Vows he doesn't remember

R

verything from him. His memor

lifeline-was the truth. And I would bury myself i

one, sharp gates, and silence that screamed. Ivy strangled the walls. Rain hadn't t

w he w

and the moment I saw the passenger do

ame commanding presence, the same storm-colored eyes that on

eyes didn't see

cal detachment, like he was visiti

Cold. C

, tone measured.

quietly I was almost

I said, barely

pa

te smile. "

His voice was perfect. Too perfect. Like

steps like the queen she thought she was. Dres

ou're exhausted. Le

rs twitched at my sides. I wanted to scre

n silence as they disappeared in

-

lked through halls that whispered, every portrait

m the study. I hesitated

"But it's...wrong. Like looki

does that. Sometimes your mind prot

at was me,

east wing, the one

illed in from cracked windows. Th

had been stripped. No photos. No clothes.

thing wa

le object remained: Callum's emergency phone. The one

ered

blinki

text lit

Da

. She lied.

t off. No context. Just

was

e

no

aph

d the phone to my chest, backing away

sp

rway. Unbuttoned shirt.

posed to be in

id quietly. "What the

ned. "They said

side, slow an

he continued, voice lower now. "When I close

down at

re cover

art t

ed, "you don't reme

a heartbeat, something

ory. In

ow this-whoever I was before th

, the hallway lights

split t

mi

as L

flared on, Callum's shirt

oo

LL

lieve silenc

our head. When it swallows years of your life

rememb

y bod

he air, I stood there, shirt soaked in something red and warm, my

lways, followed by chaos-footsteps, gasps, a bro

embling, but her eyes... they burned. Not with fear. With g

er I was before th

eathed. "That's

f. I didn't move. My muscles ached with adrenaline. My m

come with me-

ry more than trust. She moved like someone who'd done it a hundred t

tudy. Books coated in dust. W

attention was the p

s

and

lap, my mouth against her temple, her eyes cl

like it might dis

," she said quiet

ker. A warmth. Gone b

erstand..."

he said. "B

A stack of reports, re

: a death

rne. D.O.D: T

at it. "W

our first fiancée. Your father arranged

. Fire. Smoke choking me.

," Iris added, voice colder now. "Bu

ision blurred. I

now what t

re investigating your family before th

wed. "Li

chest in the corn

journal. Mine. I recognized

of words, symbols, and names-most

enter of

Iris. It was alway

it until my

ld I wri

e, voice trembling

phine never d

slowly. "What di

nd she's here.

n't b

n't b

ull, something cracked

aph

il

hed me ove