Chapter 2: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Chapter 2: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
The first page of the journal was written in Caleb's father's handwriting.
"If you are reading this, I have failed to protect my family."
Caleb continued reading.
"Your mother is innocent."
The words blurred through his tears.
"What?"
He turned another page.
"I let Eleanor take the blame because the real criminal threatened to kill both children."
Children.
Not just Caleb.
Amelia.
Caleb frowned.
Why would Amelia be in danger twenty-two years ago?
Then he reached the final photograph.
Two children playing beside a lake.
On the back were the words:
"You were promised to protect each other long before you ever fell in love."
Suddenly every childhood memory rushed back.
The little girl with bright blue ribbons.
The summer vacations.
The accident.
Then...
Nothing.
Someone had erased those memories.
Meanwhile...
Across the country...
A black luxury sedan stopped outside the Whitfield mansion.
An elderly man stepped out.
Every servant froze.
One whispered in terror.
"It can't be..."
"Mr. Jonathan Whitfield died twenty-two years ago."
The old man smiled.
"I allowed everyone to believe that."
He walked through the front door.
Eleanor nearly collapsed.
"You..."
"You were alive?"
Jonathan looked directly into her eyes.
"I came back because our son finally knows enough."
"But not everything."
Caleb rushed downstairs.
"Dad?"
The room fell silent.
Jonathan embraced his son for the first time in twenty-two years.
Then he spoke the sentence that shattered every remaining illusion.
"Eleanor didn't push Amelia because she hated her."
"She pushed her because someone told her the baby would die if Amelia stayed in this family."
Caleb stepped backward.
"What are you talking about?"
Jonathan slowly turned toward the doorway.
Someone else had entered.
A woman wearing black gloves.
Smiling.
"I see you finally remembered me."
Amelia opened her eyes in the hospital at that exact moment.
May you like
The first word she whispered was...
"Aunt Vivian."
