Chapter 4: The Perfect Lie
Chapter 4: The Perfect Lie
The warning arrived before sunrise.
Stop digging... or the child dies next.
Captain Daniel Brooks stared at the bloodstained note inside the evidence bag. Around him, the crime scene unit photographed Father Michael Donovan's abandoned car from every angle.
The driver's door was open.
The engine was cold.
There were no fingerprints.
No footprints.
No signs of a struggle.
Only the priest's broken silver cross lying in the gravel beside the road.
And blood.
Not enough to suggest a murder.
Just enough to send a message.
Brooks looked toward Officer Ramirez.
"Rush the blood sample to the lab."
Ramirez nodded.
"You think it's Father Michael's?"
"I hope it is."
"You hope?"
"If it belongs to someone else," Brooks replied grimly, "then whoever took him wanted us to believe he was here."
Miles away, Ethan sat outside Lily's bedroom.
He hadn't slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, the same questions returned.
Could I really be Lily's father?
It sounded impossible.
Eight years ago, he had been traveling across Europe to expand Bennett Holdings. Every business record, every passport stamp, every flight itinerary proved it.
At least...
That was what he remembered.
But lately, his memories no longer felt reliable.
Small pieces refused to fit together.
Why couldn't he remember Anna Carter?
Why did her face seem familiar?
Why did the Bennett family lullaby belong to Lily?
Why had his fingerprints been on that photograph?
A soft voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Mr. Bennett?"
Mrs. Harper stood nearby.
"Lily wants to see you."
Inside the bedroom, Lily sat cross-legged on the bed, hugging a stuffed rabbit one of the officers had brought her.
She looked exhausted.
"Ethan?"
He smiled gently.
"I'm here."
She hesitated before asking,
"Are the police angry?"
"No."
"Because of me?"
His heart tightened.
"None of this is your fault."
She lowered her head.
"Sabrina always said everything bad happened because of me."
Ethan knelt beside her.
"She lied."
Lily looked into his eyes, searching for doubt.
She found none.
"You promise?"
"I promise."
For the first time since arriving at the mansion...
Lily smiled.
It lasted only a second.
But it was enough to remind Ethan that beneath the fear, she was still a little girl.
At police headquarters, Sabrina requested to speak.
Not with her lawyer.
Not with Captain Brooks.
With Ethan.
Only Ethan.
Captain Brooks didn't like it.
"She's manipulating you," he warned.
"I know."
"You don't."
"I do."
Brooks folded his arms.
"Then why meet her?"
"Because if she knows something about Lily..."
He left the sentence unfinished.
After a long silence, Brooks nodded.
"You'll have two officers in the room."
"No."
"Ethan—"
"She won't talk if she feels cornered."
Brooks reluctantly agreed.
"But the room stays under surveillance."
One hour later.
Sabrina entered the interview room in handcuffs.
She looked strangely calm.
Her expensive clothes had been replaced by a gray detention uniform.
Without makeup, she appeared older than Ethan remembered.
Yet her eyes remained as calculating as ever.
She smiled faintly.
"You came."
"You asked for me."
"You still care."
"I came for answers."
Her smile faded.
"You always were stubborn."
Ethan remained standing.
"What do you know about Lily?"
Instead of answering...
Sabrina asked a question.
"What if everything the police told you is wrong?"
Ethan frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"What if Lily isn't who they think she is?"
Silence filled the room.
Sabrina leaned back in her chair.
"You've already started doubting yourself, haven't you?"
"I asked you a question."
"And I'm answering it."
She tilted her head.
"Tell me, Ethan... do you honestly remember the year Anna disappeared?"
His jaw tightened.
"No."
"Exactly."
"My memory isn't the issue."
"It is."
She smiled.
"Because someone already stole it from you."
Ethan stared at her.
"What are you talking about?"
"You've been having headaches."
His expression changed.
"How do you know that?"
"Nosebleeds."
She continued calmly.
"Dreams you can't explain."
He said nothing.
"You wake up hearing church bells."
A chill ran through his body.
She shouldn't know that.
She couldn't.
Unless...
"You've been remembering."
She whispered the words almost tenderly.
"But only pieces."
Ethan forced himself to stay calm.
"What happened to me?"
Sabrina laughed softly.
"You really don't know."
"I asked you a question."
"No."
She leaned closer.
"You asked the wrong person."
She remained silent for nearly a minute before speaking again.
"Do you remember the car accident?"
Ethan blinked.
"What accident?"
"There."
Her smile widened.
"You don't."
"I've never been in a serious accident."
"Haven't you?"
She studied him carefully.
"Eight years ago."
"Rain."
"A mountain road."
"A truck."
"The doctors said you were lucky to survive."
Ethan's breathing slowed.
No.
That wasn't possible.
He would remember something like that.
Wouldn't he?
Sabrina watched doubt spread across his face.
Then she delivered another blow.
"You spent three weeks in a hospital."
"No."
"You forgot."
"I would've known."
"You woke up with severe memory loss."
She paused.
"And I stayed beside you every single day."
For a moment...
Everything inside Ethan shook.
His headaches.
The missing memories.
The strange flashes.
