There was a long moment of silence as they tried to process what 'I' had just revealed to them.

Laura looked at Lily, as they both struggled to keep their emotions under control.

"If you are not Emir, then who are you?" Laura finally asked, her voice shaking as her gaze returned to me.

"I am, or rather, I was named Asher." 'I' replied.

A soft gasp escaped Lily's lips, finally realizing that 'I' was actually serious, and Laura looked at me with a mix of confusion and fear in her eyes.

The room fell silent again, until seconds later, when Laura was finally able to gather her thoughts.

She reached out a hand toward my face as if trying to grasp the truth of what 'I' shared but retracted it, almost afraid of touching me.

"Why did you do this?" She asked, her words trembling with emotion, tears in her eyes.

"Why did you take over my son's body?"

"I just died in that other world and then woke up here, that's all that happened, don't bother asking me how, I can't answer something I don't know."

There was another long moment of silence as they tried to understand what 'I' had just said.

Ending that silence, Lily spoke up, her voice filled with anger:

"So, all this time, you've been pretending to be our family, acting like how you thought Emir would be?"

Her bloodshot eyes narrowed on me as if threatening me to answer the truth.

'Look at her being mad... If not for us she'll die in the future.'

I had given up...

Now I only watched as my other half controlled my body, uncontested.

'Not really...'

'I deserve her anger. I always lied to them, and they were bound to find out, so this consequence was inevitable.'

'True.'

"Yes, I tried to act normal, but that was only for the sake of hiding all of this."

"Sweetie, this joke is a bit too cruel, isn't it? You almost got us there, but you can stop now, it's not funny," my mother said, her voice trembling.

"Please tell me that this is a joke, Emir Oliver."

"You can't be some fully grown man who died and was transported into the mind of my newborn child, right?" She pleaded as tears continued to spill out of her eyes.

"I don't know why or how it happened, but it did, and this is no joke, Laura."

'I get that your purpose is to cause a rift between us, but you're too monotone, they'll notice that.'

'You think? Look at her, she's going through it.'

'My' replies and almost unnatural way of talking, caused Laura to stutter out, as if was she going through a mental breakdown:

"No, no, no, something definitely happened to you..."

"You are sick, y-you can't believe him, Lily? Right, Lily?"

Lily was unresponsive, staring at me with a scrutinizing gaze.

"I-I didn't nurse a grown man, did I?"

"First they take my husband and now even my son?!"

Lily stood from her seat and held her mother tightly.

"Mom stop!"

"...Just stop, it's obvious that he is not lying. So please, calm down."

"You don't want to talk more in your state, you might say something that you would never be able to take back." Lily reprimanded.

But Laura ignored her and continued:

"But why now? Why tell us? Why not just hide it? WHY?!"

'My' gaze landed on my crying mother, her eyes reflecting mine.

'Say something believable at least.'

'Oh, we will.'

"...I couldn't keep it a secret anymore." 'I' said.

"It was something that I had to do..."

"I can't keep living a lie, I wanted to stop hiding everything, and just be honest for once."

"But why did you have to Asher?" Laura asked, her voice shaking.

"Why couldn't you have just told us the truth from the beginning?"

"I was confused, and I didn't know how you both would react. I thought that if I pretended to be Emir, everything would be okay."

"But it's not okay," Lily said, her voice softening.

"You lied to us, and that's not okay."

"I know," 'I' said.

"And I never meant to hurt you both, in fact, I wanted the opposite, to protect, but it seems that I failed, majorly."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"I replaced the baby that could have been your son, and I didn't want to keep hiding this from people who considered me family."

The air was thick with tension as they grappled with the reality of 'my' words.

Seconds felt like an eternity while they sat there, suspended in time.

Laura finally spoke up, her voice trembled with emotion, and I could see the struggle within her as she tried to process everything.

"So, what happens now?" She asked.

"Do you just go back to being Asher and leave us behind?"

'Yes.'

'...Never.'

The entire time I had quietly kept repeating a certain phrase in my mind.

'Endure your powerlessness...'

And endure I did.

Even though death felt like a lighter punishment... I somehow held it together.

I spent it watching the act unfold.

…It was all for this moment.

My calm façade shattered in an instant, as I drove all my willpower into moving my body.

"Y-ye..." 'I' coughed out, only to stop midway as my hands reached to cover my mouth.

I was just seconds away from ending our relationship then and there.

But now I was finally able to take back full control of my body.

My mind.

'How?'

'...'

'Oh, I see... It seems like we're not alone.'

'I won. Now fuck off.'

'It appears so... goodbye now, see us never.'

'See us never.'

"No... nothing but that." I stuttered while letting out a sigh of relief.

'Everything will be fine... Calm yourself...'

But I couldn't, anger was bubbling inside me and I needed to take it out on someone.

…I knew the perfect target.

[Lyra! What the fuck did you do to me?!] I roared, my voice seething with rage.

[I'm sorry, Emir, I really am... but you'll know everything when the time is right. I can't tell you now, or it will all wash down the drain.]

[You ruined everything.]

[…..I'm sorry.]

[Tell me this at least... Did you do this on your own accord?]

[No, please believe me when I say this, I'm forced the same as you, I even...]

[I-I'm sorry, but I can't say that...]

[I beg you, just continue moving forward, and when it's time, the reason for all of this will be shown to you.]

Interrupting our conversation, Lily spoke:

"We need time to think... we need time to process all of this."

"Of course," I replied, somehow able to compose myself as I nodded.

"Take all the time you need."

With that, I quickly left for my room, not wanting to show my face to them.

I looked straight in the mirror as I sat on the bed, a multitude of thoughts going through my head.

My pitch-black eyes were unfocused, while my face showed no emotion as if I couldn't yet process what just happened.

And I truly hadn't.

I simply couldn't understand how it all happened.

It was all so sudden.

Or was it?

'It happened right after my mistake yesterday.'

I soon understood that this was the trigger.

It could be that whatever Lyra reported resulted in this occurring today.

'Touché.'

I chuckled under my breath.

'And well...'

'It is what it is.'

In the many minutes that went by since I woke up, I experienced the five stages of grief.

Denial.

Anger.

Bargaining.

Depression.

And well... now after Accepting everything...

I wanted to add one more.

Revenge.

Letting out an exacerbated sigh, I leaned back on the wall as I looked up.

[I swear to whatever you believe in Lyra...]

[Whoever's responsible for this will pay the price, even if it's the last thing I do.]

My telepathic voice was seething with fury, as I gripped my hand so tightly, almost to the point of bleeding.

[I'm sorry.]

Lyra repeated, as all that she could do or say, was apologize.

I ignored her.

I knew that I, or rather, they, had deeply hurt my family...

And that there was nothing I could do about it now; I didn't even know if our relationship could ever be repaired.