Chapter 5: The Missing Three Hours
I read the message three times.
Not because I didn’t understand the words.
Because I was hoping they would change.
*ASK YOUR DAUGHTER WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT SHE LOST THREE HOURS OF HER MEMORY.*
My first reaction was anger.
Not confusion.
Not fear.
Anger.
Someone was playing with my daughter.
Someone knew exactly what questions would hurt her the most.
I walked toward Lena’s room with the phone still in my hand.
She was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring out the window.
She looked exhausted.
Older somehow.
Not because of age.
Because of everything she had learned in the past few days.
“Lena.””
She turned.
“What happened?””
I didn’t answer immediately.
I showed her the message.
The second she read it, the color disappeared from her face.
“No.””
The word came out quietly.
“What?””
She looked at me.
“No.””
“Lena, what does it mean?””
She stood up too quickly.
“I don’t know.””
But her reaction told me she did.
“Sweetheart.””
“I said I don’t know.””
Her voice was sharper than she intended.
Then she closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry.””
I softened my voice.
“Talk to me.””
She sat back down.
For a long time, she said nothing.
Then:
“There was a night.””
I waited.
“A night before I married Travis.””
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?””
She looked down at her hands.
“I don’t remember everything.””
The room became silent.
“How much don’t you remember?””
She swallowed.
“Three hours.””
I sat beside her.
“Lena, why didn’t you tell me this?””
“Because I thought it was nothing.””
“When?””
She looked toward the window.
“About four years ago.””
Four years.
Before the wedding.
Before the house.
Before everything.
“Tell me what you remember.””
She took a deep breath.
“I was at a dinner.””
“With who?””
“Travis.””
“Anyone else?””
She hesitated.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Her answer came slowly.
“His mother.””
I felt my chest tighten.
Margaret Ellis.
The woman who was supposed to be dead.
Lena stared at the floor as she tried to piece together a memory that had never fully returned.
“It was the first time I met Margaret alone.””
“Alone?””
“Yes.””
“What happened?””
“She invited me to dinner.””
“Why?””
Lena gave a small, bitter laugh.
“I thought she wanted to get to know me.””
“And?””
“She wanted to test me.””
“What do you mean?””
“She asked questions.””
“What kind?””
“About my finances. My family. My job.””
My jaw tightened.
“She was asking about your personal information?””
“I thought she was just being curious.””
“What happened after dinner?””
Lena rubbed her temples.
“I remember leaving the restaurant.””
“And then?””
“Nothing.””
“Nothing?””
“Not for three hours.””
I looked at her.
“How did you know you lost time?””
“Because the next thing I remember is waking up in Travis’s car.””
My entire body went still.
“You woke up?””
“Yes.””
“Where?””
“Outside my apartment.””
“Was Travis there?””
She nodded.
“He was sitting in the driver’s seat.””
“What did he say?””
Her voice became quieter.
“He said I had too much to drink.””
“Did you?””
“I don’t know.””
That answer frightened me.
“Lena.””
“I had one glass of wine.””
She looked at me.
“One.””
I felt anger building.
“What did Travis do?””
“He said Margaret had left early.””
“Did you believe him?””
“At the time, yes.””
“Why?””
“Because I trusted him.””
Again.
That word.
Trust.
The thing Travis had taken advantage of.
Derek arrived an hour later.
I had called him after Lena finished telling me.
He listened without interrupting.
That was Derek.
When things became serious, he became quieter.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low.
“Did you ever have medical tests after that night?””
Lena frowned.
“What?””
“Blood tests. Anything?””
“No.””
“Did you feel strange the next day?””
She thought.
“Yes.””
“How?””
“Foggy.””
Derek looked at me.
“Drugging is possible.””
Lena immediately shook her head.
“No.””
“Why not?””
“Because that sounds crazy.””
Derek looked at her.
“Lena, a man hid a room in your house where he stored financial documents.””
She looked away.
“I know.””
“He attacked you with a weapon.””
“I know.””
“And someone may have faked a death.””
She closed her eyes.
“I know.””
Derek’s voice softened.
“I’m not saying it happened.””
“I know.””
“I’m saying we can’t dismiss anything anymore.””
The silence afterward was heavy.
Because he was right.
The rules of normal life no longer applied.
That afternoon, Officer Harris arrived with new information.
He didn’t sit down.
That immediately told me something.
“What happened?”” I asked.
He looked at Lena.
“Ms. Carter, we need to ask you about a financial account.””
She frowned.
“What account?””
“A joint account opened four years ago.””
“I don’t have any joint accounts except with Travis.””
Officer Harris opened his folder.
“That’s the account we’re talking about.””
Lena looked confused.
“When was it opened?””
“The night of the dinner with Margaret Ellis.””
Her face went blank.
“What?””
I felt the air leave the room.
“What does that mean?””
Officer Harris placed a document on the table.
“The account was opened using your information.””
Lena picked it up.
She stared at it.
Then shook her head.
“This isn’t my signature.””
The officer looked carefully.
“That’s what you believe?””
“No.””
Her voice became stronger.
“I know.””
She pointed at the paper.
“I don’t sign my name like that.””
Derek leaned closer.
“Can you prove it?””
Lena looked hurt.
“Of course I can.””
She grabbed her wallet.
She pulled out her driver’s license.
Then her credit card.
Then an old handwritten birthday card she had written to me years earlier.
“Look.””
She pointed.
“My letters curve differently.””
Officer Harris studied the documents.
“We’ll send it to handwriting analysis.””
“Can they prove it?””
“If it was forged, yes.””
Lena sat down.
“But why?””
Nobody answered.
Because that was the question haunting all of us.
Why create a fake account?
Why use her name?
Why hide it for years?
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
I sat in the living room, looking at old photographs.
Lena as a child.
Lena graduating.
Lena laughing at her wedding.
I stopped at the wedding picture.
Travis was standing beside her.
Smiling.
His hand was around her waist.
Everyone looked happy.
Everyone believed they knew what they were seeing.
But now I wondered.
How much of that day was real?
Around midnight, Lena walked into the room.
“You’re awake.””
“So are you.””
She sat beside me.
“Dad?””
“Yeah?””
“Do you think I’m stupid?””
I turned toward her.
“No.””
“But I missed everything.””
“No, you didn’t.””
“I married someone who hurt me.””
“You married someone who lied.””
She looked down.
“There’s something else.””
My heart sank.
“What?””
She took a deep breath.
“After that dinner with Margaret…”
She paused.
“I found something in my apartment.””
“What?””
“A small envelope.””
“What was inside?””
“I don’t know.””
“Why?””
“Because Travis took it.””
I stared at her.
“When?””
“The next morning.””
“What did he say?””
She looked at me.
“He said it was private.””
“Private?””
“Yes.””
“What was written on the envelope?””
Her eyes filled with fear.
“I don’t remember.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“You don’t remember?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Lena…”
“I remember seeing one thing.””
“What?””
She whispered:
“My name.””
Before I could ask another question, her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Again.
This time, she didn’t answer.
The call stopped.
Then a message appeared.
A photo.
Lena opened it.
And we both froze.
It was an image of the envelope.
The same envelope from four years ago.
But this time, there was writing on it.
A message that had never been there before.
Three words.
*OPENED BY TRAVIS.*
May you like
Then another message appeared.
*HE DIDN’T WANT YOU TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU SIGNED.*
