Chapter 3 - The Memory Hidden in Avery’s Scar Was the Key to the Night the Vale Family Destroyed ItselfAvery stared at the photograph.
“I don't remember this.”
Adrian stared too.
“I do.”
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“My brother brought you to our house.”
“Why?”
“He said he needed to protect you.”
“But I was already living with my mother.”
“Not yet.”
Avery closed her eyes.
Fragments surfaced.
A red balloon.
A piano.
A man's hand.
Someone shouting.
Then fire.
She gasped.
Adrian stepped forward.
“What's wrong?”
“I remember the stairs.”
“What stairs?”
“The house.”
She touched her temple.
“There was a woman.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Was it your mother?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“She was crying.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“Could she be your mother?”
“No.”
The memory shifted.
A man stood beside the woman.
Silver snake ring.
Dr. Crane.
Avery whispered:
“He was there.”
Adrian nodded.
“He operated on you.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He wasn't the surgeon.”
“What?”
“He was helping someone.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Avery remembered another detail.
A locked door.
Someone screaming behind it.
Then a voice:
“Take the girl.”
She opened her eyes.
“Someone else was with me.”
“Who?”
“A boy.”
Adrian stared.
“Boy?”
“Yes.”
“He was older.”
“How old?”
“Maybe eleven.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“Did he look like me?”
“No.”
“Like Matthew?”
Avery shook her head.
“Dark hair.”
Adrian thought.
Then Sofia entered.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“A DNA report.”
She held out a folder.
Avery's name.
Camilla Vale.
Two samples.
One from Adrian.
One from Avery.
Match probability: 99.999%.
Avery stared.
“It’s real.”
“Yes.”
She looked at Adrian.
“What did my father do to you?”
Adrian answered:
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean?”
“My father killed people.”
“Your brother?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“My father ordered Matthew's death.”
Avery went cold.
“Why?”
“Because Matthew tried to expose him.”
“And you?”
“I was supposed to inherit everything.”
“You were his favorite.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“Not at first.”
“When did you learn?”
“After the fire.”
He explained.
His father had planned to eliminate Matthew and Camilla.
Matthew staged his own death.
He escaped.
But Camilla was injured.
Rebecca took her.
Adrian was told the child had died.
He believed it.
For twenty years.
Avery's eyes filled.
“So when you looked at me…”
“I saw my niece.”
She wiped away a tear.
“But what about the boy?”
Adrian frowned.
“What boy?”
“The one from my memory.”
Avery described him.
Eleven.
Dark hair.
A small scar on his chin.
Adrian looked at Sofia.
“Could it be—”
She shook her head.
“Impossible.”
“Who?”
“My father had another child.”
Silence.
Adrian stared.
“My father had a son?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Sofia whispered:
“Elias Vale.”
Adrian stopped.
His half-brother.
The boy had disappeared twenty years ago.
Everyone assumed he died in the fire.
Avery remembered him.
Elias was the boy standing beside her.
He had helped her escape.
“He saved me.”
Adrian's voice broke.
“What happened to him?”
“I don't know.”
The investigation moved fast.
Old records were uncovered.
A foster family in Maine.
A boy matching Elias's description.
A name changed.
Then another.
Eventually they found him.
Elias Vale.
Thirty years old.
Living in Chicago.
Working as a firefighter.
Avery stared at the photograph.
It was him.
The boy from the memory.
He had survived.
The revelation shattered the last remaining version of her childhood.
Her family had lied.
Her mother had lied.
The Vales had lied.
Everyone had believed they were protecting her.
But everyone had made decisions for her.
That was almost worse than the truth.
Avery met Elias that evening.
He stared at her for a long moment.
Then whispered:
“Cammy?”
Avery's eyes filled.
“No one has called me that.”
He smiled.
“I did.”
“You remember.”
“I remember everything.”
“What happened that night?”
Elias looked toward Adrian.
“Ask him.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why me?”
“Because you were supposed to take us.”
Adrian went still.
“Take us where?”
“Your father gave you an order.”
Avery stared.
“What order?”
Elias looked at her.
“He told Adrian to kill us.”
Silence.
Avery looked at Adrian.
“Is that true?”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Her heart broke.
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you looked at me.”
“And?”
“I couldn't.”
Avery whispered:
“You saved us.”
“Yes.”
“But then why did everyone think I died?”
“Because my father found out.”
“And you?”
“My father threatened everyone.”
Elias spoke softly.
“Adrian took us to the river.”
Avery stared.
“I remember water.”
“Yes.”
“You left us?”
“I left you with Rebecca.”
“And Elias?”
“I took him somewhere else.”
Elias nodded.
“You saved us separately.”
Avery looked at Adrian.
“Then why didn't you come find me?”
“Because I thought you were dead.”
“You could have looked.”
“I did.”
“For twenty years?”
“Yes.”
The answer silenced her.
He had searched.
Quietly.
Without ever knowing her face.
Until the scar brought her back.
Then Elias revealed something.
“The person who knew where you were wasn't my father.”
“Who?”
“Someone your mother trusted.”
Avery froze.
“Who?”
Elias looked at Adrian.
“Matthew.”
Adrian shook his head.
“My brother disappeared.”
Elias nodded.
“He didn't.”
Avery felt the room tilt.
“Then where is he?”
Elias looked toward the window.
“Watching.”
Avery whispered:
“Why?”
“Because he believes the person who caused the fire is still alive.”
Adrian went still.
“Who?”
May you like
Elias looked at him.
“Your father.”
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