LOGIN“Emily! How dare you, James!” Leo shouted as he lunged at James, but he was too slow—James immediately parried Leo’s attack. Andreo hugged James from behind and locked his arms, but James was so strong that Andreo’s energy was immediately drained. Meanwhile, the blond man quickly found the crook of James’s arm and jabbed the syringe there, causing James to curse angrily and rail against the blond man. “Leo, help me! I can’t take it anymore!” Andreo’s muffled scream left Leo momentarily torn between choosing Emily or helping the man. But in the end, he chose to help Andreo. “Paul, please take Emily to the hospital,” Leo pleaded as he helped Andreo restrain James’s thrashing. “No, you’re the one who has to take her. That way I can treat Claire as soon as possible,” Paul replied, holding back James’s increasingly frantic movements.Leo finally obeyed Paul’s words. He hurried over to Emily and untied the rope binding her body. He didn’t dare pull out the knife—it would only make thi
Right now, Emily's body was tied to a wooden chair with rope. Rose just smiled amusedly at Emily’s reaction, then walked back to the red sofa in the corner of the room.“Damn you!” Emily cursed, still unable to free herself from the ropes.Rose turned to face Emily, laughing derisively. “Go to hell!” Emily shouted angrily, breathing heavily.“If you want to come along,” Rose replied casually as she approached Emily. “Do you still love Arsen?” she asked once she was right in front of Emily, bending down so she was eye-level with her. “Of course! I’d have Arsen in a heartbeat if only Claire, that slut, hadn’t stolen him!” Emily shouted loudly.Rose immediately straightened up, and the atmosphere turned silent. For a moment, Emily thought the girl had finally come to her senses, but she was wrong. Rose stared at her with a cold gaze and a blank expression. The sight immediately reminded her of two previous incidents that had successfully driven her paranoid. There was no movement from
Arsen’s eyes widened at her question, then he burst out laughing. He immediately hugged Claire again. “No, you don’t need surgery. You have to believe in yourself—that you’re strong, stronger than all your alter egos—so you can control them.” “If I may ask, what are my alter egos like? I was once spoken to by a Dutch student in his native language, but I didn’t understand a word. He said that I’d often spoken to him in Dutch before,” Claire asked, pulling away from Arsen’s embrace. “That’s your alter ego named Rose. She’s Dutch, 24 years old, and flirty.” Arsen stopped speaking when he saw Claire’s eyes widen and her mouth drop open. “You’re joking! She’s flirty? Flirty… flirty like… like to tease…” Claire’s face flushed instantly when she saw Arsen nod. “Did… did she ever tease you?” Claire asked, biting her lip.“Eh? That… umm…” Arsen was at a loss for words, so he rubbed the back of his neck to hide his awkwardness. “Ahem, let’s move on to the next alter ego. His name is James,
“Claire! Claire, hey! I’m here, don’t be afraid. There’s no one here but the two of us.” Arsen clasped her hand with both of his, realizing that Claire was starting to get scared again. “Come on, let’s talk over there on that white sofa, while we enjoy the red-leaved trees on this sunny Sunday.” Claire could only comply as Arsen pulled her toward the long white sofa near the glass wall. He positioned the sofa facing the wall so they could chat while taking in the view outside the apartment.“Actually, I’ve felt this way for a very long time. It feels like I’ve missed out on so much. When I fell asleep at age 10, I suddenly woke up at age 15. I didn’t even realize my living situation had changed. As far as I remember, I used to live in Russia, then my father kicked me out, and suddenly I was in Jerez, then Australia, Brooklyn, and finally here. I didn’t dare tell anyone about all that. I was afraid they’d think I was crazy, since I could move places on my own without realizing it.”
Arsen rested his head on the steering wheel after parking his car in the apartment basement. After waking up with his whole body aching and catching Rose returning around 3 a.m., he decided to stay in the car and wait. He should have just ended it all and gone back to living a normal life. He wouldn’t have to feel paranoid when Claire was in his apartment, wouldn’t have to be startled when she suddenly turned into a different person, and wouldn’t have to deal with love anymore.But he couldn’t just walk away from it all, walk away from that girl. After all, ever since Claire and her alter egos had arrived, his perspective on life had begun to shift, little by little. He no longer felt bored with his life, no longer hated autumn, and had begun to forgive his father, even though it was very difficult. So why should he leave that girl just because she has alter egos? If Claire could choose, she would surely want to live happily with her family, not be seen as strange or crazy, and be a
"Wow!" That was all Freddy could say after hearing Arsen’s story about Claire. "Is that all you have to say?" Arsen protested, looking indignant. Freddy raised both his eyebrows. “Then how am I supposed to respond?” “At least give me some advice. What should I do?” Arsen paced back and forth in Freddy’s apartment living room with his hands on his hips. “I don’t really understand much about alter egos, but I’ve heard you have to be mentally prepared when dealing with someone like that.”“You’re stating the obvious, Fred. Who’s mentally prepared to deal with someone who suddenly acts weird? Most people would just think they’re crazy or possessed.”They fell silent after that. Freddy looked like he was trying to recall something. “Brandon said Claire did seem strange. Her ID card did indeed say Claire, but in the interrogation room, she said her name was Rose. He even felt uneasy when facing her.""Did her behavior just change out of the blue?" Arsen asked curiously. Freddy nodded.
"Ah... umm... did I really say that?" Leo asked, looking nervous.Arsen raised an eyebrow. “My hearing still works just fine.” Leo felt flustered again under his best friend’s intense gaze. "Leo? What do you know that I don’t? You know exactly what I’m like, right, Leo?" Arsen pressed impatient
It had been a month since Arsen and Claire had grown closer, until they finally realized their feelings for each other. They realized that they loved each other. Arsen had become a cheerful person who was always smiling, which puzzled the people around him. Many speculated about what had happened
The sound of tapping fingers echoing through the interrogation room made a police investigator in his 30s frown in annoyance. The man had been trying to remain patient for the past 30 minutes since entering the room, but the silence of the wavy-haired girl sitting across from him was slowly wearing
“I’m fine, I just…” Arsen wiped his cheek and forced a smile. “My father used to beat me, thinking I was the reason my mother and sister died. So I worked hard from a young age to escape him. But a week ago, he called to apologize.” Claire immediately approached Arsen and hugged him, causing his







