The Three-Year Lie: A Wife's Vengeance

staged a car crash that left me with amnesia, then held me

s fortune, and became the new "Elise Everett."

ry came flooding back. I learned the horrifying tr

esiac lover, I endured their cruelty, se

e crash, my parents' deaths, his plan t

wife at his birthday gala,

He thought it was a gesture of love. He

pte

ace I once knew, now twisted in pure malice. Amelie. My Amelie. My heart, which had been a hollow drumbeat for so long, sud

ar, my husband, smiling with a woman. Her hand was on his chest

wing. The one I had financially supported through design scho

. He tried to deny it, to charm his way out, but the evidence was undeniable. His excuses were thin, transparent

lf. My hands shook, bu

Edgar. W

oundation of our life together crumbled into dust. I filed for divorce the next day, making it clear I wanted nothing from him, only

a tunnel without end. My mind raced, replaying every lie, every stolen glan

A deafening crunch of metal. T

A man's face hovered over me, filled with what looked like conc

My husband.

oice a rasp. My head throbbe

mile. "I'm Edgar, your hus

rifying emptiness. Fragments of images,

my love. Business rivals, they wanted to hurt Everett Industries. They wanted to hurt us." His

lletproof glass, the gardens were patrolled by silent guards. I was told it was for my safety. For our safety. Edgar rarely l

ne crafted from his lies. Three years passed in that gilded cage. Three years of his fabricated devotion, his suffocating protection.

l to

a woman. Young, with eyes that burned with a venomous light. She was be

shrieked, her voice high and piercing. "

de me. Like a dam breaking, memories flooded back. Not fragments, but a torre

lie. My

ide dropped to a low bow, fear etched on her face. Amelie, the young w

ed, a cruel smile twisting h

now morphed into this monstrous figure, was stark. I had mentored her. I had poured my h

gasp. I heard muffled voices, Edgar's among

u do?" he grumbled,

tantly shifting, dripping with artificial sweetness. "

his tone dismissive. "She doesn't

ulated tremor. "What if she's pretending? She look

mind raced, piecing together the broken fragments of my past. The pieces clicked into a horr

. Oh God,

just a broken doll. We've been over this. Her parents are long gone. T

out?" Amelie's voice was still laced with fear, but a di

ident. A closed case. And you, my beautiful Amelie, are the grieving widow, the ri

My name. My identity. Stolen. By

e said, her voice dropping to a seductive purr. "No

m? They were married. My st

ckled, a low, guttural sound that sliced through me. "But a very useful convenience. She thinks she's my

an who had orchestrated my near-death, stolen my life, and killed my fam

here. In our house. Knowing she thinks she's your wife. It'

e, if she knows what's good for her. Don't worry, my love. Everything is ours. Always

He called me a relic. A ghost. A dog. The man I had loved, the man I had married

I'd once used to describe Amelie's future, her bright potential. "She's going to take the design world by s

he had stolen my name, my legacy, buil

, built on greed and betrayal. And I w

nto something sharper, colder. Edgar thought I was his broken

So utterly, co

ed to contact someone. Kaye. My best friend

ember, tucked deep into the lining of an old coat in the back of a closet. I dialed the only number I vaguely recognized, a nu

drill, leave a message. If it's im

Panic flared, cold and sharp. Had

Kaye's older brother. My childhood friend. He was always steady,

hen a gruff, familiar

y a whisper, raw and tremb

God. Is that really you? Where are you? What's happening?"

looking around the opulent prison. "But I remember, Chet. I remem

l of pure fury. "Elise, everyone thinks you'

king. My parents. The words hu

tell me." A cold knot formed in my stomach,

death, Elise... your parents, they couldn't endure it. They died within months of each other. A broken heart

Dead. Because of Edgar. Because of his monstrous lie. The pain was beyond anything I had ev

ths. She became the new 'Elise Everett,' the grieving widow, the sole heir to Everett Industries. She and Edgar t

ity, usurped. Everything. I had lost everything. The thought of my parents dying of a broken heart, believing their only daug

flicker. A tiny, burning ember in the ashes of my li

u. Just tell me where you are." Chet's voice was urgent,

r my lost parents, for my stolen life. But beneath th

et. I can't leave. Not like this. They took everything from me. M

despair was gone, replac

strength, steeling itself. "Help me take

is eyes narrowing, a dangerous glint in the

t my ribs. I had to pre

o tremble, forcing a vacant look onto my

gaze piercing. "You were ta

uld I talk to, Edgar? I don't know anyone." I swallowed hard, pushin

nblinking. I held my brea

ing?" he asked, his voic

ky breath, mimicking the terror of an a

linched, instinctively recoiling. His eyes dark

e saccharine sweet, but his eyes were

hat the game had begun. A