Chapter 4 – The Woman Who Never Existed
1323 Words
The next morning arrived without peace.
Adrian hadn't slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Evelyn laughing beneath the restaurant lights, her fingers wrapped around the letter he'd written. Then came the rain. The blinding headlights. The crash.
And every time he woke, the same question greeted him.
Where was she?
The door opened just after eight.
Detective Collins walked in carrying a thin brown case file. Officer Reed followed quietly behind him, holding a tablet.
"Morning, Mr. Morgan," Collins said.
Adrian didn't return the greeting.
"Did you find her?"
The detective pulled up a chair.
"We've completed our preliminary investigation."
Adrian leaned forward despite the pain in his ribs.
"And?"
Collins opened the file.
"I'm afraid we still have no evidence that your wife exists."
Adrian blinked.
"...What?"
"We've searched every official record connected to your claim."
"My claim?" Adrian repeated. "She's my wife."
The detective remained calm.
"We checked marriage records in this state."
"No marriage license."
"We expanded the search nationally."
"No marriage certificate."
"That's impossible."
"We also searched for anyone named Evelyn Morgan matching your description."
He paused.
"There were several women with that name."
"But none connected to you."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
"There has to be a mistake."
Officer Reed placed the tablet on the bed.
"We'd like you to look at something."
He tapped the screen.
A scanned copy of Adrian's driver's license appeared.
Marital Status:
Single.
Adrian frowned.
"No."
He reached for the tablet.
"This isn't right."
Collins slid another document forward.
"Your tax filings."
Status:
Single.
Another.
Health insurance.
Beneficiary:
None.
Another.
Emergency contact.
His older brother.
Not Evelyn.
His breathing quickened.
"No..."
Collins continued.
"We searched property records."
"The apartment you currently live in is registered solely under your name."
"What?"
"No co-owner."
"No joint tenancy."
"No spouse listed."
Adrian stared blankly.
"We bought that apartment together."
"There is no evidence of that."
"I signed the papers with her."
"The records say otherwise."
He rubbed his forehead.
A dull ache spread through his skull.
"This can't be happening."
Collins watched him carefully.
"Mr. Morgan..."
"Have you ever experienced memory problems before?"
"No."
"Blackouts?"
"No."
"Hallucinations?"
Adrian looked up sharply.
"You think I'm crazy."
"I'm trying to understand."
"I don't need understanding."
"I need my wife!"
His voice echoed through the room.
A nurse glanced through the small window before quietly walking away.
Collins let the silence settle.
Then he asked gently,
"Tell me about your wedding."
Adrian answered without hesitation.
"It was in October."
"A small vineyard."
"About sixty guests."
"Her dress was ivory."
"My best friend, Daniel, was my best man."
"We danced to 'Can't Help Falling in Love.'"
His voice softened.
"She cried during the vows."
He smiled faintly.
"So did I."
Officer Reed typed every word.
Collins nodded.
"We contacted Daniel."
Adrian smiled.
"Good."
"He'll tell you."
"He attended the wedding."
The detective hesitated.
"He says there was no wedding."
The smile disappeared.
"What?"
"He told us you've never been married."
Adrian stared.
"No..."
"He says you've been single for years."
"You're lying."
"We're not."
"He wouldn't say that."
"He did."
"No."
Adrian's voice grew quieter.
"You've spoken to the wrong Daniel."
"We confirmed his identity."
The detective reached into the folder once more.
"We also contacted your parents."
Adrian froze.
His mother's face flashed through his mind.
She adored Evelyn.
She called her "the daughter I never had."
"They know her," Adrian whispered.
"They love her."
Collins lowered his eyes.
"They've never heard of anyone named Evelyn."
The room seemed to tilt.
Adrian felt suddenly cold.
Very cold.
"My mother knitted her a blanket."
No one answered.
"My father taught her how to play golf."
Silence.
"We spent Christmas together."
Officer Reed slowly shook his head.
"Your parents said you've spent every Christmas with them."
"They insist you've always come alone."
Adrian couldn't speak.
His mind raced desperately through memories.
