THE ECHO BETWEEN REALITIES

CHAPTER 5- BITTERNESS OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY

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Chapter 5: The Bitterness of a Foreign Country

Bella blinked in disbelief, her breath caught somewhere between confusion and denial. She stared at Chloe, her voice trembling as she spoke.

“Wait… what did you just say? You said I’ve been gone for more than a year? But Edward told me it’s only been three months. What do you mean, a year?”

Chloe’s eyes softened. She stepped closer, her tone turning gentle, almost maternal, as if she were trying to soothe a child waking from a long, disorienting nightmare.

“Bella,” she said carefully, “you’ve been missing for about a year and two months. Your grandparents and I searched everywhere for you. We filed reports, hired help, combed through cities… but you were just gone. Vanished.”

Bella’s hands clenched unconsciously at her sides. Her head was throbbing now, a piercing ache radiating behind her eyes. Nothing was making sense. The world around her seemed to tilt on its axis.

“That’s not possible,” she whispered, shaking her head. “It’s only been three months. I remember—”

Chloe cut her off softly.

“During your absence, Edward took control of your company. He fired the directors who were loyal to you. People you trusted—gone. I came back to retrieve something that belonged to you. That’s why I’m here. Things have been… chaotic. Even I don’t understand everything. But Bella, we were terrified. All of us. Your disappearance—it broke hearts.”

Bella stood in stunned silence. The weight of Chloe’s words pressed down on her like lead. The room began to spin. She reached out blindly, grabbing onto the edge of a nearby chair to steady herself.

“I… I need to call my grandparents,” she said, her voice nearly inaudible. “I need to hear their voices.”

Without a word, Chloe pulled out her phone and dialed. The ringing filled the room like a clock ticking too loudly in a quiet church. Then, a familiar voice answered.

“Matthew, it’s me,” Chloe said softly.

“Oh, Chloe! I’m doing well. And you? It’s been too long. How have you been?” The old man’s voice was light, unsuspecting.

“I’m okay,” Chloe replied, but her voice caught slightly as she continued, “I have something important to tell you. Bella is with me. Right now. Do you… do you want to speak with her?”

There was a pause. Then the sound of a chair scraping across the floor, and a gasp.

“What? Our Bella? She’s there? Are you serious?” His voice cracked. “Martha! It’s Bella! Our Bella is back!”

A sob burst from Bella’s throat. She reached for the phone, tears already streaking down her cheeks. Her fingers trembled as she clutched it to her ear.

“Grandma? Grandpa?” she choked out.

“My baby…” came her grandmother’s voice, thick with emotion. “Oh my precious girl, I missed you so much. Come home. Come home right now. Let me see your beautiful face, please…”

Bella’s tears came freely then—grief, guilt, confusion, relief all tangled into a river of emotion. Chloe placed a steadying hand on her back, but Bella barely noticed.

In the car ride to her grandparents’ house, Bella sat in silence, her eyes fixed on the passing landscape. The sky was bruised with early evening colors, the trees blurred by her watery gaze.

She thought of Edward.

Of the coldness in his eyes lately.

Of the strange gaps in her memory.

Of the things she couldn’t explain—the feeling that something had been taken from her without her knowledge.

The words Chloe had said rang in her head over and over.

“You’ve been gone for a year.”

Why would Edward lie?

Why would he pretend it had only been three months?

A sickening sense of betrayal curled in her stomach. Her husband had always been protective, yes, but had it crossed into control? Into manipulation?

She remembered vague flashes—being in a different house, hearing voices she couldn’t place, a dull sensation of days melting together. Had she been… held somewhere? Sedated? Or was it truly memory loss?

She didn’t know. And that terrified her.

She turned to Chloe, who was staring ahead, her face solemn.

“Do you believe him?” Bella asked suddenly. “Edward. Do you think he’s lying?”

Chloe didn’t answer right away. Her jaw tightened.

“I think something happened,” she said at last. “Something he didn’t tell us. And I think… whatever it was, it wasn’t for your benefit.”

Bella looked back out the window, watching as the city turned into suburbs, and the suburbs into quiet residential roads. Her grandparents’ house came into view—warm lights glowing in the windows, like tiny lighthouses calling her home.

Home.

She hadn’t even realized how much she needed that word to mean something again.

As they pulled into the driveway, her grandfather was already at the door, tears glistening in his eyes. Her grandmother stood behind him, hands clasped tightly over her heart.

Bella stepped out of the car, and for a moment, time stopped. Her grandparents ran to her, enveloping her in trembling arms. She let herself be held, let herself sob against their shoulders like a little girl who had just awakened from a nightmare she couldn’t escape.

No words were needed. Not yet.

But in the warmth of that embrace, something fragile and broken within her began to mend.

Yet the questions loomed larger than ever.

Where had she truly been?

What had Edward done?

And why could she not remember?

As she clutched her grandmother’s hand and stepped inside the familiar house, she knew one thing for sure:

The truth was coming.

And it would change everything.