Regina's wedding went off without a hitch. So, too, did my father's. I attended both, but for the life of me, I couldn't recall much about either. My mind was still on the island and the mysterious feeling that came over me. I couldn't move past it as the feeling haunted me day and night.

I was so distracted that I barely got through the last few days.

"Dolyn, are you still upset because I will voice Atlas?" Graham was peering down at me worriedly.

I made a face, unable to stop myself. "No," I said, but even I could tell from my voice that I sounded upset. That was one of the foolish things I said okay to without thinking. Bryon approached me with the idea because Graham wanted to give voice acting a go, and here we go.

I asked Graham not to do it, but he ignored my wishes for the first time in our friendship. I was too shocked to be angry, but I could still be upset. I was tempted to explain that the character Atlas was based on Adam and what that meant to me, but…I couldn't form the words. Graham's voice was similar to Adam's, and it would make it all the harder to get over everything.

I turned my face away, and instantly, the wedding planner snapped at both of us.

"This is a practice but also the prime time for photos!" She said, "Stop making faces and give me a smile!"

Yup, we're practicing the engagement party. My birthday is in a couple of weeks, and about a month after, our engagement will be announced, and the party will be done.

"I have some special lemon tarts in the break room. They're from a chef you haven't tried before." Graham's voice tickled my ear, and I whipped my face to look at him. I might have moved my face too quickly because he didn't have time to pull away, and his lips pressed against my left cheek.

"That's the picture; look at that smile!" The planner fangirling from the side snapped me out of shock. I couldn't properly pull away either because Graham had his arms around me. The damn planner had instructed it for more intimate shots, but now they might as well be shackles.

Luckily, Graham dropped his arms, and I could escape to the breakroom, much to the dismay of the planner and photographer.

"You said it was the picture." I shot back as I retreated to the breakroom.

It actually did end up being the shot they used. Technology was advanced enough in this world to print pictures almost immediately. The photographer edited it a bit, though, because I know for a fact my cheeks aren't smooth. I looked through all the edits she did and found that some looked more like me than others. Some looked almost like a different person entirely. What kind of photographer was this woman?

I kept the one decent enough that looked the most like me. It had the fewest touch-ups. I held that demo picture in one hand and a giant lemon tart in the other.

My smile at Graham's words could easily be mistaken for joy and devotion to Graham. My chest tightened uncomfortably at that thought. This felt like deception of the worst kind. The only comfort I could garner towards this feeling was that Graham wasn't in love with me. If he was, then I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself or my father for forging this engagement.

I couldn't put the pictures out of my mind. They were copied and printed about a hundred times, after all. Each one felt slightly different, but I stopped looking closely at them after the third one. They were posted on walls and hung up even in my room without my consent. My father seemed so happy in his marriage bliss that he wanted to spread the love about his daughter's future nuptials.

Nothing changed between Graham and me, which helped me to relax around him. I'm not one for subtlety; he noticed my growing tense around him.

Our actual wedding wouldn't be until after I turned eighteen. It wasn't going to be smooth sailing until then. Because tomorrow our engagement party was going to go down.

My stomach was in knots as I was primped and primed for the spotlight. What should have been just a ten-minute touch-up and maybe three minutes max in getting dressed became a sixteen-hour event. Apparently, to be properly prepared for a party, you must be starved, glossed, and buffed out of every flaw possible.

As the hours ticked on, my guilt about the whole thing and what I was looking forward to soon became bubbling fury.

My skin was rubbed until it became an entirely new set of flesh. My hair was soaked, strained, and slathered like a plate of noodles until it shone. Even my teeth weren't safe, though they'd already been whitened for the pictures. I heatedly debated with the stylist because I refused to remove my locket and rings. It's not like I could because they were soul-bound, but she wanted something flasher for me to wear. Which made me grateful for my clunky everyday duds.

Clara joined in on the fun while Regina did for some parts. The three of us were the daughters of the wealthiest families in the world. It goes to reason we have to look a certain way. My father didn't want me to wear a face scrambler either. I was showing my true face to the public.

Finally, I was released from the claws of the care team and allowed to enter the venue. Graham escorted me naturally. We were waiting behind the curtains of the stage. It felt like a play where the credits are rolled, and people take a bow. This was not the same. My father was giving a big speech about how he looked forward to this union and how he watched the two of us grow up. This tale of childhood friends to lovers was very touching, but all of it was bogus. It really was like a play in that regard.

"Are you nervous?" Graham said lowly.

I looked up at him and nodded. It wouldn't do to lie to him; he could tell, and my hand gripped his arm and trembled.

"I'll be with you every step of the way." He vowed so gallantly a shot of guilt pierced my chest.

"Don't. You should use this chance to socialize and connect with my father's people." I said. He deserved to make the most of this farce, and in doing so, I would make up for my part of the deal.

Graham opened his mouth to say something, but we could hear my father announce our names. It was our time to step forward.

