Chapter 4: The Night Everyone Lied
Damon read the sentence again.
Then again.
His fingers tightened around the paper until the edges bent.
*If Damon finds out what really happened that night, we all lose everything.*
The words were simple.
But they carried a warning.
A threat.
A promise.
The ballroom, which had once been filled with music and celebration, now felt like a place where every person was hiding something.
Damon slowly looked up.
“Who sent this?””
Emma shook her head.
“I don't know.””
“You don't know?””
She looked at the envelope.
“It was delivered to my apartment. No name. No return address.””
Damon turned the paper over.
Nothing.
No signature.
No clue.
Just a message meant to scare her.
Or stop her.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Damon, we need to leave.””
Damon didn't move.
“No.””
Marcus looked surprised.
“Damon.””
“No.””
His eyes moved across the room.
At the guests.
At Victoria.
At Emma.
At Lily.
“Everyone here has known something I didn't.””
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“And I'm done being the last person to know my own life.””
Nobody answered.
Because nobody could.
Damon folded the paper carefully and placed it inside his jacket.
Then he looked at Victoria.
“You're going to tell me everything.””
Victoria wiped her face.
“Damon—”
“Everything.””
The firmness in his voice stopped her.
Not anger.
Not shouting.
Something worse.
A man who had finally reached the end of his patience.
Victoria nodded slowly.
“Okay.””
She looked around the ballroom.
“We can't do this here.””
Damon glanced at the decorations surrounding them.
The flowers.
The candles.
The chairs arranged for a wedding that would never happen.
“You're right.””
He looked at the guests.
“This isn't a wedding anymore.””
The words hurt.
Even Victoria flinched.
Damon turned toward Lily.
“Can someone take her somewhere safe?””
Emma immediately stepped forward.
“No.””
Everyone looked at her.
Emma held Lily's hand.
“She stays with me.””
Damon nodded.
For the first time all day, he didn't argue.
Because no matter how many questions he had, there was one thing he understood.
Emma had lost years with her daughter too.
He looked at Lily.
“Are you okay?””
The little girl nodded.
Then she asked quietly:
“Are you my daddy?””
The question stopped the entire room.
Damon felt his chest tighten.
He looked at Emma.
She looked back.
Neither of them was ready for that moment.
Finally, Damon lowered himself to Lily's height.
“I don't know everything yet.””
Lily watched him carefully.
“But I want to know.””
She nodded.
A small movement.
But somehow it meant everything.
“Okay.””
Damon swallowed.
“Okay.””
Emma looked away, wiping a tear.
The three of them stood there.
A family that should have existed years ago.
A family that had been stolen from itself.
An hour later, the ballroom was empty.
The flowers were still there.
The wedding cake remained untouched.
The champagne glasses still waited on tables.
But the celebration was gone.
Damon sat in a private room connected to the venue.
Across from him sat Victoria.
Emma sat beside Lily near the window.
Marcus stood against the wall.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then Damon looked at Victoria.
“Start at the beginning.””
Victoria took a deep breath.
“The accident happened six years ago.””
Damon nodded.
“I know that part.””
“No.””
Victoria looked at him.
“You know what you were told.””
The distinction made his stomach tighten.
“You received a call saying Emma's car crashed.””
Damon stared.
“Yes.””
“You were told she didn't survive.””
“Yes.””
Victoria folded her hands together.
“But nobody told you the accident wasn't immediately fatal.””
Damon froze.
“What?””
Emma looked down.
Victoria continued.
“Emma was alive when emergency workers found her.””
The room became silent.
Damon's face changed.
“No.””
“It's true.””
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“No, I was told—”
“You were told what people wanted you to believe.””
Damon stood.
His chair moved backward sharply.
“Who?””
Victoria looked at him.
“I don't know.””
The answer made him angry.
“You don't know?””
“I know pieces.””
“Then give me the pieces.””
Victoria took a breath.
“The night of the accident, Emma was taken to a hospital under another name.””
Damon stared.
“Why?””
“Because someone changed the records.””
Emma spoke quietly.
“I didn't even know who I was at first.””
Damon turned toward her.
“What do you mean?””
Emma looked at her hands.
“When I woke up, I couldn't remember my own address.””
Her voice shook.
