The night air clung to Isla's skin as she stood on the balcony, the weight of Damien's words pressing against her chest. Her sister had run. Her father had traded her like currency. And she—Isla—had stepped into a life that wasn't hers.
But why?
What kind of woman agrees to such a deal?
The fragments of memory she possessed weren't enough. She needed more. She needed to find Selene. If anyone could tell her who she truly was, it would be the twin sister who vanished without looking back.
The next morning, Isla kept her movements calculated. She played the role of the dutiful wife as she sat with Damien for breakfast, letting him believe she was beginning to accept her place beside him.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked, his tone soft, his dark eyes watching her too closely.
"Better," she lied, slicing into a croissant with forced calm. "It's starting to come back to me. Pieces. But it's all blurry."
Damien seemed to relax at that. He reached for her hand across the table. "It will come in time. I'll help you."
She smiled, sweet and hollow. "I know you will."
She had no intention of waiting for his version of the truth.
That evening, while Damien took a call in his study, Isla slipped away and found her way to the garage. The guards stationed nearby didn't question her as she entered, her familiarity with the house now working to her advantage.
A slim black motorcycle caught her eye. Keys hung nearby.
Without hesitation, she straddled the bike, her pulse quickening. She wasn't sure if she could ride—it wasn't a memory she had access to—but her body moved with instinct, guiding her through the motions. The engine roared to life, and in seconds, she was tearing down the private driveway and into the city streets.
No one followed.
Either Damien didn't expect her to run again, or he was letting her go.
For now.
The city was a blur of lights and noise, the weight of her reality pressing harder with every turn she took. She didn't know where to begin, but there was one place she couldn't ignore—the address she'd found on a boarding pass tucked in Damien's locked box. Selene's last known location.
It was a small, nondescript apartment complex on the edge of the city. Isla parked the motorcycle and climbed the cracked steps, her breath tight in her throat.
Apartment 3B.
Her knuckles rapped against the door.
Silence.
She knocked again, louder this time. Just as she was about to give up, the door creaked open a fraction, and a woman's wary eyes peered through the gap.
They were her own eyes.
For a heartbeat, neither woman spoke.
Isla's heart slammed in her chest. "Selene?"
The woman's face paled, and in a flash, the door slammed shut.
"Wait!" Isla cried, banging her palm against the door. "Please! I don't remember anything. I need to talk to you."
A tense pause.
Then the door cracked open again, just enough for Selene's voice to slip through.
"You shouldn't have come here."
"I need to know what happened. I need to know who I am."
"You already know. You just don't want to believe it."
"Believe what?"
"That you chose this."
The door swung open fully now, revealing Selene in jeans and a simple t-shirt, her hair longer, untamed. Her face was hardened, her gaze sharp.
"I didn't choose this," Isla whispered.
"Yes, you did. You offered to take my place. You begged me to let you do it. You said you loved him."
Isla's stomach flipped. "I don't remember any of that."
"I remember it all." Selene's voice was bitter. "You wanted to save Father. You wanted the life Damien promised you. You didn't care what it cost."
Isla staggered back a step. "That's not true."
"You convinced me to run. You told me you'd handle it. That you'd make Damien fall in love with you. And when the accident happened… maybe it was your way out."
"No." Isla's head throbbed. "You're lying."
"I wish I was."
The weight of Selene's words pressed down on her chest, suffocating.
"Why didn't you ever come back?" Isla asked, her voice cracking.
"Because Damien's world isn't mine. I escaped. You didn't." Selene's expression softened just slightly. "Go back, Isla. Pretend you don't know this. It's safer."
"That's what Damien says."
"Because he's right."
"I need to remember. I need the truth."
Selene's eyes darkened. "The truth will destroy you."
"Then let it."
Selene reached into a small bag and handed her a flash drive. "I kept some records. Emails, documents. Things Father didn't want you to see. Damien's business wasn't the only deal on the table."
Isla clutched the flash drive tightly. "Why help me now?"
"Because despite everything, you're still my sister."
Without another word, Selene closed the door.
Isla rode back to the mansion under the weight of revelations she couldn't fully process. The flash drive burned like a secret in her pocket. She returned just before midnight, slipping quietly back into the penthouse.
Damien was waiting in the living room, a glass of bourbon in his hand, his gaze steady.
"You went to see her."
"You knew I would."
His lips twitched into a faint, tired smile. "I let you go."
"Why?"
"Because you needed to hear it from her."
Isla crossed her arms, her heartbeat raging in her chest. "So it's true. I took her place."
Damien set his drink down. "You wanted this life. You chose it. I didn't force you."
"You manipulated me."
"Your father did that. I simply… allowed you to step in."
Her stomach turned. "What did you do to my memories?"
"I did nothing." His voice was quiet. "The accident took them. I could have lied to you. I could have told you you were Selene. I didn't."
"That doesn't make you noble."
"No, it doesn't."
Isla's hand tightened around the flash drive in her pocket. "You said I was safer not knowing. What else are you hiding from me?"
His gaze was unreadable. "You should sleep, Isla."
"Not until I know everything."
"Some truths will only hurt you."
"Maybe. But I'll find them anyway."
She turned and walked to her room, her steps heavy but sure. The walls of the mansion no longer scared her. The man she was married to no longer intimidated her.
Whatever secrets Damien Blackstone was guarding—she would uncover them.
Even if it meant burning everything down.