Agnes couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"No way, this can't be true," she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.
"I know it's a lot to take in," Elton replied. "Honestly, I'm struggling to wrap my head around it too. Agnes, you've lost eight years of your memory. I can't say if it's temporary or permanent, but right now, the most important thing is for you to come to terms with this."
Agnes stared blankly for what felt like an eternity, her mind unable to process the bombshell.
"Where are we now?" she finally asked, looking around the unfamiliar room.
"We were on a cruise when you fell overboard," Elton explained. "We're in a hospital in Australia now. You need to rest and recover here for a while. There's a lot I need to tell you."
He reached into his bag and pulled out a photograph, handing it to her. It was taken on the cruise, showing Agnes and Elton dressed to the nines, beaming at the camera. His arm was draped around her shoulders, their closeness undeniable. Flipping the photo over, she saw a date that confirmed the gap in her memory. Eight years vanished, just like that.
Agnes finally started to accept it, though her mind was still a whirlwind of confusion.
"I need to process this, Elton," she said. "It's too much to handle right now."
Elton nodded. "Agnes, no matter what, I'm here for you. Don't be afraid."
"Agnes, this is going to be another shock," Elton said gently, "but your dad passed away five years ago."
Her heart dropped. "What? No, you must be joking, Elton. You can't joke about something like that. Dad was healthy, he couldn't be gone."
Elton took a deep breath. "It was your stepmother, Laura. She had an affair with a wealthy man named Berlin. When your dad found out, they conspired against him. But justice was served—they're both in prison now, for life. And your sister Beatrice... she's missing. They say she lost her mind after everything."
Agnes couldn't fathom the whirlwind of tragedy that had swept through her life in those lost years. Dad gone, Beatrice missing, Laura's betrayal—it was all too much to comprehend.
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