Chapter Four
1382 Words
A week later…
I heard the voice before I felt anything.
“She’s awake! She’s awake! Master Blackwood, come quickly!”
It sounded like a dream, it was distant and unsure, until the sharp inhale hit my lungs. I was alive!
Why?
Vaughn hadn’t looked back. He pulled Davina out of the pool and left me to drown like I never mattered. If anything, I should’ve been dead. It would’ve been easier that way.
So who saved me?
I tried to move, but everything hurt. Every muscle, every bone. It felt like something had shifted inside me.
“It’s almost a miracle,” a deep voice murmured nearby.
I turned my head, slow and unsure, trying to see who it was.
“Oh, no, no… careful,” the voice said again, softer now. I felt warm hands adjust my pillow.
“Your body’s still healing. Just rest.”
I blinked, focusing on the stranger. Then I froze.
That face…
His skin, his lips, his curls… but most of all, his eyes; bluish-grey, just like mine. The kind of eyes that made people feel seen, even when I wished I wasn’t.
I stared. He looked exactly like me.
“What the hell… Who are you?!” I gasped.
He just smiled like this was all normal.
“Hello, sister.”
“Sister?” My voice cracked with disbelief.
Was he insane?
“I’m glad you’re awake,” he continued, like he hadn’t just shattered my entire sense of reality.
“The doctors thought you’d be unconscious for at least three weeks. But look at you, one week in, and already proving them wrong. You’re a fighter.”
His voice barely registered. I was still trying to process where I was. The room was massive; the walls stretched up forever, heavy velvet drapes, gold detailing, and a chandelier that probably cost more than our entire house. This wasn’t home. This wasn’t even my world. It felt like… a castle.
“Where am I? Who are you?” I finally asked, forcing the words out.
He straightened a little. “Forgive me. I’m Nate. Nate Blackwood… your twin brother.”
I stared at him in stunned silence, and then… I laughed.
It sounded hollow, even to me.
“T-That’s not possible,” I stammered. “I don’t have a twin. He died at birth. My mom made that very clear.”
He sighed, like he’d been expecting that. “She didn’t tell you, then.”
“Tell me what?”
Then it hit me.
“My glasses!” I reached instinctively for them. I couldn’t let anyone know I could see. It was the only card I had left to play. Letting Davina and Vaughn believe I was still blind had kept them off guard.
“Your eyes are fine,” Nate said gently. “You don’t need them anymore.”
I waved him off. “It’s nothing. Just forget it.”
None of it mattered now. I’d already lost. Vaughn had chosen Davina. They were probably planning their wedding already.
Nate’s gaze softened. “Nyra… I’m sorry. I should’ve come sooner. I wanted to. But I was under strict orders to stay away from you. And watching what they’ve done to you, what they’ve allowed, I can’t even explain how much it hurt not being there.”
I studied his face. He looked honest. But I still didn’t understand a damn thing.
“What are you talking about?” My voice cracked. “Please. Just tell me what’s going on.”
He hesitated, then exhaled and ran a hand through his curls. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Anywhere. Please,” I whispered.
He looked me in the eye. “Nyra… I didn’t die.”
My heart skipped.
“I can see that, but do you mind explaining?”
“We were separated,” he said. “Because of a deal… our parents made.”
I clenched the sheets. “I don’t understand.”
“My father; Mr. Blackwood had an affair with our mom. When she got pregnant, he wanted to be involved, but she refused. She was married then to your father, or… who you thought was your father.”
He paused, watching my reaction.
“My dad never married. Never had kids. He was building his empire. When he found out about us, he didn’t abandon us. He wanted the both of us. But your mom, our mom couldn’t admit she’d cheated. So she told her husband that one of the babies died.”
“But she had twins,” I whispered, finishing the sentence for him.
He nodded. “She kept you. My father took me. That was the deal.”
I felt my stomach churn. “No… she wouldn’t…”
“She did. I was raised by my dad. He told me everything, he never hid the truth. He said my sister was alive but that I couldn’t see her. I waited, hoping things would change. But they never did.”
I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to calm the storm building inside me.
Everything I thought I knew, everything I’d ever been told, it was all a lie.
But the part that broke me most? Neither of them chose me.
Not my mother. Not even the father I never got to meet.
They gave me away… and left me to rot in the shadows of people who hated me.
**
At the Silvercrest Pack..
“Has her body been found yet? Tell me you have news!” My mom, Mrs. Montclair yelled frantically as she paced back and forth in the living room.
“I'm sorry ma'am, but there has been no trace of her yet,” the voice at the other end of the phone said.
“s**t!” She yelled as she threw her phone across the room.
Davina just sat by a corner, filing her nails. She seemed very amused.
“Tell me something, mom. Are you worried about Nyra’s safety or your image? Because from what I remember, you were rather reluctant to pull her out from the pool,” Davina said as she tried to stifle a laugh.
“You don’t get it, Davina. If she falls into the wrong hands, we’re done for. How do I explain that? You know how pitiful Nyra can act. It’s already been a week!” Mrs. Montclair kept panicking.
“It’ll be there on the news; One of the Alpha’s daughters of the Silvercrest pack, Blind and left for dead in her pack’s pool…” Davina trailed off, smirking. “How does that sound?”
“Please, relax, mom. We’ve always wanted her out of our lives. This is our opportunity. There’s less drama now. We can fully focus on my wedding to Vaughn,” Davina said.
Even though she was the cause of the problem, she didn’t seem remorseful at all.
“What if we just pronounce her dead? Arrange a funeral for her? After all, a few people witnessed her body float in the pool. We can do that and move on with our lives,” Davina added.
Mrs. Montclair’s frantic pacing slowed. She exhaled sharply and folded her arms, considering it.
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea. I’ll have someone think of a cover-up story. The last thing I want is unnecessary drama, not when your dad is expanding his empire,” Mrs. Montclair said with a satisfactory smile.
“We need to do it quickly before my wedding. I don’t want any scandals, because of the scene she caused during our engagement, everyone thinks I stole her man. Meanwhile, she’s the thief here,” Davina hissed.
“You’re right. I’ll make the arrangements right away,” Mrs. Montclair said.
“And before I forget,” she added, inspecting her freshly manicured nails, “Vaughn made me Co-CEO of his company. I mean, what can I say? He knows I’m the perfect choice.”
That was all my mom needed to distract herself. Her face lit up instantly.
“How did it happen? Vaughn is such an angel!”
Davina’s lips curled. “I got pregnant. Something Nyra couldn’t do.”
She tilted her head with a smug smile. “We’re expecting our baby.”
- Writer
