I swallowed hard. “But…” I was even more confused than ever. “If the stone wasn’t magic, what made him speak?”
Ethan’s gaze was knowing. “Maybe it wasn’t about the stone.” He shrugged. “Maybe it was just time.”
I looked away, jaw tight. I couldn’t believe I’d been manipulated that way. What’s worse, it had actually worked.
“You’re not angry because the stone wasn’t real,” Ethan added quietly. “You’re angry because you don’t know what to believe anymore. Because your memory is shit, and because you let someone else write the narrative-for ten damn years.”
I said nothing.
“And now,” he went on, “you’re trying to claw your way to the truth when the people around you-Celeste, Sera, even yourself-don’t fully remember the story. Or they remember it wrong?”
“I need answers, Ethan,” I snapped.
“I know you do,” he said calmly. “But here’s the part you’re avoiding-what difference will it make?”
I blinked at him. “What?”
“You and Sera are divorced. You’re not mates. And she has someone else now. I missed it. but I heard they led the opening dance together. You know what that means”
My gut twisted at the mention of Lucian and that damn dance.
“You think getting closure is going to change anything?” Ethan asked, tone not unkind. “
You think knowing whether or not Celeste set her up will undo the last ten years?”
“It might,” I said tightly. “It might help her heal. Help me understand.”
Ethan tilted his head. “And what then? You sweep in, tear her away from Lucian, and pretend the last decade didn’t happen? What does it even matter? You never loved Sera.
Celeste is the one you chose. Is the truth going to change that?”
I said nothing. Because I didn’t have an answer to that.
He pushed off the counter. “Let me be blunt, Kieran. What’s done is done. Your marriage to
Sera is over, and you’re with Celeste now. If you waver again-if you go chasing after ghosts
-both my sisters are going to pay the price.” His eyes narrowed. “Again.”
My throat tightened. “I never meant for either of them to get hurt.”
“I know,” he said softly. “But they did.”
I looked down at the tiled floor, guilt coiling around my spine like a python.
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t get the truth,” Ethan continued. “But be sure you’re doing it for the right reasons-not because you think it’ll magically fix everything”
I took a breath. “Then what the hell should I do?”
He sighed. “You’re going to hate my response.”
I frowned. “I don’t doubt it.’
“Let. It. Go.”
My fists clenched, everything in me instantly revolting at the idea.
“I-“
“Can’t,” he finished for me.
I nodded stiffly, glaring at the stained marble of his kitchen countertop.
“Just do me a favor,” Ethan added.
I looked up.
“Don’t lose yourself trying to fix the past. And don’t drag everyone down with you. Sometimes the truth doesn’t come with peace-it just comes with more consequences.”
SERAPHINA’S POV
The door clicked shut behind us, muffling the distant hum of engines and the chatter of a party happening down the block.
My heels, still damp from the koi pond, left faint prints on the wooden floor as I stepped into the dim stillness of my living room. I didn’t bother turning on the lights. I didn’t want to see myself.
Lucian lingered near the door, his shirt soaked through, his tie long discarded. Water dripped from the ends of his hair. Maya was beside me, close but not crowding, her expression unreadable in the low light.
Just like the tense car ride, no one spoke.
I stood there, cold and raw and fraying at the edges, like if one more thing touched me, I might splinter. My arms wrapped around myself instinctively.
Lucian broke the silence first. “I’ll grab you a towel.”
I offered him a soft smile. “Thank you. There’s a linen closet down the hall.”
He nodded and disappeared down the hall. Maya led me gently to the couch, her hand warm on my elbow. I sat, or maybe collapsed. The cushions gave under my weight like a quiet sigh.
She knelt in front of me, hands resting on my knees. “How do you feel?” she asked gently.
I scoffed quietly, my teeth chattering slightly. “Cold. Fraught.”
She squeezed my knee. “You did nothing wrong.”
I shook my head. “Yeah…apparently.”
I’d spent the last ten years blaming myself, believing I was the Big Bad in Celeste and
Kieran’s story. But now…
I’m still not sure I even,understand what happened. Thought I did. For years, I thought I knew.
Lucian returned with towels and a blanket. He wrapped the blanket around my shoulders without a word and handed Maya a towel, which she began using to squeeze the water from my hair.
“I believed it was my fault,” I said, voice hollow. “That I drank too much. That I kissed him first. That I…ruined everything.”
Maya’s hands stilled. She met my gaze. “It wasn’t you.”
“But-“
Lucian sat beside me, close but not quite touching. “It’s evident that, from what we all heard, things about that night were manipulated,” he said, running a towel through his hair.
It seems to me, Sera, that you were more a victim than anyone else.”
I sighed, clutching the blanket tighter. “Celeste sent that message, I know she did. And
Kieran…’
I turned to Maya, eyes stinging. “Can I borrow the stone? If I can just get them to sit down, we can-“
She hesitated. Then shook her head-slowly, regretfully. “It’s not what you think.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“It’s not magical,” she admitted, retrieving the smooth stone from her clutch. “I bought it at a market. It’s just a polished rock.”
“What?”
“I’m a purple octopus with two heads.” She squeezed the stone and it glowed.
My breath hitched. “What the hell, Maya?”
She winced. “I’m sorry. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. But you saw how easily
Emma folded. Kieran, too. The confession was real, even if the method wasn’t.”
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