Chapter 2 A House Full of Strangers

The moment I stepped through the front door, I met the gaze of an elderly woman. Her eyes were sharp and unforgiving, her expression cold with disdain.

Fear welled up inside me, followed by an inexplicable sense of grievance. She had to be the mother the diary kept mentioning.

She shuffled toward me as if intending to embrace me, but the moment her fingers brushed against my dusty shirt, she quietly withdrew her hand. I didn't miss the flicker of disgust in her eyes.

"You've been gone for five years. Have you already forgotten how to greet your mother?" she asked, obvious reproach in her voice.

I parted my lips, wanting to do as she wished, but I couldn't say a word. My hands trembled helplessly at my sides.

Before I could figure out what to say, a familiar voice drifted down from upstairs.

"Mom, is Nate back?"

Ian leaned over the railing, his face lighting up the instant he saw me. He hurried downstairs and wrapped me in a hug without hesitation. "Nate, you're really back. Thank you for everything these past few years. If you hadn't helped me…"

Goosebumps crawled across my skin. His easy familiarity made my stomach churn.

I wanted to push him away, but Holly caught my hand. She gave my palm a gentle squeeze and lowered her voice beside my ear. "What happened five years ago is over. Ian's your brother."

The tension drained from my body all at once, and I simply nodded. I didn't want to upset them, lest they'd throw me out of the house. However, my obedience didn't seem to please Holly as she studied me with a slight frown.

My mother, on the other hand, looked thoroughly satisfied. She nudged me forward, picked up a sage bundle, and brushed it over my body while muttering under her breath, "Go take a bath first. It'll get rid of all the bad luck you've brought back from prison, and you'll be my lovely son again."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Ian looped an arm around her shoulders like a spoiled child. "Mom, now that Nate's back, you're not going to forget about me, are you?"

She immediately turned away from me, smiling warmly as she patted Ian on the head. Standing there, I suddenly felt as though I didn't belong.

I went upstairs to the bathroom and awkwardly peeled off my grimy clothes.

"Where did all those injuries come from?"

The unexpected voice startled me, and I turned reflexively to find Holly leaning against the doorway.

Following her gaze, I looked down at the ugly scars covering my body. "I don't remember," I answered, but again, my stiff reply only deepened her frown.

Drawing a slow breath, she forced herself to remain patient. "Whatever you have a problem with, take it out on me. Don't make things difficult for Ian. You know how much Mom cares about him. She has a heart condition. If you upset her—"

"I won't." I cut her off.

Holly's lips parted slightly. The lecture she'd clearly prepared caught in her throat. "Nathaniel, you weren't like this before."

I closed the bathroom door between us, then stared at my reflection in the mirror, wondering—what had I been like before?

By the time I finished washing up, everyone was already seated in the dining room. The table was covered with dishes. I tightened my grip on my cutlery and lowered my head, devouring the food.

But my trembling hands sent pieces of food scattering across the table, making my mother frown in disgust. "No one's going to steal your food. Didn't they feed you in prison?"

At that moment, Ian placed a serving of parsley onto my plate. "Nate, don't just eat the meat."

Holly opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but before she could, I'd already eaten every bit of the parsley.

Instantly, she snatched my plate away and threw it aside, looking inexplicably upset. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? You're allergic to parsley!" she snapped.

I stared at her blankly. I had no memory of that.

Ian lowered his head, speaking in a small, guilty voice. "I forgot Nate couldn't eat parsley. Holly, please don't be mad."

My mother immediately stepped in to smooth things over. "That's enough. It's only a little parsley. It's not like it's actually going to kill him. Nathaniel's sitting here just fine, isn't he?"

I lowered my head without a word, absentmindedly scratching the red rash spreading across the back of my hand.

I could feel Holly's complicated gaze lingering on me.

"Nathaniel," she finally said, "let's get married in a few more days."

Silence fell over the dining room.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ian's expression darken.

"Okay," I agreed without as much as a fight. The diary had been perfectly clear—only by agreeing to remarry Holly would I receive the money.