Chapter 8: The Memory They Took From Me
The room changed the moment Brooke looked away.
Not because she had confessed.
Not because she had spoken.
Because silence can sometimes be the loudest answer.
For months, I had wondered why Brooke avoided certain questions.
Why she changed the subject whenever I mentioned the night of the accident.
Why she remembered details I couldn’t.
Why she always seemed more afraid of my memories returning than of losing me.
Now I knew.
There was a missing piece of my life.
And she had been standing beside it the entire time.
I looked at her.
“Brooke.””
She didn’t answer.
The cameras moved closer.
The guests leaned forward.
Everyone wanted the same thing.
The truth.
I lowered my voice.
“What happened the night I lost my memory?””
Brooke closed her eyes.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“I didn’t want you to remember.””
The words hit harder than any accusation.
Not a denial.
Not confusion.
A confession.
I stared at her.
“Why?””
She looked at me.
“Because I was afraid of what you would do.””
“What I would do?””
She nodded.
“You were angry before the accident.””
The statement confused me.
“Angry?””
“Yes.””
I looked at Evelyn.
She didn’t seem surprised.
That bothered me.
“You knew?””
She slowly nodded.
“Some of it.””
I felt betrayed all over again.
“You all knew.””
Nobody spoke.
“You all knew there was something missing from my memory.””
Charles looked down.
Brooke whispered:
“I thought I was protecting you.””
I turned toward her.
“By hiding my own life from me?””
Her face broke.
“No.””
“Then what?””
She took a shaky breath.
“By keeping you alive.””
The words changed the atmosphere.
Everyone became still.
I looked at her carefully.
“Explain.””
Brooke stepped closer.
Security watched her, ready to intervene.
But I didn’t stop her.
Because I needed answers.
“The night before your accident, you discovered something.””
“What?””
She looked at Charles.
Then Evelyn.
Then back at me.
“You found proof that someone inside Meridian was planning to destroy your father’s legacy.””
I already knew that.
“What else?””
“You confronted them.””
“Who?””
She didn’t answer.
That was the moment I realized something.
Everyone had been talking around the same name.
Everyone knew.
Nobody wanted to say it.
I looked at Charles.
“You?””
His expression changed.
“No.””
The answer came too quickly.
But before I could respond, Brooke shook her head.
“Not him.””
I turned back.
“Then who?””
She looked terrified.
“Your father.””
The room froze.
I stared at her.
“My father has been dead for fifteen years.””
“I know.””
“Then how could he be involved?””
Brooke looked at the letter in my hand.
“Because the night before your accident, you found something about him.””
My fingers tightened around the paper.
“What?””
She swallowed.
“You found out your father had hidden a second company.””
A wave of confusion hit me.
“A second company?””
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Adrian…”
I looked at her.
“Did you know?””
She nodded slowly.
“Yes.””
The betrayal felt endless.
“How many secrets are there?””
Her expression softened.
“Too many.””
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was unbelievable.
My entire life had become a puzzle where everyone else had the missing pieces.
Except me.
Brooke continued.
“The second company wasn’t illegal.””
“Then why hide it?””
“Because it was created to investigate corruption inside Meridian.””
My eyes moved toward Charles.
A connection formed.
The hidden company.
The investigation.
The ownership documents.
The accident.
Everything connected.
“What did I find?””
Brooke looked at the floor.
“You found evidence that someone had been manipulating the company for years.””
“Who?””
Her voice became barely audible.
“Your uncle.””
The name shocked me.
Because I didn’t have an uncle.
Not one I knew.
“My father had a brother?””
Evelyn answered.
“Yes.””
I looked at her.
“Why didn’t I know?””
“Because James erased him from your life.””
“Why?””
Her eyes filled with sadness.
“Because your uncle tried to kill him.””
The room went silent.
A strange calm came over me.
Not because I wasn’t shocked.
Because my brain was finally accepting something.
My family history wasn’t complicated.
It was damaged.
Broken by people who wanted power more than love.
I looked at Brooke.
“What happened that night?””
She took a breath.
