Chapter 295 295

Chapter 295 295
He places a hand on the grip of the pistol at his belt. I tighten my jaw. “You gonna shoot me?”
“No one’s shooting anyone,” Jenkins cuts in, pushing Zeldric in the chest to make him step back.
I continue toward Luna and gently grab her face between my hands.
“Why are you lying? You were here with me.”
She shakes her head again and takes a step back.
“You don’t remember? I tried talking to you, but you were saying crazy stuff. I took you out of the kitchen and helped you back to your room. You said you wanted to be alone, so I left.”
I close my eyes, trying to find something in my memory that makes sense, but nothing matches what she’s saying.
“No, that’s not what happened.” I press my hands to my head, my breathing quickening. “Are you trying to make me lose my mind?”
“Too late for that,” Alex mutters.
I ignore him and keep trying to make sense of it. I inhale deeply through my nose and exhale slowly. There’s no way my mind made all that up… is there?
“Let’s see. I was here, waiting for you.” I point to Luna. “Then I went to the kitchen and talked with Laura until you got there.”
“Who the hell is Laura?” Zeldric asks.
“The cook, damn it!” Jenkins and Zeldric exchange a strange look. “You don’t even know who works for you? Short, dark hair around here,” I motion to my shoulders. “Super thin and…”
“Makes hot chocolate?” Alex asks, smirking mockingly.
“Yes! You know who I’m talking about.” I point at him. His smile vanishes, and now he and Angy exchange glances. “What the hell is going on?! Why do you all look like you know something I don’t?!”
Angy clears her throat and steps toward me.
“Oscar, what you’re saying is… very strange. It sounds like you’re describing…” She trails off, and Alex sighs.
“Your mother, man! Laura—black short hair, skinny, makes damn hot chocolate. You’re talking about your mom, and she’s dead. So yeah, you’ve officially lost your mind.”
“Alex!” Angy snaps, glaring at him.
“What? Someone had to say it.”
“That’s not possible.” I rub my eyes and laugh softly, disbelieving. “I don’t even remember her. Laura is real. I’ve been talking to her almost every night since I came back from the estate.”
Angy sighs and steps closer.
“I do remember her. And yeah, you described her perfectly. She used to make us hot chocolate and play hide and seek with us all over the house—before she died.”
I remember one of our conversations when she confessed she had a son she’d abandoned. My breath catches. “I couldn’t watch him grow up. All I have left are the good memories. The hot chocolate, those fun moments, playing hide and seek with him and his friends… This damn illness took everything. I pushed away the few people who loved me. I abandoned my son.” My throat tightens.
My mother abandoned me. She hung herself from a damn wooden beam when I was six.
“This can’t be real,” I whisper, shaking my head. “Let me see the security footage. I want to see it for myself.”
“It’s broken,” Luna says.
“I don’t care! There must be something recorded from before—when I was in the kitchen.”
Angy leaves the room and comes back a few seconds later with a laptop. She places it on the dresser and, after typing something, signals me to come closer.
I approach on shaky legs, my heart pounding.
“You said it was around two, right?” I nod.
Angy sets the video to the indicated time and the footage starts playing. I see myself walk into the kitchen and sit on the stool, but Laura’s not there. For a while, it looks like I’m talking to someone—and I know that’s exactly what I was doing—but there’s no one else there. I’m not even holding a cup, even though I make the gesture of drinking.
Then Luna walks in, I turn to her, and she kisses me and leads me out of the kitchen.
“This can’t be…” I mutter, stunned.
“No one else goes in there before the camera cuts out,” Angy confirms.
I spin around and in two quick strides, I’m in front of Luna, grabbing her by the chin.
“Swear to me you weren’t here with me, in that bed.” I gesture toward it, tears now streaming down my cheeks.
“I swear,” she whispers, taking my hand.
I step back and start pacing, tugging at my hair. I don’t know what the hell is happening. Why is my mind playing games like this?
Really? Now you’ve completely lost it. You talk to your dead mother, kill people, and don’t remember it… Could you be any more pathetic?