The house had never felt this heavy before.
It was the kind of silence that pressed against Caspian's chest and made every breath feel difficult.
Ever since the conversation with Riven earlier that night, something inside her refused to settle. Her thoughts kept circling the same questions.
Why did her parents lie so much?
Why did they always act afraid when she asked about the past?
And why did Riven always seem like he knew more than he was telling her?
Caspian walked slowly down the hallway, the wooden floor creaking faintly beneath her feet. A dim yellow light leaked from under her mother's bedroom door.
She hadn't meant to come here.
But something pulled her toward it.
The door wasn't fully closed.
Voices came from inside.
Her mother was speaking on the phone.
Caspian was about to walk away… until she heard her own name.
"…I told you she would start asking questions."
Caspian froze.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She moved slightly closer to the door without realizing it.
Her mother's voice sounded calm, but there was tension hidden inside it.
"Velora should have stayed buried," she continued quietly. "That identity was never meant to resurface."
Caspian's mind spun.
Velora.
Her mafia identity.
Why was her mother talking about it like that?
A faint male voice replied from the other side of the phone, but Caspian couldn't make out the words.
Her mother sighed softly.
"I raised her exactly the way we planned," she said. "She believes every lie we gave her."
Caspian's stomach dropped.
Every lie?
The words echoed painfully in her head.
"I kept her away from the truth about Adrian… about Riven… everything."
Caspian's breath caught in her throat.
Adrian.
Riven Ash.
The same person.
The ghost who appeared in her room.
The man who had saved her life.
Her mother knew about him.
But how?
The silence in the room stretched for a moment before her mother spoke again, her tone colder this time.
"But now someone is interfering."
Caspian leaned closer, her hand gripping the edge of the door.
She needed to understand.
She needed answers.
And then her mother said the one sentence that shattered everything Caspian believed.
"If she finds out she isn't even my real daughter, everything will collapse."
The world seemed to stop.
Caspian's ears rang loudly.
Her fingers slipped from the door frame.
Not… her daughter?
Her vision blurred as her heart pounded violently in her chest.
All her life…
The woman she called mother…
The person who raised her…
Wasn't even her real mother?
The door creaked slightly under her weight.
Inside the room, her mother's voice stopped instantly.
A second later—
The door swung open.
Her mother stood there.
Their eyes locked.
For a brief moment, neither of them spoke.
Caspian saw something in her mother's expression she had never noticed before.
Not kindness.
Not warmth.
Fear.
And something darker.
Something calculating.
"Caspian," her mother said slowly, lowering the phone.
"How long have you been standing there?"
Caspian couldn't answer.
Her throat felt dry.
Her mind was still trying to process what she had just heard.
"You're not my mother," Caspian whispered.
The sentence hung heavily between them.
Her mother's expression hardened for a split second before the familiar gentle smile returned to her face.
"You misunderstood," she said calmly.
But Caspian shook her head.
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"You said it yourself."
Her mother stepped closer.
"You shouldn't listen to half conversations," she replied softly.
The sweetness in her tone felt fake now.
Too perfect.
Too controlled.
"Then tell me the full one," Caspian said.
Silence filled the hallway.
Her mother studied her carefully, like she was calculating something.
Then she spoke again.
"You're tired. Your mind is confused."
That answer made something inside Caspian snap.
"Stop doing that!" she shouted suddenly.
Her voice echoed through the quiet house.
"Stop acting like I'm imagining things!"
Her mother's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You've been asking too many questions lately," she said quietly.
"And you've been hiding too many answers," Caspian replied.
For a moment the polite mask on her mother's face slipped.
The softness disappeared.
In its place was a cold expression Caspian had never seen before.
"You're alive," her mother said slowly, "because we made difficult choices."
We.
Again.
The same word she had used before.
Caspian's heart pounded faster.
"What choices?" she asked.
Her mother didn't answer.
Instead, she turned away and walked back into the room.
The conversation was over.
Just like that.
Caspian stood frozen in the hallway for several seconds before slowly stepping backward.
Her entire life felt like it was collapsing.
Every memory.
Every moment.
Every word her parents had ever told her.
Could any of it be real?
A cold breeze suddenly brushed past her.
She turned.
Riven stood at the end of the hallway.
Half hidden in the shadows.
Watching her quietly.
"You heard," he said.
It wasn't a question.
Caspian wiped the tears forming in her eyes.
"You knew," she whispered.
Riven didn't deny it.
That silence hurt more than any lie.
"You knew she wasn't my real mother," Caspian said.
He looked away slightly.
"I suspected."
"Since when?"
"Long before you started remembering."
Caspian felt anger rising inside her chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
His expression darkened.
"Because the truth would destroy you."
"Maybe I deserve to decide that myself!"
Her voice cracked.
Riven took a step closer.
His presence always made the air colder.
But tonight it also made the world feel strangely steady.
"There are things about your past," he said quietly, "that even you aren't ready to face yet."
Caspian stared at him.
"Then start talking."
For a moment Riven hesitated.
Something like pain flashed across his face.
"The truth," he said slowly,
"is much worse than you think."
Caspian's heart sank.
And deep down…
She had the terrifying feeling that the life she knew had only been the beginning of a much darker story.