Page 59 of Bound By Crimson

Chapter Fifty-Nine

A Truth Too Heavy

The journal lay open in her lap, but she couldn’t read anymore.

She had read those passages once. Twice. A third time.

Still the words didn’t change.

Still the truth clawed at her.

Her name is Lyric.

Not Edwina.

Lyric.

The clock ticked faintly in the corner, but she barely heard it.

Her breath came in short, ragged pulls.

It felt like her entire body was turning inside out.

She closed her eyes, but that only made the memories crash in faster—brutal and sharp.

The box—hidden away in the back of her parents’ closet. Discovered only after they were gone.

The tiny pink blanket—folded neatly, tucked between brittle papers.

The note— Her name is Lyric. Please take care of her . The similar handwriting rushed and desperate, like whoever wrote it had been running out of time.

The adoption papers—incomplete—no real names listed, no history .

Just blank spaces where a life should have been.

It had all been there.

Hints.

Whispers.

But nothing had prepared her for the truth Eden’s journal forced her to see.

She opened her eyes again, staring at the last page like it might catch fire in her hands.

This was her mother.

Eden Thornwick wasn’t some distant ghost.

She was real.

Flesh and blood.

And Malachai—

Her stomach twisted so violently she gagged.

Malachai was Eden’s brother.

She froze.

Her thoughts stuttered, unable to keep up.

That meant—

Oh God.

Malachai… is my uncle.

Her mouth went dry. Her skin crawled.

She clutched the journal tighter, digging her nails into the leather cover, as her mind shattered into pieces.

No. No. No.

This can’t be real.

Her mind rejected it, but the truth sat there—sharp and unmoving.

He knew.

From the beginning, he knew.

And still… he had looked at her like that.

Held her like that.

Loved her like that.

A sob tore up her throat before she could stop it, raw and broken.

What was wrong with her?

Even now—even after everything—

some battered part of her still craved him.

Still longed for the comfort of his arms .

Still wanted to hear his voice saying her name.

Lyric.

It felt filthy inside her now. Like her very blood had turned against her.

Her hands moved instinctively, pressing against her stomach.

For a moment—

a terrible, flickering moment—

she didn’t know how to feel about the life growing inside her.

Could she love him?

Could she even look at herself?

The thought struck so violently she curled forward, a keening sound escaping her lips.

No.

The baby was innocent.

He hadn’t betrayed her.

He hadn’t lied.

He was hers.

The only pure thing she had left.

Her chest heaved as she rocked herself on the floor, clutching her belly like a lifeline.

“I love you,” she whispered, voice shaking . “I will protect you. I will get us out.”

The way Eden had tried to protect her.

She would get her son out of here.

Even if it destroyed her.