Все главы Deceitful Twin:A sister's shadow : Глава 21 - Глава 30

Scarlett’s POVI didn’t bother knocking.I walked straight into the cabin without waiting for an invitation, boots loud on the old wooden floor.“You’re Mira?” I asked, already knowing the answer.She didn’t even flinch. Just kept grinding something in a wooden bowl like I wasn’t standing right there.“I said—are you Mira?”“You tracked me all the way here just to ask that?” Her voice was dry. Tired, but sharp. “You know who I am.”I hated her tone. Calm. Flat. Like none of this was a surprise.“Then you know why I’m here.”She finally looked up. Her eyes were grey, sharp like broken glass. Old eyes. Not just in years, but in weight. She looked like someone who’d seen too much, trusted too little, and stopped caring a long time ago.“You came for River,” she said.No hesitation.My jaw tightened. “You know where he is?”“That depends.”I narrowed my eyes. “On what?”She set the bowl down and wiped her hands on the side of her faded skirt. “Protection,” she said. “And payment.”I raise

Liam's PoVThe wounded woman hadn’t left yet.She stood near the doorway like she owned the place. Her cloak still dripped from the rain outside, but she didn’t seem to notice. She looked comfortable. Like she expected me to break eventually.I was still sitting by the fire, hunched over, elbows on my knees. I hadn’t said anything in a while, but my head was full. Too full.“Still thinking?” she asked.I didn’t respond.She took a few steps closer. “It’s not as complicated as you’re making it.”“Yeah,” I muttered. “It is.”“No,” she said. “You’re just afraid to admit it.”I rubbed the side of my face, trying to get my thoughts to settle. They didn’t.“She trusts me,” I said quietly. “Astrid.”“I’m sure she does.”“If I do this… I lose that.”Scarlett knelt down in front of me like she was talking to a wounded animal. “Or maybe… you protect what little trust she has left. Because if Ethan finds out, Liam, it’s over. Not just for her. For the boy too.”I stared past her. “She wouldn’t l

Liam’s POVI waited until I heard her breathing change.That’s how I knew she was asleep. Astrid always breathed slow, steady when she was out, but there was a specific rhythm her body settled into when she’d finally let her guard down, and it only ever happened after River fell asleep first. I watched her from the chair, just watching, and even then I didn’t move. I needed to be sure. Not just that she was sleeping, but that she wouldn’t wake up if I stood, or if the floor creaked, or if I took too long getting River dressed.I sat there for at least twenty minutes after she knocked out. I must’ve rehearsed the next hour in my head a dozen different ways. Walk to the room. Pick him up gently. No sudden movements. Grab the little coat by the door. Make it quick. Don’t stop.I stood up slowly, my knees stiff from sitting too long. My heart was racing like I’d done something wrong already, like my body was ahead of me in knowing this was a mistake.I walked to River’s bed. He was curled

Liam’s POVI couldn’t bring myself to sit down.After she left the room, after I watched her walk out of the house with that broken look on her face, after she told me she didn’t trust me anymore—I just stood there. In the same spot. My hands open. My mouth dry. My head screaming.Because I knew.I knew what I’d done.I didn’t need more time to process it. I didn’t need someone else to point it out. I didn’t need a punishment or a lecture or a list of reasons to feel like shit—I knew.She trusted me with the one thing she loved more than anything in this world, the only person who kept her grounded when everything else had already been taken away from her, and I handed him off like a fucking package to someone I didn’t even know.I betrayed her.Worse than that—I didn’t even realize I was doing it until it was too late.And now that the fog was gone, now that I wasn’t under her voice, her suggestions, her subtle manipulation, her carefully phrased guilt trips and half-truths—I could s

Scarlett’s POVBy the time I got to Kai’s house, the boy was finally asleep. It took longer than I expected. He kept looking around with those wide, curious eyes, asking when he was going to see his mum again. I told him she was resting. That she needed time. That she said it was okay for him to come with me.He believed me.Kai opened the door before I even knocked. He stood there, shirtless, tattoos climbing across his collarbones, his face as unreadable as ever.“You brought the kid,” he said.“No point dragging this out,” I replied and stepped inside.I laid River on the couch gently. He didn’t stir. He was exhausted. That worked in my favor.“Is that him?” Kai asked.“Yes.”He came closer and looked at River’s face for a few seconds. “He looks like you.”I raised an eyebrow. “Of course he does. He’s my sister’s son.”Kai crouched down beside the couch and studied the boy in silence. Then he stood again. “We need to erase his memory,” I said. “He can’t know who he is. He can’t re