Chapter 6 - THE SECOND MARRIAGEEthan sat down.
His hands were shaking.
Olivia placed the document on the table.
“Who was Amelia?”
“I don't know.”
“That is impossible.”
“I swear.”
“You married her.”
“I don't remember.”
Olivia stared at him.
“What?”
Ethan touched his forehead.
“I remember Claire.”
“I remember marrying Claire.”
“But Amelia…”
He stopped.
There was a blank space in his memory.
Two years.
A terrifying blank.
Olivia slowly sat opposite him.
“What happened?”
“I was in a car accident.”
“When?”
“April 14.”
Olivia's expression changed.
“The same day Amelia died.”
Ethan nodded.
“What did the doctors say?”
“Traumatic memory loss.”
“Who was with you?”
“My father.”
“And Amelia?”
“I was told she was already dead.”
Olivia looked at the certificate.
“This marriage certificate is real.”
Ethan stared.
“Then why don't I remember?”
Olivia closed the folder.
“Because someone wanted you to forget.”
Claire met a retired detective in a quiet diner outside Chicago.
The place smelled like coffee and bacon.
A baseball game played silently on the television.
The detective slid an old file across the table.
“Amelia wasn't killed in a car accident.”
Claire opened it.
“Then what happened?”
“She was pregnant.”
Claire froze.
“With Ethan's child?”
The detective nodded.
“She was going to expose the family.”
“What did she know?”
“She discovered the foundation had been laundering money.”
“Through what?”
“Adoption agencies.”
Claire remembered the baby photograph.
“Children.”
“Yes.”
“Where did they go?”
The detective leaned closer.
“Some went to wealthy families.”
“And others?”
“Some disappeared.”
Claire swallowed.
“Amelia found them.”
“She tried to.”
“And they killed her.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
The detective looked at her.
“That's why I called you.”
He handed her a second file.
Inside was a photograph.
Amelia standing beside Claire's father.
Claire stared.
“My father.”
The detective nodded.
“Your father was the attorney who handled the adoptions.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“My entire family was involved.”
“Not your entire family.”
“Who wasn't?”
May you like
The detective whispered:
“Ethan's mother.”
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