Chapter Twenty-Four: The Woman He Never Forgot

Elena couldn't move.

Eva's words seemed to hang in the chapel long after she had spoken them.

The real Elena died the night of the accident.

Damien stared at the two women.

They had the same face.

The same eyes.

The same voice.

But everything inside him screamed that the woman standing beside him was Elena.

His Elena.

The woman who had looked at him with confusion, anger, tenderness, and pain.

The woman who had held Noah.

The woman who had protected Lucas.

He stepped in front of her.

"You're lying."

Eva smiled faintly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then ask her."

Damien turned.

"Elena."

She looked at him.

Tears were running down her cheeks.

"I don't know."

His heart tightened.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I don't remember the accident."

Eva laughed softly.

"Exactly."

Elena shook her head.

"I lost memories. That doesn't make me you."

Eva stepped closer.

"You've always been easy to manipulate."

Victor's expression remained cold.

"Enough."

Damien looked at him.

"You've known about this."

Victor didn't deny it.

"Of course."

"You knew there were two women."

"Yes."

"And you let me believe she was Elena."

Victor's eyes moved toward the woman beside Damien.

"You believed what you wanted to believe."

Damien's fists tightened.

"Don't twist this."

Victor's voice remained calm.

"You loved Elena five years ago."

He paused.

"But love doesn't make memory reliable."

---

Elena looked at Eva.

"Why are you doing this?"

Eva's expression changed.

For the first time, something resembling pain crossed her face.

"Because you took everything."

"I don't know you."

"You don't remember."

Eva's voice hardened.

"You don't remember our childhood. You don't remember our parents. You don't remember what Victor did to us."

Elena stared at her.

"Then tell me."

Eva hesitated.

Victor immediately stepped forward.

"There's no reason to continue this."

Damien blocked him.

"No."

Victor stopped.

Damien's voice was cold.

"We're done listening to half-truths."

He looked at Eva.

"Tell us everything."

Eva glanced at Victor.

Then back at Damien.

"Your Elena died."

Elena's breath caught.

"But not that night."

Damien's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

Eva continued.

"She survived the accident."

The room went silent.

"She was taken to the hospital," Eva said. "Victor found her there."

Damien stared at his father.

"You found her."

Victor said nothing.

"What did you do?"

Victor's silence became an answer.

Eva's voice trembled.

"He needed Elena to disappear because she knew about the inheritance."

Damien looked at Elena.

"Then who is she?"

Eva stepped closer.

"Me."

"No."

"Yes."

"You expect me to believe you replaced her?"

Eva nodded.

"Victor gave me a choice."

"What choice?"

"Disappear forever or become Elena."

Elena's face went pale.

"Why would you agree?"

Eva looked at her.

"Because I thought I was saving you."

---

Damien's eyes narrowed.

"Saving her from what?"

"From Victor."

Eva looked toward Lucas.

"And from what he planned to do to your children."

Damien glanced at Lucas.

The boy was holding Elena's hand.

"Then why did you allow him to take them?"

"I didn't."

Eva's voice broke.

"I tried to stop him."

"Then why were the records changed?"

"Because Victor controlled the hospital."

"Why did I sign the separation order?"

Eva looked away.

"Because you weren't yourself."

Damien remembered the recording.

His own hand signing the document.

His own voice giving the order.

"But I was there."

"Yes."

"Then why don't I remember?"

"Because Victor drugged you."

Adrian finally spoke.

"She's telling the truth."

Damien turned toward him.

"You knew."

"I knew part of it."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Victor had people everywhere."

Adrian looked at Eva.

"And because I thought Elena was dead."

Elena's eyes filled with tears.

"You thought I was dead?"

Adrian nodded.

"Yes."

"Then why did you help her?"

"I thought I was helping Eva."

Elena stared at him.

"So everyone thought I was someone else?"

Adrian lowered his eyes.

"Yes."

---

A soft sound came from behind them.

Lucas.

"Mommy?"

Elena immediately turned.

"I'm here."

He walked toward her.

She knelt.

"What is it?"

Lucas looked at Eva.

"She isn't my mommy."

Eva's face tightened.

"Lucas—"

He stepped closer to Elena.

"You're my mommy."

Damien looked at him.

"How do you know?"

Lucas touched Elena's face.

"Because she sings the song."

