Chapter 5 The Truth
FIONA/CIARA
My hands shook slightly as I deleted the messages before Lucien could see them. Afterward, I slipped the phone back into my pocket while the words kept repeating inside my head.
Ciara had known about my death.
Maybe she had even ordered it.
And now I was trapped inside her body.
“Ciara?”
I looked up immediately.
Lucien stood a few steps ahead watching me carefully while Richard and Rita waited near the elevator doors.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I'm fine,” I answered quietly. “Just tired.”
He studied my face for another second before nodding slowly.
“Let’s get you home.”
The elevator doors opened and we stepped inside together. Rita immediately moved closer and grabbed my hand gently.
“Don’t be sad, Mummy.”
I looked down at her small fingers wrapped around mine and felt something twist strangely inside my chest. She looked genuinely worried about me.
“I’m okay, sweetheart,” I said softly.
The elevator descended quietly afterward.
Lucien parked in front of the house a short while later before all of us stepped out of the car together. Richard and Rita immediately ran ahead toward the front door while a woman wearing a grey uniform opened it before they reached.
“Welcome home, Alpha,” she greeted politely before her eyes shifted toward me. “Luna.”
I followed Lucien inside while trying not to stare too much at the houses around me. The entrance alone was bigger than my entire apartment back in Creeklaw. Marble floors stretched beneath my feet while an enormous chandelier hung above us. A large staircase curved toward the upper floor.
Earlier, I’d been too panicked about waking up inside another person’s body to notice any of this properly.
“Margaret will prepare some tea,” Lucien said calmly. “You should rest for a while.”
“Okay,” I responded, forcing a smile.
The woman led me toward another room with large windows and expensive-looking furniture before motioning toward one of the couches.
“I’ll bring your tea shortly, Luna.”
Then she left.
The moment I was alone, I pulled out my phone again.
Another message had already appeared from the same unknown number.
WHY AREN’T YOU RESPONDING? CALL ME IMMEDIATELY.
I stared at the screen for several seconds before finally pressing the call button.
The phone rang twice before someone answered.
“Finally,” a man’s voice said immediately. “I was beginning to think something happened to you.”
I frowned slightly. “Who is this?”
Silence filled the line briefly.
“Ciara?” he asked slowly. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“Who are you?” I repeated carefully.
“What do you mean who am I? I’m your father.”
My breath caught instantly.
Ciara’s father—he was the man who sent the message about me being gone.
“I don’t remember,” I said carefully. “I lost my memory.”
Another silence followed immediately.
“Does Lucien know?”
“Yes.”
“And the doctor?”
“We just came from the hospital.”
I heard him exhale quietly.
“What did they say?”
“That my memory might return within twenty-four hours.”
“I see.” His voice changed slightly afterward. “And what exactly do you remember about the girl?”
My chest tightened immediately.
“What girl?”
“Don’t play games with me, Ciara. Fiona—the wolfless orphan your sister was supposed to handle.”
My vision blurred slightly.
Ciara’s sister was Shania.
“I don’t remember,” I whispered.
“Good,” he answered immediately. “Keep it that way. The less you know right now, the better.”
“Wait—”
But the line went dead before I could finish.
I slowly lowered the phone while my thoughts spiraled inside my head.
Ciara was Shania’s sister.
Their father had ordered my death.
But why?
Why would any of them care enough about a wolfless orphan to kill her?
The sitting room door suddenly opened and I quickly shoved my phone back into my pocket.
Lucien walked inside calmly.
“The children are with their tutor now,” he said while sitting across from me. “How are you feeling?”
“Confused,” I admitted honestly.
“That’s understandable.”
Silence settled briefly between us before I finally looked at him again.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Why haven’t you marked me?”
His expression shifted immediately.
“Who told you that?”
“The doctor mentioned it.”
Lucien stayed quiet for several seconds before finally standing and walking toward the windows.
“It’s complicated,” he said quietly.
“I have time.”
He stared outside for a moment before speaking again.
“Our marriage was political. An alliance between both families. I respected you. I cared about you. But I was never in love with you.”
The words should have hurt, but they didn’t.
I wasn’t Ciara.
“And you can’t mark someone you don’t love?”
“I can,” he admitted. “But I didn’t want to. A mating mark is permanent. I didn’t want to bind myself to someone while my heart belonged somewhere else.”
My chest tightened slightly.
“Where was your heart?”
He turned slowly toward me afterward, and there was something heavy inside his expression that I couldn’t fully understand.
“With someone I couldn’t have.”
Before I could ask more, Margaret entered carrying a tray of tea.
“Thank you, Margaret,” Lucien said quietly.
She placed the tray down before leaving again.
Lucien poured two cups before handing one toward me.
“I should let you rest,” he said afterward. “You’ve had a difficult day.”
He started walking toward the door.
“Lucien?”
He stopped and turned toward me.
“The person you loved,” I asked quietly. “What happened to her?”
His jaw tightened instantly.
“She died.”
Then he walked out.
I sat there silently holding the untouched tea cup while my thoughts raced inside my head.
Lucien had loved someone before.
Someone who died and he still couldn’t let go of.
My phone buzzed again.
I immediately pulled it out and saw another message appear across the screen.
FATHER TOLD ME ABOUT YOUR MEMORY. DON’T WORRY, SISTER. I’LL COME VISIT IN TWO DAYS AND HELP YOU REMEMBER EVERYTHING. THE WEDDING IS IN TWO WEEKS. I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO MEET BALE PROPERLY. —SHANIA
My entire body went still.
What?
