Chapter 3

I didn't just agree to give up my room; I called the maids myself.

"Please help Ms. Brock move her things in," I said, my voice eerily calm. "And pack up all of mine."

The maids worked with brutal efficiency. My life was boxed up and carted away in minutes. Adeline's things flowed in to replace them. Pink blankets, a white crib, a mobile with smiling cartoon animals. It was a nursery.

I watched them hang a framed print on the wall. It was a custom piece, a family tree with the names Axel, Adeline, and a space for their son. They had been planning this for a long time.

I lowered my eyes, accepting the finality of it. My belongings were moved to a small, dark room at the end of the hall. I didn't bother unpacking. I just had to get through the next forty-eight hours. Then I would be free.

That evening, after dinner, there was a soft knock on my door. It was Adeline.

"I wanted to thank you," she said, her voice sweet as poison. She held out a small, wrapped box. "This is a little gift."

I looked at her face, so pretty and innocent, and I felt sick. I took a step back.

"I don't want it," I said. "You're staying here because my parents and my husband want you to. It has nothing to do with me."

She moved closer, her smile unwavering. "Don't be like that, Calista. I've truly learned my lesson. I just want us to be sisters. Mom and Dad would be so happy."

She pressed the gift into my hand, her grip surprisingly strong. "Please, just take it."

I felt a surge of exhaustion. Arguing was pointless. I took the box.

I opened it. Inside, nestled on a bed of silk, was an old, faded photograph. My blood ran cold.

It was a picture of the man who had attacked me years ago, the one my parents had paid off to disappear. The man who had left me with nightmares that still haunted me.

The memory of his hands on me, his foul breath, rushed back with suffocating intensity.

My body trembled uncontrollably. With a choked cry, I threw the box away from me.

It hit Adeline in the chest. She let out a sharp, theatrical cry of pain and stumbled backward, just as footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Axel, my father, and my mother rushed down the hall.

Axel was at Adeline's side in an instant. "Addy, what happened? Are you hurt?"

Adeline burst into tears, pointing a shaking finger at me. "I just wanted to give her a gift... to say thank you... but she hates me. She threw it at me."

I struggled to my feet, my legs shaking. "That's not what happened," I gasped. "The picture... it was him. The man who..."

Axel's brow furrowed in annoyance. "Calista, what are you talking about? Stop this nonsense."

"Look at it!" I cried, my voice raw with desperation. I pointed at the photo on the floor. "Just look at it!"

Axel bent down and picked up the photograph. He frowned, turning it over in his hands. Then his expression changed to one of confusion.

He held it out for me to see.

It wasn't the attacker. It was a picture of a kind-faced, middle-aged man I'd never seen before.

I snatched the photo from his hand, my heart pounding. It was impossible. I saw it. I knew what I saw. But the image staring back at me was a stranger.

Adeline sniffled, dabbing at her eyes. "That's... that's my biological father," she whispered pitifully. "I must have put the wrong picture in the box. I'm so sorry, Calista. I didn't mean to upset you."

She looked so hurt, so genuinely remorseful.

Axel's gaze softened with pity for her.

"I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding," Adeline continued, her voice gaining strength. "Maybe... maybe you were just seeing things, Calista. You've been under a lot of stress."

Gaslighting. It was her favorite weapon.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I know what I saw."

Axel cut me off, his patience gone. He helped Adeline to her feet. "That's enough, Calista."

He turned to Adeline, his voice gentle. "Don't give her any more gifts, Addy. She's clearly not well."

I turned and saw the look in my parents' eyes. It was pure, undiluted disappointment. Directed at me.