CHAPTER 2 THE GIRL THEY TRIED TO ERASE
CHAPTER 2
THE GIRL THEY TRIED TO ERASE
The Carter mansion had never been this quiet.
Not even during funerals.
Not even during scandals.
For fifteen years, Richard Carter had controlled every room he entered.
Every conversation.
Every person.
But now…
A girl he believed was gone forever was sitting across from him.
Alive.
And impossible to control.
Emma Carter stared at the man who had spent half of her life pretending she never existed.
Her father.
Richard slowly placed the photograph back onto the table.
His expression had changed.
The fear was gone.
Replaced by calculation.
“You expect us to believe this?” he asked.
Emma tilted her head.
“You already do.”
A few family members exchanged confused looks.
Richard laughed softly.
“You walk into my house after fifteen years with old pictures and accusations, and you think you can destroy everything?”
Emma looked around.
“At least you still call it your house.”
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
Emily noticed.
That was what scared her most.
Emma was not the angry teenager she remembered.
The girl who cried when their father yelled.
The girl who apologized even when she did nothing wrong.
That girl was gone.
Someone else had taken her place.
Someone stronger.
Richard stood.
“You are not my daughter.”
The words cut through the room.
Emily looked at him.
“Dad…”
But Richard continued.
“My daughter died fifteen years ago.”
Emma smiled sadly.
“That’s interesting.”
She opened her bag and placed another folder on the table.
“Because according to your private records…”
She pushed the folder toward him.
“I was alive for the first six months after I disappeared.”
Richard’s face changed.
Only for a second.
But Emily saw it.
She saw fear.
Emma noticed too.
“You remember.”
Richard remained silent.
“Good.”
Emma opened the folder.
Inside were medical records.
A hospital report.
A photograph.
A name.
Jane Miller.
Emily picked up the document.
“What is this?”
Emma looked at her.
“That was the name they gave me.”
Emily frowned.
“What?”
“After I disappeared, I woke up in a hospital two states away.”
The room became silent.
“I had no memory of who I was.”
Emily stared.
“No…”
Emma nodded.
“Yes.”
She touched the scar above her eyebrow.
“The accident was real.”
Emily covered her mouth.
“But…”
Emma looked at Richard.
“The accident wasn't.”
Fifteen years ago.
Emma remembered fragments.
Rain.
A dark road.
A car following behind them.
Her father's voice.
Her sister crying.
Then...
The crash.
When she opened her eyes, she was in a hospital.
No family.
No identity.
No one looking for her.
A nurse told her someone had reported her missing.
But nobody came.
Not once.
For months.
Then years.
Emma had grown up with strangers.
She worked three jobs.
She slept in tiny apartments.
She learned how to survive.
But one question never left her.
Why did nobody come?
Why did her family stop searching?
Why did her sister forget her?
Emily sat down slowly.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I searched for you.”
Emma looked at her.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Emily opened her mouth.
But no words came.
Because the truth was painful.
She searched.
For three months.
Then Richard convinced her.
“Your sister is gone.”
“You need to move forward.”
And Emily believed him.
Because she was seventeen.
Because she was scared.
Because she wanted to believe her father would never hurt them.
Emma laughed quietly.
“That’s the difference between us.”
Emily looked up.
“What?”
“I spent fifteen years wondering why my family abandoned me.”
A pause.
“You spent fifteen years believing I was gone.”
Emily whispered:
“I was a child.”
Emma’s expression softened.
“I know.”
That hurt more.
Because Emma wasn't blaming her.
She was simply telling the truth.
That night, Emily couldn't sleep.
She walked through the mansion.
Every hallway reminded her of Emma.
Their childhood.
Their secrets.
Their promises.
She entered their old bedroom.
Everything had been preserved.
Two beds.
Two desks.
Two childhood memories frozen in time.
Emily opened the old wooden box under her bed.
Inside were letters.
Hundreds of them.
Letters she had written to Emma after she disappeared.
Letters she never sent.
Because Richard told her:
“She doesn't want to come back.”
Emily had believed him.
A sound behind her made her turn.
Emma stood at the doorway.
Emily quickly wiped her tears.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Emma looked around.
“This room feels smaller.”
Emily smiled sadly.
“We were smaller.”
For a moment...
They were just two sisters again.
Not enemies.
Not survivors.
Just twins.
“I missed you,” Emily whispered.
Emma looked away.
“I missed you too.”
A painful silence.
Then Emily asked:
“Why didn't you contact me?”
Emma looked at her.
“Because someone contacted me first.”
Emily froze.
“What?”
Emma reached into her pocket.
She pulled out an old phone.
On the screen was a message.
A message from fifteen years ago.
The sender:
Emily Carter.
Emily stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Emma shook her head.
“I thought so too.”
The message said:
Don't come back. They know everything. Run.
Emily’s face turned white.
“I never sent that.”
Emma looked at her.
“I know.”
The room went cold.
Because that meant one thing.
Someone had used Emily’s name.
May you like
Someone had manipulated both sisters.
Someone inside the family.
