“What did he just say?”
“Clara?”
“Isn’t Clara supposed to be dead?”
Vanessa stepped back.
“No…” she whispered. “No, that’s impossible.”
Lauren slowly lifted her eyes toward Ethan.
For years she had imagined this moment.
For years she had dreamed of seeing him again.
But not like this.
Not wearing a maid’s uniform.
Not while hiding her identity.
Tears filled Ethan’s eyes.
Three years earlier, Clara had disappeared after a terrible car accident.
Police never found her.
Everyone believed she was gone.
Everyone…
Except Noah.
Every night he had looked at Ethan and said:
“Mommy is coming back.”
Lauren’s voice trembled.
“I didn’t remember anything after the accident.”
The room stood frozen.
“I lost my memory… until two months ago.”
Vanessa suddenly shouted:
“She’s lying!”
But then Noah reached into his tiny jacket pocket.
“Daddy…”
He pulled out an old photo.
A photo he secretly kept under his pillow every night.
Ethan looked down.
His hands began shaking.
It was Clara.
Holding baby Noah.
Wearing the exact same necklace Lauren was wearing right now.
Vanessa slowly turned pale.
Because she knew something nobody else did.
She knew Clara never disappeared by accident.
And Ethan looked at Vanessa and quietly asked:
“…What did you do?”
