I nodded, my eyes red. “Of course I haven’t forgotten. But that doesn’t mean I have to give up the man I love for her. When I said that, I truly believed that if my sister didn’t exist, we could be happy for a lifetime. But I….”
….never wanted her to actually die.
Before I could finish, my mother, consumed by grief, rushed at me, grabbing my throat and shaking me hard.
“You could have competed fairly if you loved Owen! Why did you have to let her die!”
“Who killed Zara?! Tell me right now!”
Voices of anger and accusations filled my ears, but I clenched my teeth and refused to break.
“I won’t say it. Knowing the truth won’t help any of you!”
Owen slapped me hard across the face. “Even now, you still protect the criminal!”
“Fine. If that’s how it is, then I’ll show no mercy.”
“Everyone knows the Memory Extractor has three levels, but in reality, there’s a fourth, Special Level! The pain feels like being crushed and forced back together again.”
“Will you speak, or not?!”
Blood flowed from my mouth and nose, but I still shook my head stubbornly. The crowd’s faces softened with faint pity, yet when Owen turned the dial to its highest level, all sympathy disappeared.
The next scene showed the day Zara jumped from the building. She wore a white dress, standing on the rooftop, shouting toward me. “Owen, I truly love you, but I’m no longer pure. I don’t deserve to be with you.”
“After you saw me like that, how can I keep living?”
Zara looked at me as if I were her last hope. “Juliette, if you tell the truth and name the man who hurt me, I won’t jump.”
I smiled coldly and said, “Even if you die right in front of me, I’ll never say it.”
My young mother fell to her knees before Zara, slamming her head to the ground again and again.
“Zara, Mom begs you not to jump! Please, Mom can’t live without you!”
Her cries were full of pain, but Zara didn’t move at all.
Bang. In an instant, that once-living soul disappeared before everyone’s eyes.
My mother spat blood as she let out a broken scream, crawling forward on shaking arms to hold her daughter’s cold body.
“Ah! My Zara!”
Even after thirty years, the memory still felt painfully clear.
Tears slid down Owen’s face. When he turned and saw mine, his eyes filled with anger. “Don’t act like you care! Your sister died because of you!”
“If you really feel guilty, then tell us who killed her!”