Emily, pulled from her thoughts by his words, took a deep breath.
"When Alex fell into the lake, I was the one who saved him," she began, her tone steady and calm. Julian's expression remained unreadable, but she noticed a flicker of something in his eyes—something he quickly masked.
"I pushed him to the shore, but in doing so, I fell back into the lake," Emily continued, her voice softening as she revisited that day. "I couldn't remember how I ended up on the shore. My memory of that day was just a blur for a very long time, until recently." She paused, locking eyes with Julian, searching for any sign that her words were affecting him. "I remembered a boy dragging me to the shore," she stated, watching him closely.
