This chapter was a turning point—for Callum, Iris, and the truth they've both been chasing. As memories return and secrets unravel, love and betrayal collide in ways that will change everything. Thank you for staying with them through every twist. The storm may be easing, but the aftermath is just beginning… and not everyone will make it out unscathed. Stay sharp. – Hillary Ann
IRIS:They said the accident took everything from him. His memory. His past. His love for me.But what they didn’t take—what I clung to like a lifeline—was the truth. And I would bury myself in this cursed house before I let them rewrite it.The Thorne estate loomed like a beast waiting to devour me all over again. Black stone, sharp gates, and silence that screamed. Ivy strangled the walls. Rain hadn’t touched this ground in weeks. It was like the house had made a pact with the darkness.And now he was home.A sleek car purred up the gravel path, and the moment I saw the passenger door open, my lungs forgot how to breathe.Callum Thorne stepped out with the same sharp jawline, the same commanding presence, the same storm-colored eyes that once looked at me like I was the only thing that could calm him.But now, those eyes didn’t see me. Not really.They scanned the estate with clinical detachment, like he was visiting a museum. Then they landed on me.Blank. Cold. Curious.“Hello,” h
The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be DeadIRIS:I knew the moment I said her name that everything would change.Seraphine.Even after three years, the name still tasted like ash in my mouth.Callum’s face paled. His jaw clenched. The tremor in his hands betrayed him, even if his voice remained composed.“She’s dead,” he said, not asking—declaring.I shook my head once. “You thought she was. We both did. But someone in this house made sure you believed the lie.”He stared at the journal like it might bleed. Then he snapped it shut, and the sound echoed like a gunshot in the dead study.“Why are you telling me this now?”Because I had to.Because I was running out of time.“Because if you don’t remember who she really is—what she’s capable of—she’ll make you forget everything again.”---The truth was, I had seen her.Three nights ago.I’d heard something in the servant tunnels. A voice humming a lullaby I hadn’t heard since the fire.I followed it.And there she was.Standing in the shadow
The Wife I Don’t RememberCALLUM:Iris was gone.Vanished.One second she was in the manor, and the next… no trace. Her phone left charging on the nightstand. Her shoes neatly by the door. Her scent still in the sheets.But no Iris.I searched the estate for hours. Questioned staff. Checked the cameras.Nothing.As if the house itself had swallowed her whole.And somehow, none of them seemed surprised.Especially Lenora.“She probably left, darling,” she said smoothly over her morning tea. “That girl was always fragile. It’s only a matter of time before she cracks.”“She didn’t crack,” I snapped. “She was scared. Something happened.”Lenora tilted her head. “Or maybe she finally realized what we all know—you were never truly hers.”The words slithered into my skull and stayed there.Because the truth was, Iris did feel like a stranger sometimes.But so did everyone else.And lately, I was starting to wonder if I was the one lying.---I sat in the garden, the place Iris said we used t
The Girl Who Refused To Disappear IRIS:I had imagined a hundred ways I’d see Callum again.But none of them included screaming through bloodied lips as I watched him fall.The gunshot echoed like thunder down the corridor.His body hit the ground with a sickening finality. For a second, I didn’t move. Couldn’t.Callum.I crawled to him, my hands slippery with blood. He was alive—but barely. The bullet had torn through his shoulder, dangerously close to his chest.Ezra pulled him back, one hand pressing down on the wound. “Keep pressure here. Don’t let go.”I nodded, dazed, shaking.Seraphine stood at the end of the corridor, gun still raised. Her eyes weren’t just wild. They were certain. Like she’d been waiting for this moment her whole life.“I warned you,” she said calmly. “He’s not yours.”“You shot him!” I screamed.She didn’t flinch. “He’ll live. Long enough to remember what you did to him.”I froze.“What are you talking about?”She stepped closer, slow and deliberate. “You d
