“It wasn’t me you saw,” he explained softly. “It was Maxon.”
“…Maxon?” I frowned. “Your twin brother? Lewis… he drowned. Years ago.”
“I thought so, too. We all did,” he said quickly. “But he survived. Lost his memories. He came back weeks ago. I didn’t know how to tell you because I wanted it to be special. He met Victoria by accident and… they’re dating now. We planned to surprise you yesterday but I got busy with work, and was supposed to be today but you didn’t come to the restaurant.”
I stared at him.
“So… it wasn’t you?” I whispered.
“Of course not,” he laughed shakily, pulling me into his arms. “I would never hurt you. I love you so much.”
My arms remained stiff at my sides, but he didn’t seem to notice.
A moment later, the front door opened.
“Hey,” a voice said.
I turned. And there he was. Maxon—Lewis’s identical twin you won’t even know the difference—standing beside Victoria.
They waved awkwardly.
Something in my chest twisted painfully.
Lewis kissed the top of my head. “See? Everything’s fine now.”
But something wasn’t.
That night, Lewis thought I was asleep.
I wasn’t. I heard him in the hallway, voice low, smug.
“Come on, twin brother,” he said on the phone, chuckling. “She’s stupid enough not to know we switch places, and even foolish not to know I was the one killing our child so she had miscarriages for the last years.”
“Come on, twin brother,” he said on the phone, chuckling. “She’s stupid enough not to know we switch places, and even foolish not to know I was the one killing our child so she had miscarriages for the last years.”
My entire body went cold.
Killing… Our child? That four miscarriages weren’t an accident?
I almost collapsed right there even though I was lying in bed.
On the other end of the call, a familiar voice—the real Lewis—laughed. A sharp, dismissive sound that sliced through whatever remained of my heart.
“Well, Nadine’s always been clueless since we were young,” he said. “Let her be.”
Maxon continued casually, as if discussing the weather: “Are you sure you won’t regret leaving her to me? You used to love her.”
The real Lewis snorted. “Honestly? No. I only wanted her back then because you wanted her. I just wanted to beat you. But now that she chose me—damn.” He clicked his tongue.