I'd like to say I was graceful and delicate, but I could feel my face stiffen as I looked at the thick throng of people looking up at Graham and me. There were bright flashes of lights as pictures were taken, and I could hear voices, but all of it passed in a blur. My eyes were on one thing and one thing only.

The venue looked exactly like my dream.

I ended up wandering around in a daze as everything I dreamt of came to fruition. My father was busy talking. Clara was a dazzling hostess, and Saul and Byron were up to a prank.

"You should try this," Graham said as he handed me a plate full of food.

"I need to freshen up." I blurted with all the grace of a bulldog. I all but ran to the bathroom as my heart raced uncontrollably. The door to the bathroom closed, and I ran to the mirror to examine myself. What did I do next in the dream? I pulled out Mr. Brutus, but my fervently beating heart was barely soothed after I did so.

"You're looking carefree." An all too familiar voice shot at me with mockery.

"Mordecai!" I shouted his name as I spun to tackle him. My ancestor jumped and stiffened in surprise at the sudden outburst of affection. Our last encounters had been anything but pleasant, after all.

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"What are you doing?" He said stiffly. He didn't pull me off, but he didn't embrace me back.

I couldn't speak, how could I? I was happy to see this man. With him here, everything was going as it was supposed to.

Mordecai poked me in the head. "I came down to warn you and issue a punishment if you continue down this path, not for a warm family moment." He sounded pissed and irate with me.

I pulled away to look up at him. He was wearing the same suit as in my dreams, and it would put many young masters to shame.

"I haven't changed my mind. I'm not in love with Graham. He's not in love with me either. This marriage is just for financial gain for our families."

"Oh?" Mordecai said as his eyes narrowed. "Are you sure about all of that?"

"Yes. I told you I won't fall in love again."

"If you fall in love with Graham or any other, you will suffer. You made a vow." Mordecai said. He grabbed a few errant curls from my top bun and tucked them back into place. "There will be dire consequences if you break this vow. That ring has become proof of your oath." He took off my glove to pin down said ring with a finger.

I looked down at my right hand. It hasn't completely healed since the last accident, at least until now. My gaze shot up at Mordecai. Did he heal me?

"Can I hide the rings from sight?" I wet my lips nervously as something glinted in Mordecai's eyes.

Mordecai tsked, "So greedy for one so young. These are soul-bound items, and you want to hide them from sight?"

"They don't go with every outfit, and people find it weird."

"I've done enough for today. I warned you and healed your scaly claw. Heed my warning, Gwendolyn. There will be no going back if you don't."

He vanished in a whiff of smoke, and I closed my eyes.

It went almost exactly like my dream, meaning it was time for the finale. I whipped open the bathroom door, but all the vigor went out of me at the sight of Graham.

He was standing in front of the door with a puzzled expression. "Dolyn, were you talking to someone in there?"

I mutely shook my head. There was no way he could hear Mordecai; these doors were practically soundproof. I lost all sense of the party raging on until I opened the door. Then what could he have…

"Did you see something?" I said. If he had, then he might have seen Mordecai's aura. That was an absolutely terrifying idea.

"Maybe…" Graham said. He looked so confused I took his arm and guided him back to the party. We found some seats while I tried to find my courage. I needed to say the same things I said in my dream, but looking at Graham, it was more challenging than it was supposed to be. He was a friend I didn't deserve, and if I went back on my word, what did that make me?

I gulped down the first drink I could grab at the table and looked around. Adam appeared in my dream, but there wasn't a single person who looked like him at this party. People were making merry and having a good ol' time while the supposed stars of the party were sitting on the sidelines wrapped in silence.

Graham's hand grasped mine, and I turned to look at him. Unwarranted, tears gathered and fell down my cheeks. It was past time to put Adam entirely in the past. That dream might have started as a true premonition, but clearly, it ended in wishful thinking. It was impossible for Adam to ever appear before me again. Maybe his appearance symbolized my finally letting him go as I kept my vow.

Within six months, several things happened. Regina's baby was born early. She had twin girls that she named Tonya and Quinn.

Clara was flummoxed and wary around babies, so it was finally my time to shine. Memories of the little baby girl I cared for helped guide me toward helping Reinga and Saul.

The girls were the sweetest babies, and holding them in my arms unfurled a giant shard of trauma from my heart.

It was enough for me to wish for more babies in our group to be born.

I wasn't the only one too excited because baby fever went around, and soon, my stepmother became pregnant.

My stepmother was the only one in the family who was not thrilled. I caught her more than once venting about how she went out of her way to utilize birth control to prevent pregnancy. I didn't overthink what she said at first because women will react differently to pregnancy. Still, as her pregnancy went on, she became more hostile towards my father and me.

She ended up disappearing, and my father went to find her. I wouldn't see my stepmother after that ever again. My father didn't come back for a year, and when he did, he was carrying my infant brother Darius.

There was darkness in my father's gaze and stiffness in his face. He all but shoved my brother into my arms and buried himself in his work.

