Reclaiming My Stolen Life

rs said. The last thing I remembered was pushing my husban

ertificate filed two years ago. My parents' names were on it. And then

an who caused the crash, living there. She kissed Derek, casually, familiarly. My son, Errol, ca

son, my life, with the woman who had stolen it all. My own son, the child I had carried an

wakening wasn't a miracle; it was an inconvenience. I had lost

tity. A new life. Catherine Anderson was

pte

he dull, persistent ache that had settled deep in her bones. F

ospital room swam into foc

doctors said i

s the screech of tires and the violent shove she gave her hus

mall, warm anchor in the confusing

parents, Alva and Glyn, were there too, holding her hands and thanking God. Her son, Er

right. Painf

ek later. She needed to reactivate her phone, update

the walker the hospital had provided. The woman

owed. "Cather

id, her voice still

roblem with your file." The cl

What kind

yes. "It says here... i

"Deceased? That's impossibl

er at the screen. "There's a death

was a mistake. It had to be a bureaucratic nigh

ook on Catherine's face, reluctan

cial document. Cather

frantic rhythm against her ribs. Then she saw

lyn Anderson. He

ed her dead. The world tilted, the fluorescent lig

nal signature, the one that c

Alex

saved. The man whose life she

nto her brain. The world went silent. The clerk's concerned chatter, the hum

bness spread from her chest outward, fre

knees, proposing to her under a sky full

sed, his voice thick with emotion. "No m

ing AI protocol, a project that would have cemented her as a legend in the tech world. Derek's c

bright. The selfless, instantaneo

his. To b

e other vehicle, a woman named Anjelica Hardin, was also injured but recovered

meant nothing to her the

her, rang. His name flashed on the scr

hard." His voice was a river of smooth, practiced concern. The same voice he had used for f

devotion for the world to see, while

hugged her, his embrace feeling like a cage.

al. Everything

tal home, but to the sprawling Alexander estate where Derek

t from th

as with him, her back to Catherine. The woman tur

r, the same build, a face so strikingly simil

familiar kiss. He didn't pull away. He wrappe

d Catherine's lips wa

widened in panic when he saw her.

the words tearing at her throat. "You'r

The excuses tumbled out, clumsy and pathetic. He rushed to her s

his face a picture of anguish. "I'll do anythin

by a panicked text from Derek. Erro

soothing but firm. "Derek has been through so much

ather added. "You hav

ited front of quiet pressure

e, a small, foolish part of her wanted to believe th

haky breath and

eek later, Anjelica w

, as if talking to a child. "We can't just t

n she went to her parents' house, see

ining room table. Anjelica was there, sitting between her p

w Catherine standing in the doorwa

is voice sharp and cruel. "I don'

usatory finger at Anjel

said nothing. He just stood there

. We were the ones who encouraged Derek to move on. Anjelic

?" Catherine's voice

ther, Glyn, said, clearing his throat, "if you

moment, Catherine thought she was hallucinating. They wanted her to sha

ilent. His silen

rol shouted, his little fac

band's weak face to her parents' expectant one, to the triumphant smi

r happy new life. Her awakening hadn't bee

hing. Her husband, her child,

thout a word. She got into her car an

An unknown num

wered.

Kaden. Ka

eague, her friend. The one who had told her sh

" she b

u. Listen, I'm a partner at a firm in Zurich now. We need someone to lead our new AI divisi

ntity. A

mirror. The home she had ju

er career, the one thing that was truly hers.

lear and hard for the first

ng city behind her. From now on, Catherine Anders