Christmas dinner.
Evelyn laughing while trying to cook with his mother.
His father pretending to hate her terrible singing.
It had happened.
It had.
Hadn't it?
The detective closed the file.
"We'd like permission for a psychological evaluation."
Adrian's head snapped up.
"No."
"It could help explain—"
"I'm not delusional!"
"No one is accusing you of that."
"Then stop treating me like I imagined my own wife!"
His voice cracked.
For the first time since waking up, tears filled his eyes.
He looked away.
Ashamed.
Angry.
Terrified.
Collins stood.
"We'll leave you to rest."
As they reached the door, Adrian spoke.
"There has to be one place."
The detective turned.
"The restaurant."
"What about it?"
"The anniversary dinner."
"They know us."
"We've celebrated there before."
"The staff knows Evelyn."
Collins exchanged a glance with Reed.
"We've already spoken to them."
Adrian's heart skipped.
"And?"
"They remember serving you."
Relief flooded him.
"See?"
The detective's next words crushed it.
"They remember serving you..."
He paused.
"Alone."
Adrian's smile faded.
"...No."
"The reservation was for one."
"No."
"The waiter says you requested a quiet table by yourself."
"You're lying."
"He remembers because you ordered dessert with a single candle."
"No..."
"You spent most of the evening writing in a notebook."
"No!"
"You toasted... by yourself."
Adrian covered his ears.
"Stop."
"You appeared emotional."
"STOP!"
The heart monitor screamed as his pulse spiked.
Nurses rushed inside.
One gently held his shoulders.
"Mr. Morgan, calm down."
"I wasn't alone!"
He fought against them.
"I talked to her!"
"I held her hand!"
"I danced with her!"
His voice dissolved into sobs.
"I kissed my wife goodbye..."
The room fell silent.
The nurses stepped back once he stopped struggling.
Collins spoke softly.
"We're going to arrange for someone to speak with you."
Adrian stared blankly ahead.
He barely heard the words.
His mind had become a battlefield.
Every memory insisted Evelyn was real.
Every piece of evidence insisted she wasn't.
One of them had to be lying.
But which?
Hours later, after the doctors adjusted his medication, Adrian sat alone in the quiet room.
The television played silently in the corner.
He wasn't watching it.
His eyes drifted to the plastic bag containing his personal belongings.
His wedding ring.
He reached for it.
His fingers closed around the cool metal.
He smiled sadly.
"This proves it," he whispered.
He turned the ring over.
Inside the band was the engraving.
Forever. A & E.
His breath caught.
"There..."
He laughed weakly through tears.
"I knew it."
He pressed the call button beside his bed.
Moments later, the nurse entered.
"I need Detective Collins."
She noticed the ring.
"Is everything okay?"
"This."
He held it up triumphantly.
"Our wedding rings."
She examined it.
Then looked back at him with quiet sympathy.
"Mr. Morgan..."
"What?"
"There's only one ring."
He frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"The engraving..."
She pointed gently.
"It says..."
Adrian looked again.
The letters he'd sworn were there...
were gone.
The inside of the band was smooth.
Blank.
No engraving.
No initials.
Nothing.
His hands began to tremble.
"No..."
He rubbed the inside with his thumb.
Again.
And again.
As if the letters might magically reappear.
They didn't.
The ring was ordinary.
Plain.
The nurse slowly placed it back into his palm.
"I'm sorry."
She left quietly, closing the door behind her.
Adrian remained frozen.
His breathing became shallow.
His memories were slipping through his fingers one by one, each one replaced by impossible evidence.
Marriage certificate.
Gone.
Photographs.
Gone.
Friends' memories.
Gone.
His parents' memories.
Gone.
Even the words inside his wedding ring...
gone.
He closed his fist around the ring until the edges dug painfully into his skin.
"No," he whispered into the empty room.
"I know what I lived."
Outside, rain began to fall against the hospital window once again.
And somewhere, hidden beneath the growing fear that he might be losing his mind, another thought quietly took root.
If someone could erase every trace of Evelyn...
Who had the power to erase her from the world?
- Writer
