LOGIN“We have company.”
His words rang in my ears like a death toll. I spun around in my seat, my heart leaping into my throat as I saw multiple sets of headlights cutting through the darkness behind us. There were at least four cars, coming at us at full speed, their engines roaring in the night. “Are they yours?” I asked nervously. My mind was racing—I didn't know if he had secretly changed his mind and sent someone to take me away to a cell.I opened my eyes for the second time, but instead of the white void or the pitch black from its scattered pieces, I was met with the ceiling of what looked like a house.My mind was still swirling from what happened a few moments ago. Serena was gone.The thought made me sad. I was still half expecting her to chastise me for thinking something so absurd about her, but it seems that this was the reality of everything now.A few stray tears leaked from my eyes and slid into my hair.“Being sad about it wouldn’t bring her back,” I said, wiping my eyes. I looked down and saw I was in cotton pajamas.Where am I? That was the only thing that rang in my head. I stood up, dragging the bedsheets aside, and slipped out of bed to see where I was.As I walked out of the room, I couldn’t help but remember the last thing that happened before I fell unconscious. Finding Mom, the talk we had, Hugo, and then the ambush. The ambush.I didn’t know what came over me, but I started to run. Catching Mom’s
I woke up to a white, stark light. It was blinding that I had to snap my eyes closed again instantly to prevent myself from going blind. The glare burned straight through my eyelids, making my head throb It took me a long moment to realize where I even was. I tried to move my arms, but my body felt heavy, like I was buried under sand. I just groaned out loud from how tired I was, my voice sounding flat in the empty space. “You are finally awake,” I heard a voice say. It was the unmistakable voice of Serena. It sounded right next to me, close by. I forced my eyes open against the glare, turning my head to where the sound came from. I saw her sitting right beside me on the white floor. She was looking down at me and smiling. Smiling? The sight shook me. I stood up abruptly, scrambling backward to get some distance between us. My chest was heaving. Why the f*ck was she smiling at me? “Calm down,” she said. She moved toward me smoothly, reaching out and pressing her palm flat against
“My apologies, Your Majesty. I should probably bow,” he said with a mocking tone before proceeding to bow toward Lucien in a mock gesture.He rose back up to his feet and casually straightened his tailored attire. From the crisp lines and quality of his outfit, it was obvious he wasn’t just some lowly man working at the facility. He looked like someone important. Someone wealthy.“What do you want, Hugo?” Lucien growled, his body shifting into a defensive stance.Wait. Hugo? That was my cousin. Now that I was looking at him directly, I could see he shared similar features with my mother when she was younger. There was a slight, undeniable family resemblance in the cut of his nose and the set of his eyes.“Oh, nothing, Your Majesty. I was simply informed of my dear aunt having a visitor, and I wanted to come down and see exactly who they were,” he explained smoothly. I watched as his cold eyes flicked away from Lucien and moved directly toward me.
"Aurelien?” she asked, her voice dropping as she was trying to make sense of the words she had just heard. “Like Eugene Aurelien?” She questioned him directly, her eyes wide as she tried to clarify if she had heard the name correctly. Lucien gave her a firm nod at her words. “Yes, ma'am—” Before Lucien could even finish speaking, my mother moved with a sudden speed. She was right in front of me, throwing her small frame forward to block his view of me. “You demon!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. The sheer volume of her voice startled us both, echoing loudly off the bare walls of the room. “You came here to kill my daughter just like you had done to my husband! All of you from that family are demons!” ‘Very true. Couldn't have said it better myself,’ Serene hummed in agreement. “Ma'am, you are misunderstanding—” Lucien tried to explain again, keeping his
“Mom,” I repeated again, my voice trembling in the quiet, sterile room. I saw her entire body tense up at the sound. Slowly, she started to turn around to face me. She looked just the same as the picture Lucien had shown me in the car, only a bit older now, with faint wrinkles tracing the corners of her eyes and mouth. I watched her face circle through multiple emotions in a matter of seconds—confusion, disbelief, and shock—before finally settling into a profound sadness. “Angelica,” she whispered. The name came out so softly it was barely a breath. “Angelica, my baby.” She walked toward me on unsteady feet, her eyes instantly glossing over with tears. She reached out, her hands trembling as her fingers brushed against my face, tracing my features as if she were trying to see if I was real or just a ghost. Before I could say anything, she leaned in and pulled me into a tight hug.
"Lucien, what do you mean my mother is a patient here?” I asked him, hoping it was a lie. But he just looked away, saying nothing. His silence was the loudest answer he could have given me. How? How could my mother be in a mental asylum? How did she even get here? What happened to make her get admitted into a place like this? My mind was swirling with questions I couldn't find the answers to. “Let’s head inside,” he said, letting go of my hand and stepping outside of the car into the cool breeze. “Lucien, you still haven’t answered my question!” I demanded, opening the door and chasing after him. I needed answers right now. “What is my mother doing here?” “Let’s just head inside, Seraphina,” he said, reaching out to pull my hand, trying to usher me toward the heavy metal doors of the building. “No!”
The transition from consciousness was like being pulled through thick, dark honey. When I finally drifted awake, I wasn't met by the familiar decorated celling of the estate walls or the faint smell of flour from my old life. Instead, I was in another room entirely. It was unfamiliar, bathed in a
The sky was already clearing by the time I finished formulating my next move. With the first light of dawn, I decided it was time to handle this once and for all. I needed to get to the root of the rot in my own house. I took the private stairs to my office, avoiding the staff; I didn't trust what
I woke up in a bed that cost more than my entire life. The room Mrs. Higgins had given me was in the servants' quarters, but it was still nicer than anything I’d ever owned. Silk sheets, a private bathroom, and a window overlooking the dense, fog-covered forest. I remembered the rules Lucien—Mon
I turned to head up the stairs, my heart pounding in my ears. I was shaking, but for the first time in my life, I felt light. The secret was out. The poison was drained. "Wait." The voice was barely a whisper, but it stopped me cold. I turne







