Chapter 5
1278 Words
CHAPTER FIVE
THE GIRL WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE
The door wouldn't open.
I pulled the handle again.
Nothing.
“Help!”
Liyana stood beside me in the darkness.
“Don't shout.”
I turned toward her.
“Why?”
“Because whoever locked us in here wants us to panic.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I've been here before.”
I froze.
“What?”
She reached for my hand.
“Listen to me. We don't have much time.”
I pulled away.
“You expect me to trust you after telling me I'm Elena?”
“I don't expect you to trust me.”
“Good.”
“I expect you to remember.”
The emergency lights flickered on.
Her face appeared in the faint red glow.
She looked exactly like me.
It was terrifying.
“You said our mother switched our identities.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because one of us was supposed to die.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Seven years ago, someone tried to kill us.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
She walked toward the security monitors.
“Our mother knew someone was coming for us. She couldn't protect both of us.”
“So she chose one?”
Liyana looked at me.
“She chose you.”
I swallowed.
“Why me?”
“She believed you were the one they wanted.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying you don't know!”
“Because every time I got close to the truth, someone stopped me.”
“Who?”
She looked at the locked door.
“Your fiancé.”
My stomach dropped.
“Adrian?”
She nodded.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Adrian would never hurt me.”
Liyana gave me a sad smile.
“You said the same thing seven years ago.”
I stared at her.
“Seven years ago?”
She nodded.
“You loved him then too.”
My mind went blank.
A memory flashed.
A boy.
Younger.
Standing in a garden.
He was holding my hand.
I heard myself laughing.
Then his voice:
“I'll always protect you.”
I gasped.
Adrian.
It was him.
I knew him.
But not as my fiancé.
As a childhood friend.
As someone I had known before the accident.
Before everything changed.
“Why don't I remember?”
“Because you weren't supposed to.”
She walked closer.
“Our mother had your memories altered.”
I shook my head.
“That's impossible.”
“Is it?”
She pointed toward the medical files.
“Look at the date.”
I picked up the file.
Seven years ago.
There were neurological reports.
Medication records.
Psychological evaluations.
And a signature.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
My blood ran cold.
“Adrian is a doctor?”
“No.”
“Then why is his name here?”
Liyana stared at me.
“Because he wasn't always your fiancé.”
I looked at her.
“What was he?”
She hesitated.
“Your mother's assistant.”
That made no sense.
“Why would my mother's assistant be involved in my medical treatment?”
“Because he was there when everything happened.”
I looked down at the file again.
There was one final page.
A photograph.
Two children sitting in a hospital bed.
One was me.
The other was Elena.
But there was something written beneath it.
PATIENT 17 — MEMORY ALTERATION SUCCESSFUL.
I stared at the words.
“What did they do to me?”
Liyana's expression softened.
“They made you forget who you were.”
“Why?”
“Because they were afraid you'd remember who tried to kill you.”
I looked up.
“Who?”
She opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, the security room door unlocked.
We both froze.
The door slowly opened.
Adrian stood outside.
He was holding a gun.
My heart stopped.
“Adrian?”
His eyes moved from me to Liyana.
For a moment, he looked completely broken.
Then he said:
“Neither of you were supposed to find this room.”
Liyana stepped in front of me.
“Stay away from her.”
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Liyana.”
She didn't move.
He looked at me.
“She's lying to you.”
I shook my head.
“She has proof.”
“She has manipulated you.”
“What about the files?”
“Forged.”
“The photograph?”
“Fake.”
“My memories?”
He went silent.
I stepped toward him.
“You knew me before I lost my memory.”
He didn't answer.
“You knew Elena.”
Nothing.
“You knew my mother switched our identities.”
His jaw tightened.
“Enough.”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“I want the truth.”
He lowered the gun slightly.
“The truth is that you're in danger.”
“From who?”
“Everyone.”
I stared at him.
“That isn't an answer.”
He looked at Liyana.
“You shouldn't have come back.”
She laughed bitterly.
“I never left.”
Adrian's face changed.
“What?”
“I was right here.”
He stared at her.
“You died.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You were told I died.”
Adrian's expression became unreadable.
“Who told you?”
“Your father.”
Silence.
I looked at Adrian.
“Your father?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Liyana turned to me.
“That's why he couldn't tell you the truth.”
I looked at Adrian.
“What does your father have to do with us?”
He finally raised the gun again.
But not toward us.
Toward the ceiling.
He fired once.
The sound echoed through the hospital.
I screamed.
Liyana grabbed my hand.
“Run!”
We ran.
Down the corridor.
Past the nurses.
Past the emergency room.
Past people staring at us.
Adrian followed.
But he wasn't chasing us.
He was chasing someone else.
A man appeared at the end of the corridor.
Tall.
Grey-haired.
Wearing a dark coat.
Adrian stopped.
“Father.”
The man smiled.
“You've made a terrible mistake, Adrian.”
I froze.
Liyana froze beside me.
The man's eyes moved toward us.
Then he looked directly at me.
And smiled.
Not at Liyana.
At me.
“Hello, Elena.”
My heart stopped.
Nobody had called me that except Liyana.
The man stepped closer.
“You've grown up beautifully.”
I couldn't move.
Adrian whispered:
“Don't listen to him.”
The man laughed.
“Still protecting her?”
He looked at Adrian.
“After everything she did?”
I stared at him.
“What did I do?”
His smile disappeared.
“You killed your sister.”
The corridor went silent.
Liyana's face turned white.
“No.”
The man looked at her.
“Yes.”
Then he looked at me.
“Seven years ago, Elena didn't try to save Liyana.”
He stepped closer.
“She tried to kill her.”
I couldn't breathe.
“That isn't true.”
The man smiled.
“Then ask yourself why your mother erased your memory.”
I looked at Liyana.
She was crying.
I looked at Adrian.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
And suddenly I realized something.
Everyone had been telling me different versions of the same story.
My mother.
Liyana.
Adrian.
This man.
But one fact remained.
Someone had erased my memory.
And whatever they had erased...
was worse than murder.
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