The weight of the files pressed heavily against my side as I walked, each step a reminder that I was about to change everything.
The streets were quieter than usual, maybe it was the time of night or maybe the city just sensed something was off, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. Not by Dylan. Not by anyone in my past life, but by something darker, something more sinister that had always been lurking just outside my grasp.I didn’t want to think about it. Not yet. Not when I was this close.Aiden.It all came down to him. He had orchestrated everything, had twisted my life into something unrecognizable, had pulled all the strings until I was nothing more than a puppet, dancing on command. But that was over now. The truth was mine, and it was time to make him pay.I made my way to the small apartment I had rented in a motel under an alias. It was nothing special, bare walls, a simple bThe car ride was too quiet. I could hear my own heartbeat in the stillness, the rhythmic thrum of blood rushing through my veins, drowning out everything else. The streets passed by in a blur, my thoughts moving even faster, the weight of the plan pressing down on me like a hundred tons of concrete.Sophia’s presence beside me wasn’t comforting, nor was it unsettling. It was simply... necessary. She was the one person who seemed to understand the danger we were in, the weight of what we were about to do. We weren’t just up against Aiden anymore; we were up against an entire system, a web of deceit, and we were standing right in the center of it.The place she’d taken me to was an apartment building tucked away in a less-traveled part of the city. It wasn’t much, a two-bedroom unit with cracked walls and faded curtains, but it was safe. And right now, safe was all that mattered.Sophia led me up the stairs, her steps quick and deliberate. I followed, my duffle bag slung over one shoul
The city was waking up as I made my way toward the meeting spot. The streets were bustling with the usual morning rush. People going about their lives, completely unaware of the storm that was brewing just beneath the surface. A storm I was about to set into motion.I hadn’t slept the night before. Too much on my mind. Too much uncertainty. But now, as the early morning light hit the glass buildings and painted the streets in pale gold, I felt... clear. The weight of the decision I had made to trust Sophia was still heavy, but it had solidified into resolve. There was no turning back now.I parked a few blocks away from the location Sophia and I had agreed upon, a small, tucked-away café in the heart of the city, one that no one would think twice about. The kind of place that hid secrets, and I had a feeling we were about to reveal a very big one.I stepped out of the car, the cool air brushing against my skin as I straightened the collar of my jacket. I felt exposed in a way. Not ph
I drove aimlessly for what felt like hours, the hum of the engine and the blur of streetlights offering no comfort. I wasn’t sure where I was going, only that I couldn’t go back. Not to the house, not to Dylan, and certainly not to Aiden.The weight of the files in the passenger seat was a constant reminder of what I had to do next. The evidence was damning. Aiden’s empire, his control over me, his manipulation, it was all in my hands now. But how could I use it without putting myself in even more danger? How could I make sure I didn’t become just another victim in his web?I pulled off the highway into a small parking lot outside a run-down motel. The neon sign flickered overhead, casting an eerie glow over the cracked pavement. It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t safe. But I didn’t need luxury or safety. I needed to think, to strategize. I needed to get one step ahead of the men who thought they could own me.I grabbed the d
The weight of the files pressed heavily against my side as I walked, each step a reminder that I was about to change everything. The streets were quieter than usual, maybe it was the time of night or maybe the city just sensed something was off, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. Not by Dylan. Not by anyone in my past life, but by something darker, something more sinister that had always been lurking just outside my grasp.I didn’t want to think about it. Not yet. Not when I was this close.Aiden.It all came down to him. He had orchestrated everything, had twisted my life into something unrecognizable, had pulled all the strings until I was nothing more than a puppet, dancing on command. But that was over now. The truth was mine, and it was time to make him pay.I made my way to the small apartment I had rented in a motel under an alias. It was nothing special, bare walls, a simple b