Darius' eyes were several shades of green and blue at first. They finally steadied at a bright cyan color like our father. All the other babies I had known had spoiled me rotten. Darius was like none of them. He was colicky and cried at the drop of a hat. He didn't like bottle feeding and was constantly spitting up his food. I soon lost countless nights of sleep rocking, feeding, and trying to soothe him.

It scared me a little bit because he cried until his little lips turned blue some nights. My father never came home, so Darius was left to me instead. I could leave him with the maids, but the thought brought intense guilt. Who knows what happened to his mother, and if I abandoned him as well, then what could he become?

I even had Graham look at Darius, hoping he could pick up something from his aura.

"He's just a colicky baby," Graham said, patting Darius on the head. "I don't see anything unusual in his aura.

"Nothing unusual?" I said. I could feel my own tears threatening to fall.

"It's not you, Dolyn. You're doing a great job with him. He doesn't seem unhappy with you."

It had to be me. Maybe he could sense the tension in my heart when I first looked at him in our father's arms. I saw the shadows in my father's eyes and the alienation he had put between us.

I bit my lip and looked down into the big cyan eyes of my little brother.

The light in my father's eyes never came. And not even a strand of my stepmother's hair had returned. Some maids disappeared during this time, and so did the familiar workers that came and went. Mrs. Mina left to welcome her new grandchild but never came back.

My father rarely came home, so it was truly just Darius and I.

All alone in this stupid penthouse.

"Dolyn, what if I stay here with you guys tonight? Maybe I could help?" Graham's voice lured me back to the present, and I stared at him dazed.

"You need to get some sleep." He said.

I opened my mouth, and instead of a polite refusal, what came out was garbled acceptance.

Darius was peacefully lying in Graham's arms. I had to take advantage of this!

"My bed is big enough. After I clean his gums." I said.

Graham made a weird noise, but when I looked at him, he had a serene expression. I might have misheard. It wouldn't be the first time. The lack of sleep was getting to me, and these days, I felt like shadows had life to them. The way they moved and danced at night should be haunting, but it gave me something to watch during sleepless nights.

Maybe my eyes were getting another upgrade.

It didn't take too long to get prepared. Darius tried to naw on my finger as I wiped his gums clean.

"You just ate silly," I told him, avoiding his snapping mouth. Despite his fussy nature, he was a big baby and a happy eater. A quick change of his diaper was next. I didn't bother slipping him into a onesie or pajamas. I learned the hard way that this baby runs hot like a furnace. If I put too many clothes on him, he'd get them off or scream as he wriggled.

I could wrap him up in a snuggle cocoon with his baby blanket. By the time he fell asleep, it could naturally come off and keep him cool.

My bedroom had practically become Darius' bedroom by this point, so luckily, all of his toiletries were on hand. He was primed and ready for a night of screaming and fighting sleep.

I re-entered my room to find Graham looking around my room. He was wearing a simple red satin set of pajamas. They matched his eyes and made his hair shine even fiercer.

"Are the maids not doing their job properly?" Graham said as his eyes looked over my messy room.

I refused to take a look at the mess I had created. "People left. They have enough on their hands dealing with the mess my father creates when he stops by. Here, hold him so I can change."

Darius seemed okay with the shift in guard until he saw me start to walk away. I could hear him inhale deeply and knew what would come next. I ran for the bathroom just in time to listen to him yowl full force. I shut the door as my heart began to race. I looked around frantically for something to wear. Everything I had was dirty, so I had to rely on a place that had become abandoned again. My hideaway home. I entered and grabbed the first cleanish nightgown I could find.

I stripped whatever I was wearing and slipped on the nightgown. It wasn't until I was about to leave my Hideway home that I saw what I was wearing. It was one of the nightgowns Mordecai had gifted me all those years ago. It was a shimmery red gown with gold thread in it. Hints of bronze and bright cyan blue glimmered when it moved.

I didn't have time to care. It was going to get ruined by baby spit-up soon anyway.

Graham had soothed Darius miraculously by the time I returned. I took him away, embracing his tiny body and fixing his cocoon.

I turned off all but the nightlights while I held his still-shaking body. His teary gaze seemed to be accusing me of abandoning him. I wiped his cheeks and lay in bed with him on my chest. He closed his eyes and snuggled his face against my chest. Soon, his steady breathing could be heard, and he luckily fell asleep. This peace might not last, so it was time to get to bed.

"Do you hold him like that when you sleep?" Graham said. He walked around to the other side of the bed and got in.

"Not always. Cosleeping is better than sticking him in a crib to cry it out. That's not the correct method. Mothers are supposed to sleep with their young."

"You're not his mother," Graham said.

I hiccuped in surprise at Graham's blunt wording. He was usually mister nice and sunny, but he even had to have some barbs of truth. My movement seemed to shock Darius. I pet his head and watched as his eyes slowly closed again. "I don't know if he has a mother. I can't take her place, but I am his sister. And right now, I'm the only family he has."

The silence extended for so long that I thought Graham had fallen asleep.

I didn't wait to find out. I conked right out and enjoyed the sweet numbing joy of oblivion.