Page 62 of Vintage

Our first night in the mansion marked the beginning of his scheme. Ace stealthily injected Amir with a hallucinogenic substance that distorted his perception. He then enhanced Amir's strange visions with the vintage ring that belonged to his sister. While Amir might never recall the specifics of the woman, he glimpsed in the painting that evening, his subconscious would. Gradually, through manipulation and the influence of drugs, he crafted his clever strategy, all in pursuit of revenge.

He set out to find a girl who bore a striking resemblance to his deceased sister, orchestrating a deceitful plan in collaboration with his brother-in-law, Elijah Montgomery, and his father. They fabricated documents to falsely declare her death, altering the date to the previous year.

He used the cursed folklore. He used the rumors, the fears, and the belief people had.

While the real Willow had already died years ago. And she begged me to never reveal the truth about her impersonating herself as someone else to him. I will hold that secret for the sake of a dead person.

“Stop it Ace. Just fucking surrender.” Darius deadpanned.

"I can't," he muttered, his hands pulling at his hair in frustration. "I can't stop it. I can't stop her. I can't stopWillow."

I stepped back, my instincts screaming at me to get away.

“You’re not her, Ace,” Darius said softly, sounding so much in pain, my heart breaking for him. “You never were. You’reyou.”

Ace turned toward Darius suddenly, eyes wide with something almost manic. "You don't understand!" His voice raised, panic and rage bleeding through. "Ibecameher. I had to. Toprotecther. To protect myself!"

I shook my head, stepping back. “You can’t protect anyone by pretending to be someone else, Ace.”

The rage faded from his face, replaced by something emptier, something lost. His shoulders sagged as if all the fight had drained out of him in that one moment. “I tried to be something I’m not… but I couldn’t,” he said softly, his voice breaking. “And now… now, I’ve lost everything.”

It was then that I saw it—saw the true depth of his torment. I hadn’t just been standing in front of a man whose mind had shattered; I was standing in front of a broken soul, one so twisted by grief and guilt that he couldn’t even remember who he was anymore.

I knew then that this wasn’t just about Amir. This wasn’t even just about Willow Crest. This was about a man whose entire identity had been lost to the ghosts of his past.

"Why Amir?" I asked, my voice quieter now, trying to make sense of it all. "Why take it out on him if you knew he wasn’t Tyson?"

His expression turned distant, like he was slipping away again into his fractured mind. "Because he's Tyson. He looks like him. Hefeelslike him. He reminds me of everything I lost."

I felt a sharp pang in my chest.Tyson.The ghost of Ace’s torment. The one thing that had driven him to madness. "You can’t hurt Amir to fix yourself, Ace. It won’t bring Willow back."

Ace's eyes flickered, a flash of something almost human behind them, but then it was gone. "I don’t know how else to stop it. I don’t know how to live without it."

There was a heavy silence as I stood there together with Darius, the truth of what we had just uncovered pressing down on us, leaving us unable to move.

I knew I couldn’t fix this. Ace needed help. He needed real help, more than I could offer. But even I knew, I was just here for my husband who slept in the hospital. Resting from his surgery.

Maybe it wasn’t him who was the monster. It was all of us. I was no better, even I was hounding him for my own selfish reasons.

I turned, slowly, making my way toward the door, but just before I reached it, I looked back at him. He was still standing in the same place, his shoulders hunched, his eyes lost to whatever darkness haunted him.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. But even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t enough. He was already too far gone.

I stepped out of mansion and into the subtle glow or peculiar orangish light from the sunset casting a pretty hue but however the world was beautiful to look, some people’s lives just knew how sunsets mean there was night and nothing beyond that existed for them.

With the weight of what I had uncovered settling heavily in my chest, I looked at Reese who unexpectedly seemed to have followed me, it is no surprise, Darius was here too. After all, they too knew the truth. There was no escaping this house, no escaping its curse. Because the curse wasn’t in the walls.

“It was Tyson’s fault, but Amir chose to not pursue anymore. He chose to forgive, Willow, and Ace. Why?” I questioned Reese, it was difficult to understand because Amir would’ve never forgiven anyone who hurt me, then why this time, but she shrugged with a small smile, letting the silence bear my answer.

Chapter Twenty Seven

What is this?

He didn’t say a word, but his eyes sparkled with curiosity, silently asking me the very question I could read on his lips.

"I’m the elf today, and I’m here to grant you your Christmas gift." I beamed at him, and he chuckled softly, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You’re telling me that in that red ribbon wrapped around you and that green lingerie, you’re my gift?"

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