Chapter 3 - THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED
The hospital room was dark.
Only the sound of rain hitting the window filled the silence.
Ethan sat beside Ava.
He hadn’t said much in two hours.
Neither had she.
Finally, he spoke.
“What happened that night?”
Ava looked away.
Her heart sank.
She knew this moment would come.
“I didn’t tell you everything.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
Ava swallowed.
“Of losing you.”
His expression softened.
“Ava…”
She closed her eyes.
“The accident wasn’t random.”
The room went silent.
Ethan stared.
“What are you saying?”
“I saw someone before the crash.”
“Who?”
Ava hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Your mother.”
Ethan stood.
“No.”
“I know what it sounds like.”
“No.”
His voice became louder.
“My mom would never do that.”
Ava looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“I wanted to believe that too.”
She remembered the rain.
The headlights.
The car behind her.
The moment she lost control.
“I saw her car following me.”
Ethan shook his head.
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“No.”
Ava looked down.
“But this does.”
She reached toward the drawer beside her bed.
She pulled out a small piece of broken metal.
Ethan frowned.
“What is that?”
“A piece of the other car.”
He stared.
“How did you get that?”
“Because I found it after the crash.”
Ava’s voice dropped.
“It had your mother’s initials on it.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
At that exact moment…
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Ethan…”
His face changed.
“Who is this?”
The voice whispered:
“Your mother didn’t save your wife that night.”
A pause.
“She tried to finish the job.”
The call ended.
Ethan stared at the phone.
Then slowly looked toward Ava.
Because for the first time…
He wondered if the woman who raised him…
May you like
Was the woman he should fear.
TO BE CONTINUED…