The world outside felt the same. The streets, the cars, the people all moving like clockwork, none of them aware of the storm that was brewing just beneath the surface. I could feel it, like a pulse in my veins, every thrum a reminder that things had shifted. That I was no longer the woman I had been just days ago.I drove in silence, the city lights blurring past as I made my way home. I should’ve been nervous. I should’ve felt the weight of what I was about to do, but the closer I got to my house, the more everything felt like a distant memory. The walls, the rooms, the furniture, all of it had been built on lies. The house that Dylan and I had filled with hopes and quiet whispers didn’t matter anymore.I parked in the driveway and sat there for a moment. The drive had been longer than it should’ve been, and it had given me time to think. To plan. To go over every last detail of what was about to happen. There was no going back.I wasn’t afraid. I was past fear.I was past everyth
I didn’t sleep that night. Not really.I lay in the dark, wide awake, listening to the soft hum of the city outside, feeling the weight of what I had learned settling deeper into my bones. The truth wasn’t a relief. It wasn’t a final revelation that gave me peace. It was a wound that had been opened and left to bleed. It kept oozing, pulling at the fragile stitches I’d managed to tie around myself.I thought about Dylan.I thought about Aiden.But most of all, I thought about me. What was left of me.I could hear the faint sounds of Dylan moving around downstairs, the clink of dishes, the soft murmur of the television. I didn’t want to face him. I couldn’t. He had been a part of it. He had watched. Maybe he thought his guilt was a decent trade for pretending to be my savior. But it wasn’t. Not anymore.I wasn’t angry, though. Anger would have been easier. What I felt was worse. It was a strange kind of emptiness. Like I was floating in the dark, with nothing but a vague sense of be
The shower ran long enough that the steam fogged up the mirror, but I didn't care. The sound of water crashing against the tile was a dull, mind-numbing rush, almost like I could drown out everything if I stayed under it long enough.But I couldn’t hide.Not from myself. Not from what I’d learned. Not from what I was becoming.I turned the water off, but the silence that followed felt even worse. Cold air wrapped around my skin, my breath coming out in sharp gasps, as if I’d been holding it for years. I stared at the reflection in the mirror, a face that didn’t belong to me. A face I didn’t even know. Not fully. Not anymore.My hand trembled as I reached up, my fingers brushing the scar beneath my left eye. The one Dylan had created. The one that was supposed to be a mark of my new life. My evolution. A life engineered to fit someone else's design.I wasn’t Caitlin Roe anymore.I wasn’t Caitlin Gallagher either.I was a replacement. A project. An experiment.And I didn’t know who the
I didn’t cry.I thought I would.I thought I’d make it to the elevator and fall apart, slide down the wall and sob until my throat cracked. But I didn’t.I rode the elevator down like I was made of steel. Hands still clenched. Face still burning.The lobby lights buzzed overhead. The security guard gave me a stiff, polite nod, like nothing was wrong. Like I hadn’t just stood in the same room as the man who reprogrammed my body and tried to erase my soul.I nodded back.Because that’s the game, isn’t it?Pretend nothing’s bleeding.Pretend you’re not drowning.Pretend you didn’t just learn you were built.It was cold outside. Not winter-cold. But the kind that sneaks under your skin when you’re already brittle inside. My heels clicked across the pavement as I walked to my car, and every sound felt too loud. Like the world was trying to draw attention to me. Like it knew.I sat behind the wheel with the engine off for a long time.Not thinking. Not planning. Just existing.And even tha
I left Dylan’s apartment without looking back.He didn’t try to stop me. Just stood there, silent, like a man watching a fire he didn’t bother putting out. And maybe that was the truth, maybe I was always meant to burn.I drove until I couldn’t feel my fingers on the wheel. Ended up in a parking garage, staring at nothing, chewing on the edge of a panic attack.Then I opened the flash drive again.Not on my laptop this time. On a secure system. A hacker friend from my undergrad days owed me favors, and I called one in. Said I needed everything decrypted. Hidden files. Metadata. Time stamps. Anything.They called me an hour later, voice low and clipped.“There’s a hidden folder. You didn’t see it.”I hadn’t.I went back, followed the breadcrumb they gave me.Inside were audio logs, notes, screenshots of messages, even therapy session transcriptions. And a folder marked...“HER”.My hands shook as I opened it.Dozens of photos.All of me.Years back, Surveillance stills, Social media scr