She raised her hand and slapped me in the face furiously. “You want sympathy? You killed Lizzy. Do you think these memories will make me forgive you?”
Her breath came fast. Tears fell without warning. Her eyes were full of pain and anger. “Lizzy took her life, but the one who caused it was you. You killed her, Selina!”
She shook me in fury, the hatred in her eyes broke my heart. For Ivana, Lizzy’s death had been a storm that destroyed everything. After that storm, she lived only in sorrow.
Suddenly, Ivana pulled herself together and wiped her eyes. Her sadness changed into cold, hard determination.
“I’m telling you, Selina, I will not stop until I find the bastard who raped my friend. Once I find them, I will send you and that monster to hell together.”
She told the techs to widen the memory scan. It seemed she had no patience left for me.
The techs moved fast. The red needle on the machine shot up and the tiny needles inside the helmet pressed deeper into my brain.
“Ah!” A heartbreaking scream came out of my mouth.
A fierce electric shock hit my brain. White lights burst behind my eyes and my whole body shook. I tried so hard to move, but heavy chains held my hands and feet tight.
Blood ran through my hair and dripped onto the cold iron chair. On the big screen, scenes jumped around. One moment it showed a classroom, the next a stream, then the mountain.
They were all happy memories of me, Ivana and Lizzy together.
But still, there was no memory of the night Lizzy was attacked.
The crowd started to whisper. Even the live chat was filled with questions.
[What’s going on? Why isn’t there any memory of that night?]
[Didn’t Lizzy say this woman saw the rapist?]
Ivana frowned and turned to her tech team. “What’s going on? Why can’t we find the memory of the rapist?”
One of the techs wiped his forehead and stammered, “Ms. Sinclair, she... she seems to be fighting the system. She’s refusing to let that memory be pulled.”
“What? Fighting the system?” Ivana’s face went hard. Her sharp gaze immediately turned toward me.
She slammed her hand on the table as she shouted, “Selina! Even now, you’re still resisting? Who is that monster you’re protecting so badly?”
Ten years ago, Ivana had shouted the same words at me. After Lizzy’s note was made public, everyone started to turn against me. They all wanted to know who the rapist was.