Natalie had finally regained all of her erased memories.
Shane’s mood darkened as he rose to his feet. “Natalie, the evidence is right in front of you. Why are you still denying the truth?”
“That’s because my Mom didn’t do it!” Natalie followed suit and looked up at Shane with a calm gaze. “Didn’t I tell you about it yesterday? I let Stanley put me in a trance to check my memory. It’s true that there’s something wrong with my memory, but it’s perfectly fine now.”
“What do you mean?” Shane asked, narrowing his eyes.
“The truth, I remember it now.” Natalie inhaled deeply as she spoke.
“You remember it now? Are you trying to say that you forgot the memory about your Mom running over my parents?” Shane asked with slight astonishment.
“Yes and no. Yes, that I got my memory back, and no, my mom did not run over your parents! How many times do you want me to repeat myself?” Natalie raised her voice in reply.
Shane pressed his lips into a thin line when Natalie raised her tone several octaves higher. His mood took a drastic turn.
Natalie pointed at the computer. “It’s true that my Mom and I are in the video. I saw the death of your parents with my own eyes. The tragic scene left me emotionally scarred and traumatized because I had never seen something like that before. After I returned home, I was haunted by repeated nightmares of the incident.” Natalie paused for a brief moment as a look of sorrow crossed her face. “My Mom was afraid that I would become depressed if this continued. As a result, she hired a hypnotist to erase those memories.”
In order to erase all traces of that traumatic experience, Natalie’s mom had asked the hypnotist to craft a happier memory to replace it. The hypnotist even created an illusion for Natalie to detest the color red.
“What I’m trying to say is that I’ve remembered everything that occurred on that day. The person who ran over your parents was not my mom.” Natalie looked at Shane determinedly.
“So you’re telling me that red car isn’t your mom’s?” Shane’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke in a husky tone.
“It’s not.” Natalie closed her eyes. “The killer’s car and my mom’s shared the same model. It’s a Mercedes 300. It was the hottest model amongst the citizens of J City that year. My mom was not the only person who purchased the car. If you don’t believe me, you can visit the car company and check who bought the same model.”
“Do you really that that’s enough to cleanse the suspicions placed on your mom?” Shane asked coldly.
Natalie shook her head to deny his words. “Of course not. The day of the accident was the same as my dance competition back in primary school. My mom had picked me up from school, and we were on the way home. Along the way, she got into an argument with Harrison. In the heat of the moment, she neglected to look at the road, and she ran over your dad’s leg.”
“But you just said…” A dark expression loomed over Shane’s face.
“I said that she ran over his leg. Your parents were already dead when my mom bumped into both of them. She didn’t know at the time. That’s why she stopped the car and tried to help them. Yet, how was she supposed to save someone who is already dead?” Natalie stepped forward and extended a finger to point at Shane’s chest. “Tell me, Shane, how was she supposed to help them?” Natalie asked softly.
Shane remained silent.
Natalie let her hand fall to her side. “Afterwards, she realized that the victims were your parents. She always felt guilty because she couldn’t save them. That’s why she visits Grandpa every year on the nineteenth.”
“No…” Shane stuttered in disbelief. He was clearly shocked by Natalie’s words. Incredulity was painted all across his handsome face.
He couldn’t accept the truth. At the same time, he couldn’t believe that his assumption turned out to be the total opposite.
Natalie gazed at him coldly. “What are you trying to say? That you can’t accept that I’ve spoken the truth?”
Shane lifted his trembling gaze to meet hers.
Natalie let out a mirthless laugh. “And yet, this is the cold, hard truth. Even though the video was real, it’s obvious that there are issues with the person who filmed it. The cars are the first anomaly of this video. Didn’t you notice that the person didn’t capture the car’s number plate?”
Immediately, realization dawned upon Shane.
“That’s not the only issue. When the owner of the red car that ran over your parents continued driving, why didn’t the person filming the video continue to focus on the car? Instead, the camera pans back to your parents before showing my mom’s car,” Natalie continued.