Elena froze.

"What song?"

Lucas began humming softly.

A melody.

Something Elena didn't recognize consciously.

Yet the moment she heard it, something inside her broke open.

A memory.

A woman singing.

A baby crying.

A small room.

Someone laughing.

Then a man's voice.

Don't let Victor take them.

Elena gasped.

She grabbed her head.

Damien caught her.

"Elena."

"I remember."

Everyone went still.

She looked toward Eva.

"You were there."

Eva's face changed.

"Yes."

"You were holding Noah."

Eva nodded slowly.

"And I was holding Lucas."

Eva's eyes filled with tears.

"Yes."

Elena stared at her.

"Then why did you say I died?"

Eva whispered:

"Because Victor told me you did."

Damien looked at Victor.

"You lied to both of them."

Victor's expression remained unreadable.

"I did what was necessary."

"Necessary?"

Damien's voice shook with anger.

"You destroyed our lives."

Victor looked at him.

"I protected the family."

"You destroyed my family."

---

A loud crash came from outside the chapel.

Everyone turned.

Adrian moved toward the window.

"Someone is coming."

Victor looked strangely calm.

Damien noticed.

"You knew."

Victor didn't answer.

"Who is outside?"

Victor smiled.

"Someone who has been waiting a very long time."

The chapel doors suddenly opened.

Several men entered.

But they weren't Victor's men.

A man walked between them.

Damien recognized him immediately.

Dr. Mason.

The doctor who had treated Noah.

The doctor who had signed the original records.

Damien's expression hardened.

"You."

Dr. Mason looked at him.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For what I'm about to tell you."

He looked toward Victor.

Then toward Eva.

Finally, he looked at Elena.

"Neither of you was supposed to survive."

Elena's heart stopped.

Damien stepped forward.

"What does that mean?"

Dr. Mason removed a file from his coat.

"The accident five years ago wasn't an accident."

Silence.

Damien stared at him.

"Who caused it?"

Dr. Mason looked directly at Victor.

"Your father."

Victor's face hardened.

"That's enough."

Dr. Mason shook his head.

"No."

He opened the file.

"The accident was meant to kill Elena."

Damien's breath caught.

"But she survived."

"Yes."

"Then why did you tell everyone she died?"

Dr. Mason looked at Eva.

"Because Victor needed a replacement."

Eva lowered her eyes.

Damien slowly turned toward her.

"You agreed to become Elena."

Eva's voice trembled.

"I was afraid."

"And you let me love you."

"I didn't know what else to do."

"You let me believe my wife was alive."

Eva began crying.

"I loved you too."

Damien's expression hardened.

"But you weren't her."

"No."

She looked at him.

"I wasn't."

Elena stood silently beside them.

Damien turned toward her.

For the first time, the uncertainty in his eyes disappeared.

He knew.

Not because of a document.

Not because of a photograph.

Because of the memory that had returned.

He knew the woman beside him.

She was Elena.

His heart recognized her before his mind could explain why.

He stepped toward her.

"You're my Elena."

She looked at him through tears.

"I think I am."

He took her hand.

"I'm going to find out the truth."

Victor suddenly laughed.

Damien looked at him.

"You think you've won."

Victor shook his head.

"You haven't."

"Why?"

Victor's gaze shifted toward Lucas.

"Because you still don't know which child survived the accident."

Elena's face went pale.

"What?"

Victor smiled.

"Ask Adrian what happened to the baby who was supposed to be in the car."

Everyone turned toward Adrian.

He stood frozen.

Damien's voice became dangerously quiet.

"Adrian."

Adrian couldn't meet his eyes.

"What is he talking about?"

Adrian finally whispered:

"The baby in the car wasn't Noah."

Damien's heart stopped.

"Then who was it?"

Adrian looked at Elena.

"It was Lucas."

Elena stared at him.

"No."

Adrian's voice broke.

"The Lucas standing here isn't the Lucas who was born five years ago."

The chapel fell silent.

Damien looked at the boy beside Elena.

Then at Victor.

Victor smiled.

And behind him, a second little boy stepped into the chapel.

He had Lucas's face.

The same eyes.

The same small scar.

The same toy car.

He looked directly at Damien.

"Daddy?"

Elena's blood ran cold.

Two identical boys stood only a few feet apart.

And neither one was supposed to exist.