A wave of loneliness swept over me. I really was a complete failure.
Aria pulled Miles into her arms right on cue, eyes glistening. "It's okay, sweetie. Don't blame your mom. It's all my fault."
The three of them huddled together like a real family, and I was the villain.
"Grant, I am never clearing her name," I hissed. "Get that through your head."
Suddenly, my brother Connor Burke's voice came from behind me. "If she won't do it, we'll send her back to the psych ward. Let's see how long she holds out."
The moment I heard him, my body started trembling uncontrollably.
When the news of my parents' deaths first broke, none of them had acted this way. But after Aria lost her memory, everything changed.
On the day of the trial, my own brother stood before the court as a member of the victims' family and submitted a clemency letter on her behalf. My husband took the stand as her defense attorney. The two people closest to me in the world had me declared mentally unfit right there in the courtroom.
When it was over, they sent me to a psychiatric facility. They said it was for treatment.
The day they took me there, I was still trying to defend myself. "I'm not sick. There's nothing wrong with me."
The first time I refused treatment, they strapped me to a bed and injected me with sedatives. I heard one of the nurses say, "Her family told us that if she doesn't cooperate, we keep treating her."
The third time, they locked me in an isolation room with no sound and no water. I survived by counting my own heartbeats.
The seventh time, the current tore through my body while my screams echoed down the hallway. It didn't stop until I said I understood.
Connor's voice dragged me back to the present, and I flinched before I could stop myself. He saw my reaction and his eyes flickered with revulsion.
"I don't even know why you're being so stubborn. Mom and Dad liked Aria too. If they were watching, they wouldn't blame her. Would it kill you to just say a few words on her behalf?"
I held his gaze. "Yes. It would."
Connor froze.
"If Mom and Dad were watching," I said, every word deliberate, "the only thing they'd regret is raising such an ungrateful son."
The slap landed before I even finished speaking. At least now both cheeks matched.
"You really have lost your mind!" Connor bellowed. "I'm their son. They would never resent me."
But something flickered behind his eyes—a flash of guilt he couldn't quite hide.
Grant scoffed. "Connor, drop it. Don't waste your breath. Tomorrow she's reading that statement whether she likes it or not."
Then he walked forward. "Let's eat."
He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the dining room.
At the table, Aria eagerly slid a plate of shrimp scampi in front of me. "Carly, I made this myself. I used to bring you this all the time, remember? Come on, don't be mad!"
I stared at the plate without a word.
Grant immediately lost his temper. "What now? What more could you possibly want? Do you just live to make my life difficult?"
I looked up at him. There was a time when every restaurant we went to, he'd flag down the server before I even sat down and say, "My wife has a seafood allergy."
But now all he had to say was, "Eat it or don't."
"Grant, I'm allergic to seafood. You forgot." I said it quietly.
Grant went still. The smile on Aria's face froze for just a second before she hurried to pull the plate away. "I'm sorry, Carly. I forgot."
Of course she forgot. Forgetting was such a convenient excuse. As long as someone claimed they forgot, nothing ever happened.
Connor slammed his plate on the table. "Then don't eat!"
He added, "Aria's been sleeping in the master bedroom for the past year. We're not about to kick her out just because you're back. You don't want to eat, fine. Go sleep in the storage room."
