Chapter 10: The Woman In The Photograph
Natalie stared at the photograph until the edges began to blur.
Her fingers tightened around the paper.
“No.””
The word escaped before she could stop it.
Daniel looked at her.
“Natalie?””
She shook her head.
“That’s not possible.””
But the photograph was real.
The hospital room.
The newborn baby.
Lucas’s mother standing beside her.
And Natalie.
Holding a tiny infant against her chest.
Not as a stranger.
Not as a maid.
Like someone who had been there from the beginning.
Lucas slowly approached.
“Is that me?””
Natalie looked down at him.
She wanted to answer.
She wanted to say something that would make everything simple.
But nothing was simple anymore.
“Yes.””
Her voice broke.
“That’s you.””
Lucas looked at the photograph.
“Why was I with you?””
Nobody answered.
Because everyone was asking the same question.
Daniel turned toward Claire.
“You knew.””
Claire looked away.
“Not everything.””
“You knew enough.””
“I knew Natalie was connected.””
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You erased her memories.””
Claire closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
Natalie looked at her.
“How?””
Claire swallowed.
“Your wife asked me to.””
The room went silent.
Natalie felt like the ground disappeared beneath her.
“She asked you?””
Claire nodded.
“She knew someone was coming for Lucas. She knew they would search anyone close to him.””
Natalie looked at the photograph again.
“Then why erase me?””
Claire’s voice became softer.
“Because you refused to leave.””
A painful memory flashed.
A hospital hallway.
Lucas crying.
His mother begging.
Natalie standing there saying:
“I won’t let them take him.””
Then another memory.
A man entering.
A threat.
A decision.
Natalie pressed her fingers against her temple.
“I protected him.””
Claire nodded.
“You did.””
Daniel looked confused.
“But why would she trust Natalie more than me?””
The question hurt because he already knew the answer.
Claire looked at him.
“Because she believed you loved Lucas.””
Daniel looked away.
“But?””
“But she believed you would choose revenge before safety.””
Silence.
Natalie looked at Daniel.
He didn’t deny it.
The stranger laughed quietly.
“Finally, someone says it.””
Daniel turned sharply.
“You.””
The man stepped closer.
“The truth is always difficult.””
Daniel moved forward.
“You lied about being Lucas’s father.””
“I never lied.””
The stranger smiled.
“I said I wanted my son.””
Natalie frowned.
“Then whose son are you?””
The man looked at the photograph.
“Ask her.””
Everyone looked at Natalie.
Her heartbeat increased.
She looked back at the image.
Something was wrong.
Something she had missed.
The baby.
The room.
The people.
Then she noticed it.
A bracelet around the infant’s wrist.
A small silver bracelet.
She remembered it.
Her hand moved to her own wrist.
“I know that.””
Daniel looked at her.
“What?””
Natalie closed her eyes.
“I made it.””
The memory returned.
She was sitting beside Lucas’s mother.
A tiny bracelet between her fingers.
A gift for the baby.
The mother smiled.
“He needs someone who will protect him.””
Natalie’s younger voice answered:
“I will.””
The memory vanished.
Natalie opened her eyes.
“I promised.””
Lucas looked at her.
“You promised Mommy?””
Natalie nodded.
“Yes.””
The stranger’s expression changed.
For the first time, he looked worried.
Daniel noticed.
“You’re afraid.””
The man said nothing.
Daniel stepped closer.
“You weren’t here for Lucas.””
The stranger’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t know anything.””
“No.””
Daniel looked at Natalie.
“But she does.””
The room became silent.
Natalie looked at the stranger.
And suddenly, another memory returned.
Not from the hospital.
From that night.
The night everything changed.
She saw the man standing over Lucas’s mother.
She saw fear.
She saw a struggle.
And she heard him say:
“Once she forgets, nobody will ever know.””
Natalie gasped.
“You.””
The stranger looked at her.
“You remember.””
Natalie stepped backward.
“You were the one who made me forget.””
Daniel moved instantly.
“Tell me everything.””
The stranger smiled again.
But this time, there was no confidence.
Only desperation.
“Ask her what she really saw that night.””
Natalie’s face turned pale.
Because she finally remembered.
She saw the person who betrayed Lucas’s mother.
And it wasn’t the stranger.
It was someone standing in that basement with them.
Someone Daniel trusted.
Someone who had been protecting the secret for three years.
May you like
Natalie slowly turned.
Her eyes stopped on Claire.
