Emmet:
Nothing made sense anymore. After I saw those clips, I realized there wasn’t something wrong with me, someone had planned it against me. But who could it be? I started thinking about everyone who lived in the mansion or had access to it.
After Helanie announced the good news, I didn’t want them to focus on me. I didn’t want to be selfish and ruin their happy moment. So I acted happy, even though I was falling apart inside.
I made an excuse and went home, saying I needed some files and books. But once I was home, especially in my corner, I started working through a list. I sat down and wrote out the names of people who could’ve been involved in the scribbling at least.
I checked the names one by one. I crossed out Norman, then Maximus, Helanie, and my father. But a few names were harder to cross off.
Kaye.
The reason was simple: Kaye was cursed to kill Helanie. But also, I knew someone had been whispering in his ear. I didn’t want to believe he pushed her, but I had a gut feeling someone might’ve used his body to leave those scribbles. Still, as I stared at his name, I remembered how others had once thought the same about me. So in the end, I crossed his name too.
Then there were only a few left. My mother, who had been visiting often. Ursula, Helanie’s mother, I didn’t believe she could’ve done it, so I crossed her out too.
That left three names. And one of them was already dead.
Emma, Charlotte and my mother.
"Didn’t Charlotte try to mend her ways?" my wolf reminded me.
"Tried to. There’s a thing called deceptive," I replied in my head. "Azura acts like she’s perfect. Like my interests are her best interests. But can we trust her? How do we know she’s not playing a game? The same goes for Charlotte. Just because her mother died and she’s grieving doesn’t mean she wasn’t going around playing games with us."
And then there was the last one, my mother.
I slapped my forehead. "She’s such an obvious name. And she’s definitely someone who’d do something like that."
I paused. My mother being involved, that would be seriously messed up. Because if she had done this to me, I didn’t know how I’d be able to live with that.
"But how are we going to find out if it was one of the two of them, or the one who’s already dead?" my wolf asked.
"My mother wouldn’t want Azura back, that much I know. Charlotte didn’t like her when she was alive. And if Charlotte didn’t like her, neither would Emma," I said, rubbing my temples, confused.
"Do you know what I’ve been thinking about?" I spoke to my wolf.
"What is it?" the wolf asked.
"Azura died. She stopped existing. Then after so many years, she came back to life." I paused, needing a moment before saying it out loud. "Why has she aged?"
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