CHAPTER 6 — The Girl Who Forgot
Emma couldn't breathe.
Her fingers trembled as she held the faded photograph.
The little girl standing between Victoria and Claire wore an oversized gray orphanage uniform, her dark hair tied into two uneven braids. She looked frightened, as though she wanted to disappear.
It was a face Emma had never seen before.
And yet...
She recognized it instantly.
Because she remembered the sweater.
A faded blue cardigan with one wooden button missing.
She had worn it for years at Saint Mary's Children's Home.
Emma slowly lowered herself into the chair.
"...That's me."
No one spoke.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
Then at his wife.
Then back again.
His mind rejected the conclusion.
Victoria had known Emma long before they met.
Claire Bennett had known Emma.
His own father had kept evidence hidden inside a secret room.
Nothing about this was coincidence anymore.
Ethan quietly slid another file toward Daniel.
"Keep reading."
Daniel opened the folder labeled Project Orchid – Subject 17.
Most of the pages were medical charts.
Heart rate.
Blood samples.
Neurological observations.
Chemical exposure.
Then...
Near the back...
A handwritten page.
The handwriting wasn't Richard Ashford's.
It belonged to Claire.
Daniel read aloud.
Subject 17 demonstrates unusually high resistance.
Memory suppression remains incomplete.
The child continues recalling fragments despite treatment.
Recommendation: terminate participation immediately.
Victoria strongly disagrees.
Emma looked up.
"...Memory suppression?"
Ethan took the file.
"This isn't ordinary medical research."
"What is it?"
He answered carefully.
"These chemicals were designed to interfere with long-term memory formation."
Marcus frowned.
"You mean..."
"They were trying to erase memories."
Ethan nodded.
"That's exactly what they were trying to do."
Emma felt the room spinning.
"I don't remember..."
"My childhood before I was eight."
Daniel looked at her.
"You told me you had a difficult childhood."
"I did."
Emma closed her eyes.
"But everything before the orphanage..."
"It's empty."
"I always thought I was simply too young to remember."
Ethan looked down at the file.
"I don't think that's why."
Daniel suddenly remembered something.
"Wait."
He walked toward another cabinet inside the hidden office.
His father had always organized documents chronologically.
If Project Orchid existed...
There had to be more.
Drawer after drawer revealed financial records.
Research budgets.
Laboratory contracts.
Until finally...
One thin black notebook.
Its cover read only:
Personal Journal — C.B.
Claire Bennett.
Daniel carefully opened it.
The first pages described laboratory schedules.
Chemical formulas.
Research notes.
Then...
The tone changed.
The entries became personal.
Daniel began reading silently.
His expression darkened.
Emma noticed.
"What does it say?"
Daniel hesitated.
Then handed her the journal.
Emma read the first paragraph.
Richard believes the project can change medicine.
Victoria believes it can control people.
I fear Victoria more every day.
Emma continued.
Another entry.
Subject 17 trusts me.
She thinks I am helping her.
If I fail, that little girl will lose herself forever.
Emma's hands began shaking uncontrollably.
"Why..."
"...why would anyone do this to a child?"
No one had an answer.
Across the mansion...
Victoria paced inside her bedroom.
Rebecca watched nervously.
"They've been in Richard's study for almost two hours."
Victoria didn't answer.
Rebecca stepped closer.
"What are they looking for?"
Victoria stopped walking.
"The past."
Rebecca frowned.
"What past?"
Victoria looked at her younger sister.
For a long time...
She said nothing.
Then finally whispered,
"There are things you were never supposed to know."
Rebecca laughed uneasily.
"You're scaring me."
Victoria's expression remained cold.
"You should be."
Before Rebecca could ask another question...
Victoria's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Only one sentence appeared.
They found the Orchid files.
Victoria's face lost all color.
Another message followed.
Destroy the journal before Daniel finishes reading it.
Victoria immediately deleted both messages.
But for the first time...
She couldn't stop her hands from shaking.
Back in the hidden office...
Marcus examined another folder.
"This is strange."
Daniel looked over.
"What?"
Marcus pointed toward a list of names.
"There were eighteen children."
Ethan nodded.
"Subjects one through eighteen."
Daniel scanned the page.
One through sixteen.
Marked:
Program completed.
Subject seventeen.
Emma.
Marked:
Removed.
Subject eighteen.
No name.
Only one word.
Transferred.
Transferred where?
No destination.
No explanation.
Just...
Transferred.
Ethan looked thoughtful.
"Someone erased the rest."
Daniel frowned.
"Can you recover it?"
"I'll try."
Emma continued reading Claire's journal.
Halfway through...
A folded letter slipped from between the pages.
Its envelope had never been sealed.
On the front...
Three words.
For Daniel.
Daniel slowly unfolded it.
Claire's handwriting filled both pages.
Daniel,
If you're reading this, then Richard is gone.
And if Richard is gone...
Victoria has already begun.
Don't hate your father before you know everything.
He tried to stop Project Orchid.
That's why they forced me to disappear.
Daniel froze.
Emma looked at him.
"What is it?"
He continued reading silently.
The laboratory explosion was staged.
Richard helped me escape because Victoria wanted every witness dead.
I agreed to disappear...
because one child survived.
Daniel's heartbeat quickened.
One child.
Emma.
Claire continued.
Emma remembers more than anyone realizes.
She doesn't know it yet.
But memories never truly disappear.
They wait.
One day...
something will bring them back.
Daniel slowly lowered the letter.
The room remained silent.
Emma whispered,
"So Claire protected me."
Ethan nodded.
"It appears she did."
Marcus looked confused.
"If Claire wanted to protect Emma..."
"...why disappear for nine years?"
Daniel answered quietly.
"Because someone was hunting her."
At that exact moment...
A loud crash echoed through the mansion.
Everyone looked toward the hallway.
Marcus immediately reached for his radio.
"Security?"
A frightened voice answered.
"Mr. Hill!"
"What happened?"
"Someone broke into Mr. Richard's study!"
Marcus's eyes widened.
"We're already inside the study!"
"No, sir!"
The guard sounded panicked.
"The main study!"
Daniel sprinted out of the hidden room.
The others followed.
They reached Richard's office seconds later.
The large window overlooking the gardens had been shattered.
Glass covered the floor.
Cold morning air rushed inside.
The room had been searched.
Drawers emptied.
Books scattered.
Someone had been looking for something.
Marcus checked outside.
"No footprints."
Ethan crouched beside the broken window.
"They came prepared."
Daniel noticed something unusual on the desk.
A single envelope.
White.
Perfectly clean.
Placed carefully in the center.
It hadn't been there before.
His name was written across the front.
Daniel.
Nothing else.
No address.
No stamp.
He opened it carefully.
Inside...
One photograph.
Taken only hours earlier.
It showed Emma standing alone at the bedroom window.
Someone had been watching her.
On the back of the photograph...
One sentence had been handwritten in black ink.
She remembered once.
She'll remember again.
Next time... we won't let her live.
Emma felt the blood drain from her face.
Daniel's eyes became colder than anyone had ever seen.
This was no longer about clearing Emma's name.
Someone had just declared war.
May you like
And they had made one fatal mistake.
They had threatened the one person Daniel Ashford would burn his entire empire to protect.