The Man They Tried to BreakCALLUM:Waking up felt wrong.I wasn’t supposed to wake up.Not here. Not like this.And definitely not with her voice tearing a hole through the darkness.Iris.I heard her before I saw her.Begging. Whispering my name like a prayer and a sin all at once.I opened my eyes slowly.The hospital lights stung. My throat was raw, like I’d been screaming inside my own head for days. My body was stiff. Every muscle rebelled when I shifted.But when I finally managed to focus, there she was.Iris.Sitting beside me, clutching my hand like she was holding onto life itself. Her hair was a mess, her face pale and bruised with exhaustion, but her eyes—God, her eyes—were the only thing that felt real.“Callum,” she choked out, voice cracking. “You’re awake.”I tried to speak.Nothing came out.She leaned closer, brushing the hair back from my forehead like she used to—like she remembered every version of me I didn’t.And that’s when the memories slammed into me like a
The Forgotten Heir (Callum POV)The wind whipped through the courtyard as Callum stood at the edge of the estate’s hidden garden, a place he once frequented but now barely recognized. Everything was at odds with the truth he'd been fed for months—the truth that Iris was a stranger, that his life had been a carefully curated lie. But the small lavender flower she left, the tremble in her voice, and now, the truth about Noah... it shattered the final walls of doubt around his heart.Ezra stood beside him, unusually silent. For once, the lawyer had no arguments, no legal jargon, only a weighted glance at the wrought-iron gates beyond which the boy waited."He's five, Callum," Ezra said finally, his voice low. "Smart. Observant. Looks like you."Callum couldn’t speak. His hands, cold and clenched, ached from holding the edge of the stone bench. He hadn't slept since Iris's confession. The image of her broken, terrified face haunted him. And now, a son?A child he'd never held.A child he
The Wedding That Never Was (Callum POV)The storm had passed, but its damage still lingered in the cracks of the estate—both physical and emotional. As I stood alone in the east corridor, the one they kept locked for years, I could hear the echoes of a forgotten life pressing against the walls. I didn’t just want answers anymore.I needed them.And I needed the truth to silence the voice that had been whispering doubt into my ears since the day I woke up from the accident.Ezra met me in the old chapel just after dusk. It was quiet there, tucked behind the abandoned wing, and shielded from Lenora’s watchful eyes. At least it had been."You really think it’s in here?" he asked, setting down the crowbar."I know it is," I said.The door beneath the altar had been hidden under the false stone panel—something only someone who had been inside the family legacy would know to look for. My mother had told me once: When the world lies, the truth hides beneath the weight of faith.Inside the cra
The Forgotten Heir (Callum POV)The wind whipped through the courtyard as Callum stood at the edge of the estate’s hidden garden, a place he once frequented but now barely recognized. Everything was at odds with the truth he'd been fed for months—the truth that Iris was a stranger, that his life had been a carefully curated lie. But the small lavender flower she left, the tremble in her voice, and now, the truth about Noah... it shattered the final walls of doubt around his heart.Ezra stood beside him, unusually silent. For once, the lawyer had no arguments, no legal jargon, only a weighted glance at the wrought-iron gates beyond which the boy waited."He's five, Callum," Ezra said finally, his voice low. "Smart. Observant. Looks like you."Callum couldn’t speak. His hands, cold and clenched, ached from holding the edge of the stone bench. He hadn't slept since Iris's confession. The image of her broken, terrified face haunted him. And now, a son?A child he'd never held.A child he
The Man They Tried to BreakCALLUM:Waking up felt wrong.I wasn’t supposed to wake up.Not here. Not like this.And definitely not with her voice tearing a hole through the darkness.Iris.I heard her before I saw her.Begging. Whispering my name like a prayer and a sin all at once.I opened my eyes slowly.The hospital lights stung. My throat was raw, like I’d been screaming inside my own head for days. My body was stiff. Every muscle rebelled when I shifted.But when I finally managed to focus, there she was.Iris.Sitting beside me, clutching my hand like she was holding onto life itself. Her hair was a mess, her face pale and bruised with exhaustion, but her eyes—God, her eyes—were the only thing that felt real.“Callum,” she choked out, voice cracking. “You’re awake.”I tried to speak.Nothing came out.She leaned closer, brushing the hair back from my forehead like she used to—like she remembered every version of me I didn’t.And that’s when the memories slammed into me like a
