LOGINLILY They released me just after noon. I stand on legs that feel borrowed, wrapped in clothes that don’t feel like mine. Jake bought these. I know he did. My fingers curl into the sweater, trying to conjure the warmth of his hands, his laugh, his breath against my cheek during our honeymoon. " Let me spoil you for once, " he had whispered while dragging me onto the couch at the cabin, the fire crackling behind us. " You’re my wife now, Lily. I get to love you loudly. " The wind outside the hospital stings my cheeks. Detective Rowan had said they’d “call with updates" but I know what that means: They don’t believe me. They don’t believe Jake existed at all. The taxi driver helps me into the car. I murmur directions to my cottage, staring out the window as the world blurs past — snowbanks, pine trees, mountain shadows. Everything looks familiar but wrong, like someone moved the scenery around while I slept. My cottage sits small and lonely beneath heavy branches dripping
LILY “Miss Carter,” the older one says with a nod. “I’m Detective Rowan. This is Detective Vale. We’d like to ask a few questions about the night of your accident.” Accident. The word ricochets through my mind like a bullet. I wet my lips, throat raw. “I… I don’t remember everything.” “That’s alright.” Rowan pulls up a chair. “Tell us what you do remember.” " Snow.Wind. Jake’s hand finding mine. His voice, tight with fear.The blinding headlights— A shadow— A scream— Then nothing. " I swallow hard. “We were driving. A storm hit. We were trying to get back down the ridge—” “We?” Rowan interrupts gently. “Who is we , Miss Carter?” My heart stutters. “My husband. Jake. Jake Ryland.” The two detectives exchange a glance so fast most people would miss it. “Miss Carter,” Vale says slowly, “no one else was found at the scene.” I grip the blanket tighter. “You keep saying that. But he was with me. We were together.” Rowan clears his throat. “Let me walk you through what we
LILY White ceiling. White lights. White curtains. White noise humming somewhere above me. My eyelids feel impossibly heavy, like I’m waking after a century. My throat burns as if I swallowed sand . And my body—my body doesn’t feel like mine at all. A soft beeping beside me keeps time with my heartbeat. I’m in a hospital. But why? My breath hitches. My fingers twitch weakly. And slowly memories begin to claw their way back, slippery and fragmented. Snow.A storm.The car sliding. Jake yelling my name. A shadow— And then nothing. Nothing but darkness swallowing everything whole. “Hey—hey, easy,” a voice murmurs. I turn my head, every bone protesting the movement. A nurse in pale blue scrubs steps into view, relief softening her features. She reaches for the monitor beside me, adjusting something with gentle hands. “You’re awake,” she says quietly. My lips feel cracked. When I try to speak, only a rasp escapes. “W…where—” “You’re at Lakeside Medical.” My pul
LILY PRESENT The moment the SUV went dark, the world outside blurred into white. Snow. Wind. Silence. Jake cursed under his breath, slamming the ignition again, but the dashboard stayed dead— like the storm had swallowed the engine whole. My heartbeat didn’t pound.It exploded. Because this was that storm. FLASHBACK -12 YEAR OLD LILY “Dad, slow down—please!” My voice had cracked just like the glass did moments later. But before that—before the crunch, the screaming wind, the crack of the tree—there’d been only the storm. A storm that came out of nowhere, swallowing the mountain road until the car floated in a world that wasn’t sky or earth. My mother’s hand had reached back blindly, fingertips brushing my knee. “It’s okay, sweetheart. We’re almost home.” We weren’t.Not even close. The snow was piling fast, slamming against the windshield like fists. Dad leaned forward, squinting, gripping the wheel tighter with every new gust. “Visibility’s dropping. Just hol
LILY The moment Jake said pack - I moved fast, shoving clothes into a duffel bag, grabbing documents, and small trinkets. When we stepped outside, the wind hitting my face felt sharp . Too familiar. My breath caught. Because the cold hit me exactly like that night. Jake noticed instantly. “Lily,” he said softly. “Talk to me.” But the world had already started tilting. I swallowed hard. “It’s nothing. Just—just the weather.” It was memory. It was a storm I’d spent years pretending I’d forgotten. We made it halfway down the path to the car when the first snowflake touched my cheek. Just one. But my knees almost buckled. Jake stopped walking. “Lily?” I forced a laugh. “It’s fine—really. Let’s just get to the car.” The clouds. They were the exact shade of the sky the night my parents— No. Not here. Not now. Jake reached for my hand, but before he could touch me— crack . A tree branch snapped somewhere in the woods. I jumped violently, my heart slamming into my ribs
LILY The headline hit me before Jake even spoke. I didn’t need to click it. I didn’t need to zoom in. The thumbnail alone made my blood turn cold. " BILLIONAIRE SECRETLY MARRIED — WHO IS THE MYSTERY WOMAN? " Under it, our courthouse photo.The tiny office.The ugly fluorescent lighting.The rings. Our rings. My breath stuttered. The coffee in my hand went cold. My heart thudded so loud it drowned out the soft morning noises of my cottage. Beside me, Jake’s phone buzzed relentlessly. But my voice was the first thing to break the silence. “Jake,” I whispered, staring at the screen. “What… what do we do now?” He didn’t speak at first. His hands were clenched on the table, knuckles white, eyes fixed on the same headline like he could burn it alive. His jaw worked, a muscle flickering. Then he exhaled—slow and dangerous. “We deal with it,” he said. “Together.” But I shook my head. “Together isn’t the issue. It’s the world. They know, Jake. They know everything. Someone







