Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 10

It was all because I'd casually mentioned once that I wanted to try her homemade meat pies. Sabrina fed them to me hot, tears streaming down her face the whole time. She said she didn't know where I was headed next, but she wanted me to always remember the taste of those pies—and the woman who'd made them for me with her own hands. In that moment, I hesitated. Across every mission I'd ever taken, she was the first target who'd ever made me anything by hand. My heart melted right then. Back in my own world, I'd been an orphan too—no father, no mother, nothing waiting for me. After turning it over in my head, I decided to stay and build a real life with Sabrina. Then everything changed the moment my twin brother, Aiden Hale—missing for years after being abducted as a kid—was found and brought home. My parents broke down the moment they saw him again. Tears streaming, voices cracking—after all those years, their son was home. And after that, whatever Aiden said or did, they believ

Sabrina, who was always swamped with work, sat quietly at Aiden's bedside holding a bowl of soup. "Sabrina, it hurts so bad. Are you sure my leg isn't actually broken?" Aiden put on a face of pure agony. Sabrina gave a resigned smile, blew on the soup to cool it, and carefully fed him a spoonful. "Relax. I'm a doctor. I looked at your scans myself. It's just a sprained ankle and some scraped skin. You'll be back on your feet in no time." Noelle was curled up against him too. "Uncle Aiden, you have to get better soon. You promised to take me to the aquarium, and you can't break a promise!" My parents looked on at the two of them with real warmth in their eyes. Watching the five of them together, so happy and at ease, felt like a knife twisting deeper into my chest all over again. Twenty years of a happiness that had never really been mine to keep. A wave of numbness washed over me, and I pressed a hand to my own chest. The affection I'd worked myself to the bone trying to

Noelle was young, but she wasn't stupid. The state Sabrina and I were both in had frightened her badly. She stared blankly for a few seconds, then burst into tears and ran over to grab my hand and hold on tight. "...Dad! Dad! Wake up! I want to eat your beef stew again!" I watched it all in silence. My heart had already been broken so many times that nothing left in it could stir anymore. The mechanical voice in my head chimed in right on cue. "Congratulations, Host. They've started crying for you. The Regret Meter has climbed to twenty percent. It looks like the goal is within reach." I shook my head, not holding out much hope. This was just a scared kid reacting to a shock. Give it a little while—Aiden would come comfort her, and my daughter would forget all about me. I probably wasn't getting a second chance to go home. "Sabrina, honey, what's taking you so long? What's Alex playing at this time?" Walter and Margaret came hurrying in right behind her. Sabrina paid th

Nobody wanted anything to do with Aiden. Eventually—no one could say how much time had passed—the crematorium staff came to take my body away. All four of them fell into an unspoken agreement: not one of them offered to stay behind and look after Aiden. They all left with the staff. My spirit lingered quietly, watching Aiden slumped on the floor. He sat still for a moment, then abruptly got up and tossed aside the cane beside him. Watching him walk, there wasn't a trace of a limp left in him. So it really had all been an act. If it hadn't been for him... I probably wouldn't have missed that first window to be saved at all. "Good riddance, Alex. You're dead now—so don't even think about stealing their love from me." He glared savagely at the space where they'd carried my body away. My funeral was set for three days later. Aiden changed tactics. For those three days, he stopped fanning the flames and badmouthing me—instead, he stayed glued to the other four, grieving ri

Sabrina strode over and hauled the disheveled, panicking Aiden up by the collar like she was picking up a stray cat. Murder burned in her eyes, like she meant to tear him apart right where he stood. "You two were working together. You paid her to run Alex down! God, I'm such an idiot—to think I actually believed you'd really been hurt..."Sabrina's voice broke, and fat tears spilled from her red, swollen eyes. I let out a silent sigh. But nothing about it stirred me anymore. If she'd only been willing to look into things properly, sooner, she wouldn't have misjudged me for so many years. "...No, no... what are you talking about, I don't know anything— "It hurts so bad! Mom, Dad, Sabrina's lost her mind, help me!" Aiden, his collar twisted tight enough to choke him, gasped and begged our parents for help. My father was already clutching his chest, practically choking on his rage."After everything—after all the trust we put in you—this is what you did?" My mother had c