Chapter 6

Heather’s POV

I blinked, staring at the three men standing before me as I tried to process what I had heard. But no matter how much I tried, none of it made sense. 

A small, disbelieving laugh escaped me. “Alright, this isn’t funny.” 

The smiles on their faces slowly faded. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not… whomever you think I am.”

The room fell silent once again, and I swallowed, forcing myself to stay calm despite how fast my heart was racing. “My name is Heather.” My voice grew firmer. “Heather Cole.” 

I wasn’t even sure if I should call myself that after what went down in the past twenty-four hours, or possibly more, considering I had no idea how long I was unconscious, but I still had to give these people a name, didn’t I? 

I paused, waiting for a reaction from them, but it never came. 

None of them reacted.

It was as though they hadn’t even heard me.

A frown pulled at my lips. “Um, I had parents…” My throat tightened slightly at the memory. “They passed away a few years ago, but still, they existed.”

A familiar ache settled in my chest. “I have a husband too.” Adrian. Thinking his name sent a painful sting through my heart. “Or at least I had one,” I muttered to myself, my expression faltering for the briefest moment before I pushed the feeling away.

“I have my own life,” I continued, shifting my gaze between each of them. “So… whoever Elara is… I’m sorry, but you’ve got the wrong person.” I told them. “I’m not her.” 

I looked up at them, waiting for one of them to say something, anything, but they remained silent, exchanging uncertain looks. 

It was so subtle that I almost missed it. 

Why were they looking at each other like that? 

My stomach twisted uneasily. 

Yes, these people had told me where I was, but I still didn’t know any of them. 

I glanced up at the ceiling and the white walls looming on each side of the room. 

And what if they were lying? What if they did have something to do with Adrian and Vivienne? 

I was already contemplating yanking the IV from the back of my hand and thinking about how the hell I was going to run out of this room with my legs numb when the man with the glasses—I think he introduced himself earlier as Ryder—took a small step forward, causing my whole body to go stiff. 

His warm expression from earlier had disappeared, replaced by concern. “Her breathing’s becoming irregular.” His voice was calm but firm. “Everyone should relax now.” 

He looked directly at… Damian? Dominic? I don’t know; I can’t remember. But I was certain it started with a D. “She’s regained consciousness. This amount of stress isn’t good for her.” It wasn’t until he pointed it out that I realized I was breathing a bit harder than usual. 

My chest rose and fell rapidly as panic slowly tightened around me. Damian seemed completely oblivious to it. “No,” he said quickly, taking another step toward me. “She deserves to know the truth.”

“We’ve waited years for this moment.” His voice cracked slightly. “We can’t come to a halt now after finding her.”

Are they still on about me being this “Elara girl?”

Before he could continue, the other guy stepped in front of him. What was it again? Jer… Jeremy? Jeremiah? 

“Dominic.” He called in a low tone. 

Oh. Dominic. Right. 

“Look at her.” Dominic’s jaw clenched, but he continued quietly. “She’s terrified.” 

I moved back slightly as they both turned to me, wishing I could disappear into the headboard or something. 

“And from the look of things…” His gaze trailed over me. “…she genuinely believes she’s… Heather Cole.” He said the name with furrowed brows, which did nothing to calm my racing heart. 

Because I was, in fact, Heather Cole, were they going to force me into believing I was their relative or something? 

I looked at each of them in disbelief and spoke up despite my pounding heart. “Um, I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding this is,” I whispered. “But uh, it would be highly appreciated if you guys would let me go… home.” 

I didn’t want to tell them that I wasn’t sure I had a home anymore. 

I didn’t want to tell them that the person whom I thought was my husband belonged to another woman, who I also thought was his sister. 

Matter of fact, I couldn’t even tell them. They were strangers to me, and I needed to get the fuck out of here. 

My pulse quickened at the thought. “Yeah, I need to go.” I threw the blanket aside, not even realizing that I’d said the words out loud and not in my head. 

“Wait,” Ryder rushed to stop me, but I had already shifted from my initial position, causing a sharp pain to shoot through my body. 

A small gasp escaped my lips, causing the other two to move toward me, but before either of them could move any closer to startle me even more, Ryder stretched an arm out, silently stopping them. Remaining a careful distance away from me as he kept his eyes on mine. 

I didn’t even want to give it too much thought. I reached toward the edge of the bed, ignoring them. 

Yeah… I needed to stand up. The only reason I couldn’t feel my legs earlier was that I’d probably been in bed for a very long time. 

My legs were asleep; that’s what happened. Nothing else. 

But as I pushed against the mattress, trying to get up, it didn’t seem like anything else. 

I frowned and then tried again, but still nothing. 

My hands gripped the sheets harder. “No…” 

I tried once more, ignoring the three pairs of eyes fixed on me, but it didn’t change the fact that I couldn’t get up. 

It was as though the lower half of my body didn’t belong to me anymore. 

My breathing hitched, the panic returning all at once. “No. No, no, no, no, no.” I stared at my legs beneath the blanket, my voice barely a whisper. “Move. Please…”

My legs had to be asleep; they had to. 

But as seconds passed and I didn’t even feel the slightest twitch, the room blurred before me as something wet filled my eyes, and my fingers trembled violently against the sheets.

No. This couldn’t be happening.

Not this. Not after everything else.

Not after Adrian. Not after the baby.

Not after…

A broken sob caught in my throat as the horrifying reality settled over me once again.

I couldn’t walk.