Chapter 5: The Voice From the Past
Nobody moved.
Not even Elias.
The phone remained pressed against his ear, but his face had completely changed.
The confident lawyer who had walked into my wedding like he controlled the room was gone.
In his place was a man who looked like he had just seen a ghost.
“Hello?””
His voice shook.
The person on the other end didn’t answer immediately.
Only silence.
A terrible, deliberate silence.
Then a woman’s voice finally came through.
“Elias.””
Clara collapsed into the nearest chair.
Her hand covered her mouth.
“No…”
I looked at her.
“Is that…”
She nodded.
Tears filled her eyes.
“That’s my mother.””
The words sent a shock through the room.
My mother.
The woman I had spent five years believing was gone.
The woman whose disappearance had become the deepest wound of my life.
Alive.
Somewhere.
Listening.
Elias looked around nervously.
“Where are you?””
The woman on the phone answered softly.
“Not where you thought I was.””
My heart started pounding.
I stepped closer.
“Give me the phone.””
Elias immediately turned away.
“No.””
That one word told me everything.
I stared at him.
“You don’t get to say no anymore.””
He looked at me.
“Adrian, you don’t understand what you’re dealing with.””
I almost laughed.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
I moved closer.
“You don’t understand.””
My voice dropped.
“I spent five years thinking my mother abandoned me.””
The room went silent.
“I spent five years believing I wasn’t worth coming back for.””
My eyes moved toward the phone.
“Now she calls, and you’re standing between us?””
Elias looked down.
The woman on the phone spoke.
“Adrian?””
My entire body froze.
Hearing my name from her voice felt impossible.
I had forgotten that voice.
Or maybe someone had made me forget.
“Adrian, if you can hear me…”
I reached out.
“Give me the phone.””
Elias hesitated.
Then slowly handed it over.
I pressed it against my ear.
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
Neither could she.
Then she whispered:
“My son.””
Two words.
That was all.
But they broke something inside me.
I closed my eyes.
I wanted to be angry.
I wanted to demand answers.
I wanted to ask why she left.
Why she never came back.
Why she let me believe she was gone.
But when I heard her voice, all those questions became mixed with something else.
Pain.
“Mom?””
The word came out before I could stop it.
The woman on the other end started crying.
“Yes.””
My throat tightened.
“Are you alive?””
A long silence.
“Yes.””
I looked around the room.
Everyone was watching me.
Victoria.
Clara.
Marco.
Elias.
All of them carrying pieces of a story I had never been allowed to read.
“Why didn’t you come home?””
The question came out broken.
My mother took a shaky breath.
“Because I was told you were safe.””
My eyes narrowed.
“Told by who?””
Silence.
Then:
“Victoria.””
Everyone froze.
I looked at Victoria.
She closed her eyes.
“Adrian…”
I ignored her.
“What did Victoria tell you?””
My mother’s voice became quieter.
“She told me you had moved on.””
My chest tightened.
“What?””
“She told me you had no memory of me.””
I looked at Victoria.
“That’s not true.””
“No.””
My mother’s voice cracked.
“It wasn’t.””
I gripped the phone tighter.
“What else did she tell you?””
“She said if I returned, I would put you in danger.””
I looked at Victoria.
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
“Did you believe her?””
My mother answered honestly.
“Yes.””
The answer hurt.
More than anger would have.
Because I understood.
She wasn’t staying away because she didn’t love me.
She was staying away because she thought she was protecting me.
But that raised another question.
“Why did you call today?””
My mother became silent.
Then she said:
“Because I saw the wedding announcement.””
My heart sank.
“She knew?””
Victoria looked away.
My mother continued.
“I knew you were marrying her.””
Her voice trembled.
“And I knew I couldn’t stay silent anymore.””
I looked at Victoria.
“You knew my mother was alive when you agreed to marry me.””
Victoria didn’t answer.
My mother did.
“Adrian, listen to me.””
I focused on her voice.
“You cannot trust everyone in that room.””
The warning sent a chill through me.
I looked around.
“Who?””
“Not everyone who helped you survive wanted you to heal.””
My eyes moved to Elias.
Then Marco.
Then Victoria.
“Mom, tell me the truth.””
“I am trying.””
“No.””
My voice shook.
“I need everything.””
Another silence.
Then she said:
“The night of the accident, I discovered someone inside the Moretti family was stealing from your father’s company.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“Millions of dollars.””
Everyone went still.
“I found the evidence.””
My mother continued.
“I was going to give it to you.””
My heartbeat increased.
“Who was stealing?””
She didn’t answer.
Not immediately.
That hesitation terrified me.
Then she whispered:
“Someone you trusted more than anyone.””
My eyes moved slowly.
Toward Marco.
He looked away.
I noticed.
And my stomach dropped.
“Mom.””
“Yes?””
“Was it Marco?””
The room froze.
My brother looked at me.
Pain crossed his face.
But my mother’s answer surprised me.
“No.””
I exhaled.
But relief didn’t come.
Because she continued:
“Marco made mistakes.””
His face fell.
“But he wasn’t the person behind it.””
I looked at Victoria.
“Then who?””
My mother didn’t answer.
Instead, she said:
“Adrian, where is the envelope?””
I looked down.
“The letter?””
“Yes.””
“Clara brought it.””
A pause.
Then:
“Good.””
“Why?””
“Because I put something inside it that nobody else knows about.””
I looked at the envelope.
“What?””
“Proof.””
My eyes narrowed.
“Proof of what?””
The line became quiet.
Then my mother whispered:
“Proof that the person who caused the accident was not trying to kill you.””
I froze.
“What?””
“They were trying to kill me.””
The room stopped.
My mother’s voice trembled.
“And someone else helped them.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“Who helped them?””
Before she could answer, the phone suddenly crackled.
A strange sound.
Then another voice came through.
A man’s voice.
“Enough.””
Everyone froze.
My mother stopped breathing.
I pulled the phone away slightly.
“Who is that?””
No answer.
The man spoke again.
“You were never supposed to hear from her.””
My blood turned cold.
Elias stepped backward.
“No…”
The man continued.
“Adrian, you should have left the past buried.””
I looked around.
“How are you calling this phone?””
Silence.
Then the man laughed softly.
“Because I’m not calling the phone.””
My eyes moved toward the room.
“What does that mean?””
The man answered:
“I’m calling you.””
The lights suddenly flickered.
Everyone looked upward.
The wedding hall went dark for three seconds.
Then the emergency lights turned on.
And when they did…
Someone was standing near the entrance.
Someone who hadn’t been there before.
A man in a dark coat.
Watching us.
Watching me.
My mother screamed through the phone.
“Adrian, run!””
The man smiled.
Not at everyone.
Only at me.
Because I recognized him.
Not from my memories.
Not from the past.
But from somewhere else.
Somewhere impossible.
The man who had just entered my wedding hall was the same man I had seen in my dreams every night since the accident.
And then he spoke the words that made Victoria collapse.
“Hello, Adrian.””
He smiled.
“It’s been five years.””
May you like
He looked directly at me.
“Brother.””
