The car ride was long and silent.
Damian drove carefully, occasionally glancing at me with worry. He wanted to say so much, I could see it in his eyes, but he gave me space.
We arrived at a small, simple house. It was nothing compared to the mansion, but it felt... real. It felt warm.
"We're here," he said softly, parking the car.
I got out, looking around. This was not my life. This was not where I belonged. But neither was the other place. I felt like a ghost wandering through someone else's timeline.
Inside, Damian made me tea. We sat at the small dining table.
"How?" I asked finally, breaking the silence. "How did he do it? How did everyone believe him?"
"He is rich, Aureliana," Damian said sadly. "Rhydian Vance has power and money. When you had the accident, he stepped in. He said he was your legal next-of-kin, that we had broken up. He paid for everything. The hospital, the treatments. Who was going to question him? I was just... nobody compared to him."
I held my head in my hands. "And the children... Damian, they are mine. They are his. What do I do?"
"You don't have to decide now," he said gently, reaching across the table to hold my hand. This time, I didn't pull away. This was the hand I remembered. "You just need to rest. You need to remember who you are, not who they made you be."
"I feel like I'm two different people," I whispered. "There is the Aureliana who loved you. And there is the Aureliana who lived with him for three years in my mind. Who is the real one?"
"The one who is sitting here now," he said softly.
But try as I might, I couldn't forget.
I couldn't forget the way Wynne looked at me with those big eyes. I couldn't forget the way Maven hugged my legs. And strangely... I couldn't forget the way Rhydian looked at me when he thought I wasn't looking. With a hunger and a devotion that felt terrifyingly real.
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I walked to the window, looking out at the quiet street.
Rhydian was a liar. He was a manipulator. He had stolen my life.
But why did my heart hurt so much? Why did I feel like I was leaving a part of myself behind in that big house on the mountain?
Suddenly, my phone buzzed.
I didn't know I still had a phone. Damian must have given it to me.
I picked it up. There was a message. From an unknown number.
'They are asking for you. Wynne has a fever. Maven won't eat. I won't stop you from being happy, Aureliana. But please... don't let them think their mother abandoned them.'
I dropped the phone.
My chest tightened. The pain was physical.
I loved Damian. My memories told me to love him.
But my heart... my heart was pulling me back towards the lies. Because in those lies, I had a family.