The Girl Who Refused To Disappear IRIS:I had imagined a hundred ways I’d see Callum again.But none of them included screaming through bloodied lips as I watched him fall.The gunshot echoed like thunder down the corridor.His body hit the ground with a sickening finality. For a second, I didn’t move. Couldn’t.Callum.I crawled to him, my hands slippery with blood. He was alive—but barely. The bullet had torn through his shoulder, dangerously close to his chest.Ezra pulled him back, one hand pressing down on the wound. “Keep pressure here. Don’t let go.”I nodded, dazed, shaking.Seraphine stood at the end of the corridor, gun still raised. Her eyes weren’t just wild. They were certain. Like she’d been waiting for this moment her whole life.“I warned you,” she said calmly. “He’s not yours.”“You shot him!” I screamed.She didn’t flinch. “He’ll live. Long enough to remember what you did to him.”I froze.“What are you talking about?”She stepped closer, slow and deliberate. “You d
The Wife I Don’t RememberCALLUM:Iris was gone.Vanished.One second she was in the manor, and the next… no trace. Her phone left charging on the nightstand. Her shoes neatly by the door. Her scent still in the sheets.But no Iris.I searched the estate for hours. Questioned staff. Checked the cameras.Nothing.As if the house itself had swallowed her whole.And somehow, none of them seemed surprised.Especially Lenora.“She probably left, darling,” she said smoothly over her morning tea. “That girl was always fragile. It’s only a matter of time before she cracks.”“She didn’t crack,” I snapped. “She was scared. Something happened.”Lenora tilted her head. “Or maybe she finally realized what we all know—you were never truly hers.”The words slithered into my skull and stayed there.Because the truth was, Iris did feel like a stranger sometimes.But so did everyone else.And lately, I was starting to wonder if I was the one lying.---I sat in the garden, the place Iris said we used t
The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be DeadIRIS:I knew the moment I said her name that everything would change.Seraphine.Even after three years, the name still tasted like ash in my mouth.Callum’s face paled. His jaw clenched. The tremor in his hands betrayed him, even if his voice remained composed.“She’s dead,” he said, not asking—declaring.I shook my head once. “You thought she was. We both did. But someone in this house made sure you believed the lie.”He stared at the journal like it might bleed. Then he snapped it shut, and the sound echoed like a gunshot in the dead study.“Why are you telling me this now?”Because I had to.Because I was running out of time.“Because if you don’t remember who she really is—what she’s capable of—she’ll make you forget everything again.”---The truth was, I had seen her.Three nights ago.I’d heard something in the servant tunnels. A voice humming a lullaby I hadn’t heard since the fire.I followed it.And there she was.Standing in the shadow
IRIS:They said the accident took everything from him. His memory. His past. His love for me.But what they didn’t take—what I clung to like a lifeline—was the truth. And I would bury myself in this cursed house before I let them rewrite it.The Thorne estate loomed like a beast waiting to devour me all over again. Black stone, sharp gates, and silence that screamed. Ivy strangled the walls. Rain hadn’t touched this ground in weeks. It was like the house had made a pact with the darkness.And now he was home.A sleek car purred up the gravel path, and the moment I saw the passenger door open, my lungs forgot how to breathe.Callum Thorne stepped out with the same sharp jawline, the same commanding presence, the same storm-colored eyes that once looked at me like I was the only thing that could calm him.But now, those eyes didn’t see me. Not really.They scanned the estate with clinical detachment, like he was visiting a museum. Then they landed on me.Blank. Cold. Curious.“Hello,” h