you remember?"
I looked at him.
"You were not there that night."
Ryan stopped breathing.
Dad stepped closer.
"What did you see?"
I closed my eyes.
The memory came back in pieces.
A dark hallway.
A locked door.
A man standing near a window.
And a woman's voice crying:
"Please don't let them take the baby."
I opened my eyes.
"I was already pregnant."
Dad stared.
"No."
Ryan whispered:
"That's impossible."
I shook my head.
"I wasn't seven months pregnant then."
I looked at my stomach.
I looked at Ryan.
Then at Dad.
"I think this pregnancy started earlier than they told me."
The nurse dropped the prescription bottle.
Dad's face changed.
Ryan backed away.
And from somewhere inside the apartment...
A baby monitor turned on by itself.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
"Emily..."
I recognized it.
May you like
It was my mother's voice.
My mother had been dead for twelve years.
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