“I remembered my name eventually. I remembered you.””
She looked at him.
“But everything else came slowly.””
Damon sat back down.
The anger inside him mixed with confusion.
“So you were alive.””
“Yes.””
“And you couldn't contact me.””
“Yes.””
“Then what happened?””
Emma looked at Victoria.
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I found her.””
Damon looked back.
“You found her?””
Victoria nodded.
“A few months after the accident.””
Emma's expression became painful.
“You came to my hospital room.””
“Yes.””
“And you told me Damon had moved on.””
Victoria looked down.
“He was trying to.””
Damon's eyes narrowed.
“What did you tell her exactly?””
Victoria hesitated.
Then:
“I told her you blamed her.””
The room went silent.
Damon slowly stood again.
“I never said that.””
“I know.””
“Then why?””
Victoria started crying.
“Because I was afraid.””
Damon shook his head.
“You keep saying that.””
“Because it's true.””
“No.””
His voice hardened.
“You keep using fear like it explains what you did.””
Victoria looked at him.
“And what would you have done?””
The question surprised him.
“What?””
“If you thought someone you loved was gone... and then they came back... but bringing them back meant losing everything you had built?””
Damon stared.
Victoria continued.
“I know it was wrong.””
Her voice broke.
“But I was already in your life.””
“You weren't in my life.””
Damon looked at Emma.
“She was.””
The sentence was quiet.
But it destroyed Victoria.
Emma lowered her eyes.
Because she knew.
No matter what happened next, she was the person Damon had loved first.
Victoria whispered:
“I thought time would make it easier.””
Damon looked at her.
“Time?””
“Yes.””
“You thought I would forget her?””
Victoria didn't answer.
Because she knew the truth.
Damon never forgot.
Not for one day.
Emma reached into her bag.
“I need to show you something.””
Damon turned.
“What?””
Emma pulled out a small notebook.
The cover was worn.
Old.
She placed it on the table.
“What is this?””
“My journal.””
Damon looked confused.
“I wrote in it after I woke up.””
“Why are you showing me?””
Emma opened it.
Several pages were filled with handwriting.
“I wrote everything I remembered.””
She turned the notebook around.
Damon saw his name repeated across multiple pages.
Damon.
Damon.
Damon.
His throat tightened.
“I wanted to find you.””
Emma's voice became emotional.
“Every day.””
She flipped forward.
“And then one day, I found out I was pregnant.””
Damon looked at Lily.
His eyes filled.
Emma continued.
“I thought I had lost you forever.””
Damon whispered:
“You thought I was gone.””
Emma nodded.
“Yes.””
A painful silence followed.
Then Damon noticed something.
A date written at the top of the page.
His expression changed.
“What is this?””
Emma looked at the page.
“What?””
Damon pointed.
“This date.””
Emma looked closer.
Her face changed.
Because she recognized it.
“That was the day I tried to contact you.””
Damon stared.
“The same day Victoria said you called me.””
Victoria immediately looked up.
“What?””
Damon turned.
“You told me Emma called.””
Victoria's face went pale.
“I—”
“You told me she called and said she didn't want anything to do with me.””
Victoria stopped breathing.
Emma looked shocked.
“I never said that.””
Damon looked at Victoria.
The room went silent.
Because now there was something worse than a lie.
There was proof.
Someone had been pretending to be Emma.
Someone had been controlling what both of them believed.
Marcus stepped away from the wall.
“Damon.””
Everyone looked at him.
His face had changed.
“What?””
Marcus hesitated.
Then he slowly reached into his pocket.
“I think I know who sent that message.””
Damon stared.
“Who?””
Marcus looked at the note on the table.
Then at Emma.
Then at Victoria.
His voice dropped.
“The person who caused the accident.””
Nobody moved.
Damon felt cold.
“Marcus... what are you saying?””
Marcus swallowed.
“I'm saying the crash wasn't an accident.””
The room fell silent.
And then his phone suddenly rang.
Marcus looked at the screen.
His face turned white.
Damon noticed.
“Who is it?””
Marcus didn't answer.
The phone kept ringing.
Finally, he whispered:
“It's him.””
Damon stepped closer.
“Who?””
May you like
Marcus slowly lifted his eyes.
“The man who was supposed to be dead.””
