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What was the reality in my story now? Where did the truth end and the lies begin?

Birch had found me in their woods, but who put me there? Was Nick the man in the journal? Was he the one who had done this to me?

There was no way for me to process all of that and pick apart the details. None of it made sense.

“Yes, that is you. And yes, we did look for you. We did everything we could to locate you. We spent years searching, but turned up nothing.”

“Why should I believe you?” Touching the picture, I traced the woman's face, desperately wishing for my past to find me. I wanted to remember, I wanted my mind to flood with painful memories so this happy family wouldn't be what I lost.

If my past was worth losing, then this man couldn't taunt me with these fake smiles. If I could recall a single ounce of pain from being in the hands of those people, then everything I had could be a blessing. I wanted desperately to stuff the picture down the detective's throat and make him eat his lies.

But that wasn't what I was seeing. Their arms were embracing me, their smiles glowing and broad, not sinister and cracked out.

I had brainwashed myself into believing that fate had delivered me into the hands of the family I was destined to have. That I had found love through a tragedy and something great had been born within the carnage.

What happened? Why did this happen?

“This doesn't make sense. Why did it take this long to find me? I've been here the entire time, is this department really that stupid or just that blind?”

“I know this is a lot to take in, but I have no reason to make this all up. What you should be asking is why he had you. What did he gain from stealing a child?”

Steal me? He didn't steal me! He found me, he saved me!

Biting my tongue, my eyes turned to slits. He was feeding me bull-shit and telling me it was prime rib. None of this was possible, not one fucking ounce of it.

Why would Birch lie to me all these years? It didn't make sense. He said he loved me. How could he look in my eyes and knowingly lie to me about this?

I wasn't ready to believe that everything he had spoon fed me was a giant sack of shit. It hurt too much to think that the man I loved could pretend for all these years.

A sharp knife sliced my chest, exposing delicate nerve endings and brittle veins. If this was true, then Birch was in on it the entire time. He had seen me, he had been there in that room, he had taken part in the lies and helped his father fill my head with them.

Every emotion I had was strung out, spread in so many different directions I expected them to break. A noose had been placed around my neck, and there was no ground for me to stand on.

“No, you're lying.” Waving my hand, I cupped my jaw and swallowed hard. “Nicholi said no one could find my parents, he said that no one was looking for me.” My voice wavered, tumbling out in broken cries and lost breaths. Shoving the picture back at the detective, I looked into his eyes. “He said you gave up.”

The detective threw his hand out, capturing mine and squeezing it firmly. “We never gave up. We did everything we could to find you. Nicholi lied to you.”

“I don't believe this, it doesn't make sense.” Shaking my head, I sniffled, yanking my hand free. “I woke up in the woods, Birch found me there. Nick and Birch saved me, they helped me and gave me a place to live. Why would they lie about that?”

“I don't know the answer to that, but I promise you, we're going to figure it out. For now, you can't go back there. We need more answers, we need more information so we can take this asshole down. We need to protect you.”

Protect me? Did he really just say that?

Protect me from the only family I know?

Protect me from the people that have loved me?

“How do you know he did this? What proof do you have that he took me? I remember waking up to him picking me up off the ground. What if it was someone else that placed me in those woods?”

“Cyprus, I'm sure this hard for you to take in, but that diary was in his house. We found it during our search, that wasn't a coincidence. What you wrote in there, that tells the story.” Tapping the side of his head with a single finger, his brows arched high. “What you remember, that wasn't reality. I believe that little girl, I don't believe what he put into your head. But all we have is that book, we don't have anything else to go on just yet. You really don't remember anything?”

Taking deep breaths, I covered my face with my hands and wept. My shoulders shook uncontrollably, my lungs begged for air they couldn't find. Nothing was what I thought it was.

Everything was a lie.

“We'll help you through this.” Detective Jones scooted closer, and rubbed a hand over my back. “But you can't go back there. We need to figure out what happened, we need to find out how deep in this Nicholi is. Tell me you understand that, Cyprus.”

Sniffling, I kept my face buried and nodded. “I understand you're trying to steal my world. I've already been through that once, I can't do it again.”