Could she be telling the truth?
Sabrina saw the uncertainty and pressed harder.
"The police think I'm the villain."
"Because you attacked a child."
"I panicked."
"You picked up a bat."
"I was trying to stop her."
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"Stop her from what?"
Sabrina lowered her voice.
"From killing you."
The words hit the room like an explosion.
Ethan stared.
"What?"
"Lily isn't innocent."
His face hardened instantly.
"Enough."
"I'm serious."
"She's six."
"No."
Sabrina smiled sadly.
"She's dangerous."
Ethan took a step toward the table.
"Explain."
"You've only seen the frightened little girl."
"I've seen bruises."
"I gave her none of them."
"Liar."
She ignored him.
"Ask yourself one question."
"What?"
"If she's been hidden all these years..."
She paused.
"...who was she hiding from?"
Ethan answered immediately.
"You."
"No."
Sabrina shook her head.
"Someone much worse."
For the first time...
She appeared genuinely afraid.
"They're looking for her."
"Who?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because once they know she's alive..."
Her voice trembled.
"...everyone around her dies."
Ethan searched her face.
Was it another lie?
Or the first truth she'd spoken?
He couldn't tell.
And that frightened him.
Sabrina slowly slid a folded document across the table.
"I kept this."
Ethan unfolded it.
His pulse quickened.
It was a medical report.
Patient: Ethan Bennett.
Date:
Eight years earlier.
Diagnosis:
Traumatic Brain Injury. Retrograde Amnesia.
His hands began to shake.
"This..."
"...is impossible."
"It isn't."
"You forged it."
"Did I?"
She nodded toward the doctor's signature.
"Call him."
Ethan immediately handed the report to Captain Brooks after the interview.
Brooks frowned.
"We'll verify it."
Two hours later...
The answer arrived.
The hospital existed.
The doctor existed.
The signature was genuine.
Even worse...
Hospital records confirmed that Ethan Bennett had indeed been admitted eight years ago after a serious traffic accident.
Length of stay:
Twenty-three days.
Captain Brooks stared at the screen in disbelief.
"How the hell did we miss this?"
Officer Ramirez looked equally confused.
"The admission records were archived under emergency trauma."
"Family visitor?"
Ramirez swallowed.
"Only one."
"Who?"
"...Sabrina Bennett."
Brooks immediately contacted the attending physician.
The elderly neurologist answered after several rings.
"Doctor Collins speaking."
"This is Captain Brooks."
"How can I help?"
"I'm investigating Ethan Bennett's accident."
There was a pause.
"I wondered when someone would ask."
Brooks straightened.
"You remember him?"
"I remember every patient with memory loss."
"What can you tell me?"
The doctor hesitated.
"Not over the phone."
"Is it that important?"
"Yes."
"Can we meet?"
"I'll be at the hospital in an hour."
Meanwhile...
Ethan returned to the mansion.
His mind was in chaos.
Nothing felt solid anymore.
He walked past Lily's room without noticing she was watching him.
The little girl frowned.
Something had changed.
He didn't smile.
He didn't wave.
He looked...
Lost.
Lily quietly climbed off the bed and followed him downstairs.
She found him standing in the study, staring at the medical report.
"Ethan?"
He turned.
"Oh."
His voice sounded distant.
"What is it?"
She hesitated.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No."
"You look sad."
He forced a smile.
"I'm just thinking."
She slowly walked closer.
Then she noticed the document in his hand.
Her eyes widened.
She whispered only one word.
"Hospital..."
Ethan looked down.
"You've seen this before?"
Lily immediately covered her mouth.
She hadn't meant to speak.
He knelt.
"Lily."
She looked frightened.
"Where?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"I..."
"You can tell me."
She squeezed the stuffed rabbit tightly.
"I remember..."
"What do you remember?"
"...a man sleeping."
Ethan's heartbeat accelerated.
"In a hospital?"
She nodded.
"There were machines."
"What else?"
"A lady cried every day."
"Who?"
Lily shut her eyes.
"I don't know."
"And me?"
She slowly looked into his eyes.
"You were there."
Silence.
Then...
"You held my hand."
Ethan stopped breathing.
"That's impossible."
Lily shook her head.
"No."
"You smiled."
"And you called me..."
Her tiny voice broke.
"...your little star."
The room spun around Ethan.
He had never told anyone those words.
Not Sabrina.
Not Mrs. Harper.
No one.
Because "Little Star" had been the nickname his late mother once told him he should someday give to his own child.
A nickname that had never left his lips.
At least...
Not that he could remember.
Across town...
Captain Brooks arrived at the hospital.
Dr. Collins was waiting.
The elderly neurologist placed an old patient file on the table.
"I kept copies."
Brooks opened it.
"What am I looking for?"
"Page twelve."
Brooks turned the page.
His expression froze.
At the bottom of Ethan Bennett's neurological evaluation...
Someone had handwritten a note in red ink.
Patient repeatedly asks for his daughter despite claiming he has no children.
Captain Brooks slowly looked up.
"Doctor..."
"What happened to him?"
Dr. Collins sighed heavily.
May you like
"That's exactly what I hoped someone would finally discover."
End of Chapter 4
