Adrian looked at me for several seconds.

The phone remained in my hand.

The photo of the blond man was still on the screen.

For the first time since the accident, the calm and controlled Dr. Adrian Blake looked completely lost.

“Emma.”

His voice was low.

“Why are you asking about him?”

I tilted my head.

“Because you said I’m your sister.”

I smiled innocently.

“So I thought you should introduce me to someone interesting.”

His expression became complicated.

A normal husband would have been angry.

A normal husband would have asked why his wife was interested in another man.

But Adrian didn’t.

Because he knew.

He knew I wasn’t his sister.

He knew exactly who I was.

And yet he had chosen to continue this ridiculous lie.

“His name is Noah.”

Adrian took the phone back.

“He is just a friend.”

I nodded.

“Just a friend?”

“Yes.”

“Like Claire?”

The moment I said her name, his fingers froze.

The room became silent.

I watched him carefully.

Five years of marriage.

Five years of believing I was the only woman beside him.

But now I was watching my own husband introduce another woman as his wife.

And the cruelest part?

He didn’t even realize how much he had destroyed.

“Emma.”

His tone became serious.

“You shouldn’t think too much. Your memory is still recovering.”

I almost laughed.

Recovering?

My memory was the only thing keeping me sane.

I remembered everything.

The day we met.

The first time he cooked for me.

The night he proposed.

The promise he made under the old oak tree.

“I will never let you feel alone.”

What a beautiful lie.

I returned the phone to him.

“You’re right.”

He looked surprised.

“I shouldn’t think too much.”

A trace of relief appeared on his face.

But he didn’t know…

That was the last time I would pretend.

That night, while Adrian was taking care of Claire, I quietly returned home.

The house was exactly the same.

Our house.

Or at least, the place I thought was ours.

I opened the drawer beside the bed.

The marriage certificate was still there.

The photos.

The letters.

Everything I had protected for five years.

I placed them all on the table.

Then I found something strange.

A second document hidden beneath the old papers.

My hands stopped moving.

It was another marriage certificate.

Adrian Blake.

Claire Morgan.

The date was six years ago.

One year before he married me.

My mind went blank.

I stared at the paper.

Then I understood.

The woman in the hospital wasn’t lying.

She really was his wife.

But then…

Who was I?

Five years of marriage.

Five years of living together.

Five years of being called his wife.

Was I just a replacement?

A person who existed because Claire wasn’t available?

The next morning, Adrian came home.

He found me sitting in the living room.

The old marriage certificate was on the table.

His face changed instantly.

For once, he didn’t know what to say.

“Emma…”

I looked at him.

“Which one of us is your wife?”

His lips parted.

No answer.

That was enough.

I laughed softly.

A laugh with no happiness.

“I spent five years wondering why you never loved me passionately.”

“I thought you were just cold.”

“I thought you were just not good at expressing yourself.”

I picked up the certificate.

“But the truth is…”

“You already gave that place to someone else.”

Adrian stepped forward.

“Listen to me.”

“No.”

My voice was calm.

“Now you listen.”

He stopped.

“I pretended to lose my memory because I wanted to see if you would finally do something unexpected.”

“I wanted to see if you would finally choose me.”

His face turned pale.

“You knew?”

I nodded.

“From the beginning.”

Silence.

Then something changed in his eyes.

Pain.

Regret.

Fear.

“You lied to me.”

I smiled.

“Yes.”

“Now you know how it feels.”

Those words hit him harder than I expected.

Because Adrian finally understood.

The woman who always trusted him.

The woman who always waited.

The woman who always forgave.

Was gone.

A few minutes later, my phone rang.

It was Noah.

The same man Adrian called “just a friend.”

I answered.

“Emma.”

His voice was gentle.

“Your accident investigation results came out.”

I frowned.

“What investigation?”

A pause.

Then he said:

“The accident wasn’t random.”

My expression changed.

“What?”

“We found evidence that someone tampered with your car.”

I looked at Adrian.

He was still standing there.

Watching me.

“Noah…”

“Emma, there is something else.”

“What?”

“The person who arranged the accident…”

He hesitated.

Then said:

“It was someone who knew you and Adrian very well.”

The room became freezing cold.

Because suddenly, Claire’s illness, the fake marriage, and the accident were no longer separate things.

Someone had planned everything.

And Adrian wasn’t the only person keeping secrets.

The person I thought was stealing my husband…

May have been the person trying to erase me completely.