Chapter 4

Brandon looked up, stunned for a second, then smirked.

"Well, if it isn't the little princess. What brings you to our humble corner?"

I stared at him, tears pooling in my eyes.

"Brandon, everything you just said. Was it true?"

Brandon stood, walked over to me, and blew a ring of smoke in my face.

"So what if it is? Take a good look in the mirror, Sophie. Besides a pile of money, what do you have that Vivian doesn't?"

He jabbed a finger into my shoulder.

"You're boring, you're stiff, and I've been sick of you for a long time."

I closed my eyes.

Every moment I'd believed was love had been a lie from the very start.

I turned to leave, but Brandon grabbed my wrist.

"You're already here, so what's the rush? You like me so much, right? Drink this bottle and I'll forgive you."

He grabbed a bottle of strong liquor from the table and shoved it into my hands.

The crowd started egging him on.

I struggled with everything I had, but I couldn't break free from his grip.

"Let go of me!"

Just when the despair was about to suffocate me, I cried out in my mind to the one person who would always come.

Hailey. Save me.

Smash!

The bottle exploded against the edge of the table, glass shards flying everywhere.

Hailey gripped the jagged neck of the broken bottle and pressed it against Brandon's throat.

"I said let go. Are you deaf?"

Brandon went white as a sheet, too terrified to move.

"S-Sophie, don't do anything crazy. Killing someone is a crime."

Hailey pressed harder. The glass tip punctured his skin, and a bead of blood welled up.

"I'm not just crazy. I've got a split personality. Kill you, and what do you think a court would give me?"

Everyone in the room was paralyzed. Vivian cowered in the corner, shaking.

Hailey swept a cold look around the room and shoved Brandon away.

"Show your face in front of me again and I'll hit you every single time."

She tossed the broken bottle aside and walked out of the bar.

The moment she stepped through the door, she collided with a warm embrace.

Ethan stood there in a dark coat, the night air still clinging to him.

He held Hailey tight, his voice trembling.

"I've been looking for you all night."

Hailey sagged against him, all the fight draining out of her.

"Ethan, I'm so tired."

Back at the apartment, Ethan cleaned the cuts on Hailey's hands.

I wept silently from inside.

"I'm sorry, Hailey."

Hailey sighed in our shared mind.

"Do you finally see that scumbag for what he is? Don't be so stupid again."

Ethan paused, the cotton swab hovering over her palm. He seemed to sense we were communicating.

"Hailey, is she still there?"

Hailey nodded.

"She is. Crying like a baby."

Ethan set down the first-aid kit and looked at Hailey.

"Tomorrow, come with me somewhere."

The next day, Ethan took us to a private psychiatric clinic.

Across the desk sat a white-haired doctor.

He smiled gently when he saw Hailey.

"Hailey. It's been a while."

Hailey's composure cracked.

"Dr. Carter. Good to see you."

I was confused. How did Hailey know a psychiatrist?

Dr. Carter pulled out a yellowed medical file.

"Hailey, your condition has become increasingly unstable. Suppressing the primary personality is consuming far too much of your mental energy."

I went still.

Primary personality?

What was Dr. Carter talking about? I was the one who owned this body.

Hailey shot to her feet.

"Stop it! I only came for a refill on my medication."

Ethan pressed down on her shoulders and eased her back into the chair.

"Hailey, you can't keep this from her any longer. She deserves to know the truth."

Hailey bit her lip until it bled. Her eyes turned red.

I hammered at her from the inside.

"Hailey, what's going on? What truth?"

Dr. Carter gazed straight ahead, as though he could see right through our body to where I hid.

"Sophie, you are the one who was created. You are the alternate personality."