“The night before the accident, you called me.””
I frowned.
“I did?””
“Yes.””
“What did I say?””
She looked at me.
“You said you found the person behind everything.””
My heart started beating faster.
“Who?””
She hesitated.
“You never told me.””
“Why?””
“Because you said someone was listening.””
A chill moved through me.
I remembered something.
A sound.
A voice.
A feeling.
Someone watching.
Brooke continued.
“You told me to meet you somewhere private.””
“Where?””
“The old Meridian office.””
I looked at Evelyn.
She nodded.
“That building was closed years ago.””
I looked back at Brooke.
“What happened there?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“When I arrived, you were already there.””
“And?””
“You were different.””
“How?””
“Scared.””
That word surprised me.
I had always thought I was fearless.
But maybe I wasn’t.
Maybe I was just good at hiding fear.
“You told me you discovered something.””
“What?””
Brooke looked at Charles.
Then at Derek.
Then back at me.
“You said someone close to you had been manipulating everything.””
I whispered:
“Who?””
She shook her head.
“You never said the name.””
“Then what happened?””
Her voice broke.
“Someone came into the office.””
The entire room listened.
“Who?””
“I don’t know.””
“You don’t know?””
She shook her head.
“They were wearing a mask.””
The answer frustrated me.
“A mask?””
“Yes.””
She wiped her tears.
“But I heard their voice.””
My stomach tightened.
“What voice?””
She looked directly at me.
And I knew before she spoke.
Because her expression told me.
“It was someone you trusted.””
A cold silence followed.
I looked around the room.
Everyone looked suspicious.
Everyone had a motive.
Everyone had lied.
Then Brooke said:
“After that, you told me something.””
“What?””
“You said if anything happened to you, I needed to protect a file.””
My eyes narrowed.
“What file?””
She looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn opened the leather folder.
“There was one document missing.””
My heart stopped.
“What document?””
“The final ownership record.””
The one everyone had been searching for.
The one that could determine who truly controlled Meridian.
Brooke continued.
“You hid it before the accident.””
“Where?””
She looked at me.
“That’s the problem.””
“What?””
“You didn’t tell anyone.””
I stared.
“Not even you?””
She shook her head.
“You said if I knew, someone could force the truth out of me.””
The words felt strange.
Because they sounded like something I would say.
Careful.
Suspicious.
Prepared.
Then I remembered something.
A flash.
A memory fragment.
My hand placing something inside a wall.
A hidden compartment.
A voice saying:
Only trust yourself.
I grabbed my head.
The pain returned.
A memory.
Not a dream.
A real memory.
I saw the old office.
I saw the desk.
I saw myself opening a hidden panel.
And inside…
A folder.
My folder.
I opened my eyes.
“Adrian?””
I looked at everyone.
“I know where it is.””
Everyone froze.
Charles stepped forward.
“Where?””
I looked toward the ballroom doors.
“The old Meridian office.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“That building has been abandoned for years.””
I nodded.
“I know.””
“Then how?””
I looked at my hands.
Because suddenly I remembered something else.
Something I had forgotten for six years.
A conversation.
A warning.
A promise.
I turned toward Brooke.
“You were there.””
She stopped breathing.
“What?””
“You were there when I hid it.””
Her face went pale.
“No…”
“Yes.””
I stared at her.
“And you weren’t afraid because you didn’t know where the file was.””
A pause.
“You were afraid because you did.””
Brooke stepped back.
“Adrian, please.””
But before she could say anything else, the security officer’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
Then he looked at me.
“Mr. Cole.””
“What?””
“We have a problem.””
“What happened?””
He hesitated.
“The old Meridian office…”
A pause.
“Someone is there.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Who?””
The officer looked at the phone screen.
Then at me.
“It’s your name on the visitor log.””
My blood went cold.
“Impossible.””
He shook his head.
“No.””
He turned the screen toward me.
A new entry appeared.
A visitor signed in five minutes ago.
Using my identity.
Using my signature.
May you like
And beneath my name was a message.
*I found the file first.*
