Chapter 13 - THE CHILD WHO REMEMBERED EVERYTHING
Helena Voss stood beneath the emergency lights.
Her white coat was stained with rain.
Her hair was wet.
Her expression was calm.
Almost peaceful.
Like she had not just been accused of poisoning the most dangerous man in New York.
Bruno raised his gun.
“You have some courage coming back here.”
Helena smiled faintly.
“No.”
She looked around the room.
“I have a reason.”
Alejandro stared at her.
“You poisoned me.”
Helena did not answer immediately.
That silence was enough.
Alejandro’s eyes hardened.
“Answer me.”
Helena looked at him.
“Yes.”
Olivia gasped.
Bruno tightened his grip.
But Alejandro did not move.
He simply stared.
“Why?”
Helena looked at Emma.
Then back at Alejandro.
“Because you were never supposed to survive.”
The room went silent.
Emma stepped closer to Olivia.
Alejandro’s voice dropped.
“Who sent you?”
Helena smiled sadly.
“You still think this is about one person.”
She shook her head.
“You still don’t understand.”
She walked forward.
“This house has been rotten for years.”
Bruno stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Helena looked at him.
“You want the truth?”
She pointed toward the hallway.
“Ask the walls.”
Nobody understood.
Until Emma spoke.
Quietly.
“Mommy…”
Olivia looked down.
“What?”
Emma stared at Helena.
“I know her.”
Everyone froze.
Alejandro turned.
“What did you say?”
Emma hugged her rabbit.
“I saw her before.”
Helena’s expression changed.
For the first time…
She looked afraid.
“When?”
Emma looked toward the staircase.
“Before we came here.”
Olivia knelt beside her.
“Emma, sweetheart, what are you talking about?”
The little girl frowned.
Trying to remember.
“She was there.”
“Where?”
“In the car.”
The room went completely silent.
Helena whispered:
“No.”
Emma continued.
“The night my mommy cried.”
Olivia’s face changed.
Because she knew that night.
The night she found Emma abandoned near the old highway.
The night before she started working at the Moretti estate.
Alejandro looked at Olivia.
“You never told me.”
Olivia looked terrified.
“Because I didn’t know what happened.”
Emma grabbed her mother’s hand.
“There was another little girl.”
Everyone stopped.
Daniel stepped forward.
“What did she look like?”
Emma closed her eyes.
“She had a pink ribbon.”
Alejandro nearly stopped breathing.
“Kiara…”
Emma nodded slowly.
“She was crying.”
A tear fell from her eye.
“She said she wanted her daddy.”
Nobody spoke.
Daniel looked at Alejandro.
“She remembers.”
Alejandro dropped to one knee in front of Emma.
“Emma…”
His voice broke.
“What else do you remember?”
The little girl looked at him.
“She said someone told her not to say her name.”
Alejandro’s heart stopped.
“Who?”
Emma whispered:
“A man.”
“What man?”
Emma looked toward the doorway.
Then she pointed.
At Helena.
“No.”
Helena stepped back.
“That’s impossible.”
Emma shook her head.
“He was with her.”
Alejandro stood.
“Who?”
Emma looked at him.
May you like
And said:
“Mr. Victor.”
