Chapter 2

After fourteen hours of driving, I turned onto a dirt road that felt endless. The sandy trail forced me to slow down to prevent skidding. Shortly after, a massive compound began to take shape behind the trees. My eyes widened as the GPS announced that I had reached my destination.

Good grief!

I pulled up in front of a double gate at least twice my height. Adjacent to it was a guard booth where a man was sitting. Before I could even grab my phone, he had already stepped out and knocked on my window.

This was bound to be eventful...

A sigh of frustration escaped my lips as I rolled down the window.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly.

I looked at him, wondering if he greeted everyone with that same hostility.

I had missed him so much.

His green eyes, inherited from our mother, drifted toward me and locked on, as if he were seeing a ghost. Even though I had warned him I was coming, seeing me standing right in front of him must have been a shock.

A heavy silence fell over us, making me feel increasingly uncomfortable.

"Amelia?" he gasped in disbelief.

I simply nodded in response.

So, he went by Honor now?

Quickly trying to hide his surprise, stern lines remained etched across his forehead. I crossed the distance between us to cut his questions short and wrapped my arms around him. His arms closed around my shoulders as I closed my eyes, resting my head against his chest. His heart beat steadily, unlike mine, which was tight with emotion. Yet, I broke the embrace fairly quickly, still struggling with physical touch.

"Come on, let's talk," he said after studying me once more.

Without giving me a chance to react, he took my hand and led me along.

Here we go...

Bypassing the building, we arrived at a spacious yard where Alex led us to a wooden picnic table. Turning my head, I was relieved to see that we were alone and no one had followed us; I had zero desire to be today's main attraction.

Taking a deep breath, I picked up my phone again.

"Honor?"

I saw his surprise as his eyes darted between the phone and me.

"That's my road name. But what are you doing here?"

"Do you have memory issues? Did you already forget my message from yesterday?"

"Damn it, what message are you talking about? And why are you typing on your phone?"

"The message I replied to," a voice interrupted us.

Hands flat in front of me, I turned around to see Fear approaching.

Oh no, what was he doing here?!

"Damn it, Liam, seriously! You could have at least warned me my sister was coming," my brother snapped in an irritated tone.

So this was the famous Liam.

"Well, now you know," he countered with a smirk. "Or would you have preferred I tell her what you were doing when the message came in?"

I stared at them in disbelief as they bickered like teenagers, though the deep bond of their friendship was unmistakably clear.

"Alright, back to you," Alex said, refocusing his attention on me. "Why are you here?"

"I need you to let me stay with you for a while..."

His gaze deepened. He had always been able to read me like an open book, which sent a surge of panic through me.

"Amelia..." he began hesitatingly, "what's going on? Why aren't you speaking?"

Tears welled up in my eyes, and my hands trembled as I typed out my response:

"We were in an accident. I lost them, Alex."

His eyes filled with confusion.

"What accident, Lia? What are you talking about!?"

The suffocating knot in my throat tightened even further as I crafted the lie:

"We got into a car crash three months ago... They died instantly... I can't manage on my own anymore. I needed a change of scenery, do you understand? I couldn't stay in that huge house all by myself... I was suffocating! Besides, the accident damaged my vocal cords. The doctors don't know when I'll be able to speak again."

Silence settled over us. I hated lying, and my eyes, fixed firmly on my hands, undoubtedly betrayed me, but I had to do this. For them.

However, his voice softened as he broke the silence.

"Lia, you know you're always welcome here. For as long as you need."

"Alright, can someone fill me in?"

Having completely erased him from my field of vision, it was only then that I realized Liam was still sitting next to

my brother.

As if synchronized, we both turned our eyes to look at him.