Mag-log inBefore I could even think about replying, before my thumb could hover over the screen again, voices drifted up from downstairs. They were muted at first, polite, and unfamiliar. I paused. My phone was still warm in my hand, the email pressing heavily against my thoughts. I quickly locked the screen, flipped it face-down onto the bed, and stood up. For a moment, I debated staying put, pretending I hadn’t heard anything. But curiosity and something sharper took over. I stepped into the hallway and slowly descended the stairs, my hand brushing the banister, my movements careful. The voices became clearer with each step. At the bottom, I saw her. She stood near the entrance, framed by the soft glow of the foyer lights. She was a beautiful woman in a pale pink dress, the fabric flowing lightly around her legs as if it barely touched her skin. Her hair fell in long, loose curls down her back, glossy and purposeful, as if she had taken her time getting ready. She looked composed. Too com
The house was unusually quiet.Enzo had retreated into his study after the garden, the heavy door closing with a soft finality that felt deliberate. I didn’t stop him. Lately, we orbited each other carefully, like two people afraid that one wrong step would reopen wounds still bleeding beneath the surface.I went to my room.The moment I closed the door behind me, the composure I’d worn all afternoon slipped. Not shattered—just loosened. I kicked off my shoes, sat on the edge of the bed, and leaned back against the headboard, staring at nothing.Out of habit more than intent, I picked up my phone.Scroll. Refresh. Scroll.News I didn’t care about. Messages I didn’t want to answer. Silence from the one person I wasn’t allowed to miss.My thumb paused.The screen lit up again.New EmailThe sender’s address meant nothing to me.But the subject line did.Rosemary Hospital.My pulse jumped, sharp and immediate.I hadn’t given that email to anyone. I’d been careful. Discreet. Anonymous whe
Two months later.The grass beneath me was cool, still holding onto the memory of morning dew, even though the sun had long climbed higher. I lay flat on my back, arms loose at my sides, staring up at a sky too blue for the way my chest felt.Somewhere above, leaves whispered against one another. The garden was alive—birds calling, insects humming softly—but I felt detached from it all, as though I were watching life through glass.Two months.That was how long it had been since everything cracked open.In those weeks, I had searched.Not casually. Not half-heartedly.I searched through old files locked away in rooms no one visited anymore. Through documents my parents never meant for me to read.Through hospital records, boarding school reports, unsigned letters, and fragments of conversations that had once floated past me as a child, unnoticed and unimportant.I searched for the truth about my parents’ death.And for Amelia’s disappearance.What I found was never enough. Pieces wit
The room was quiet. Quiet enough that I could hear the tick of the ancient clock on the wall and the panicked thrum of my heart.Enzo moved closer, his step slow, almost uncertain, as if he feared I'd disappear if he reached for me too fast. His hand came up, calloused fingers stroking against my face.One tear escaped, running hot down my skin.He caught it with his thumb, his jaw clenching, and then—without speaking—closed his eyes.Our foreheads touched, the pressure of his presence bearing down on me, rooting me. His breath mixed with mine, hot and ragged. I could sense the strain in him, the tempest he bore in his chest, and yet there in that instant all that was present was this tenuous closeness.I didn't breathe. Couldn't."Evelyn…" His voice barely audible, a whisper, rough and strained.I should've stepped back. I should've yelled at him again for all the lies he'd told me. But I did nothing. I just let the quiet eat us alive, let his closeness ease the pain gouging through
I never wanted to shout at her. Not Evelyn.The reverberation of my own yell still rang in my head, ugly and incorrect, but she wouldn't let up. She wouldn't leave the old wounds alone, wouldn't leave them closed. Her eyes—wide, shining with betrayal—were the last thing I wanted to see, and yet they were seared into me now.God, I'd do anything to spare her this.But the truth stung, and tonight it finally pierced.Amelia. Sebastian. His older brother Nikolai.That name on my lips tasted like ash, like the ashes of a war that never truly ceased. When I watched Evelyn's face crumple under the weight of it, I loathed myself for having spoken it. For verifying what should have remained buried.She didn't get it. She couldn't. That Amelia wasn't angry. She wasn't lost, waiting to be rescued. She was gone—sold out to the one person our blood had been taught to hate.And Sebastian Perez wasn't just an adversary. He was a snake. Sinister, manipulative, vicious. If Evelyn thought I was control
The phrase "because of you" still echoed in my head, as cutting as shattered glass, when the following thought struggled out of me."Then we'll go to her," I spoke out abruptly, my voice shaking but persistent. "We'll ask Amelia ourselves. We'll get the truth from her.I turned before Enzo could respond, dashing inside the room. My feet slapped against the marble flooring as I directly approached the wardrobe, pulling it open. Dresses cascaded forward, hangers clinking as I pulled one loose."Evelyn—" Enzo's voice sounded after me, low and strict.No, Enzo. No waiting, no excuses." My fingers stumbled over each other, panicking as I tugged at the zipper. "We leave tonight. Right now. Before she vanishes again. Before more lies trap us under. Under."He stepped closer, his body filling the space. "Evelyn, listen to me. We can't—"Sure, we can!" I interrupted him, whirling around with the dress still in my fists. My voice was shaking, high and urgent. "She's family. I don't care if she'







