Chapter 2

Aja felt a sense of release that Aubrey had never known. The weight of betrayal, the crushing self-blame-it was all gone. Replaced by a cold, clear purpose. Aubrey had given her the keys. Now, it was time to drive.

She went back to Dr. Sharma the next day.

"Aubrey's gone," Aja stated, her voice flat.

Dr. Sharma' s professional calm didn't waver. She just watched her, her eyes perceptive. "What do you mean, 'gone'?"

"She gave up. She asked me to take over. So I did."

"This is a common occurrence in DID systems," Dr. Sharma explained. "It's called integration, or sometimes, one alter becomes dominant to handle the outside world. The original host can become dormant. We can work towards bringing her back, towards healing."

Aja shook her head. "No. Healing isn't the goal. Justice is. Aubrey's resting. She deserves the peace. I'll handle the rest."

She felt a strange countdown clock in her mind. Aubrey wasn' t dead, but she was asleep. Aja had a limited window before the world, or perhaps Alexander, tried to force the broken, gentle woman to the surface again. She couldn' t let that happen.

A few days later, her phone rang. It was Alexander.

"Aubrey? Where are you? I've been worried."

Aja almost laughed at the fake concern in his voice. She agreed to meet him at a small cafe, a neutral ground.

He was already there when she arrived, looking agitated. He stood up and tried to hug her, but she sidestepped him and sat down.

His arms fell awkwardly to his sides. "Aubrey, I..."

He looked into her eyes, and for the first time, he seemed to see that something was different. A flicker of confusion crossed his face.

"You look... different."

"Prison changes a person," Aja said, her voice cool.

He sat down, leaning forward, his hands clasped on the table. He launched into a well-rehearsed speech about their history, their love, the company they built together from his dorm room. He reminded her of how she' d quit her own promising academic career to support his dream.

"I never forgot that, Aubrey. Everything I did... I did it with you in mind."

Aja listened, her expression unreadable. She remembered Aubrey' s memories of this man-the warmth of his hand, the easy laugh. But all Aja felt was the cold, hard reality of his betrayal. The man Aubrey loved was a fantasy. This creature sitting in front of her was the truth.

"I have a condition," Aja said, cutting him off.

He blinked. "A condition?"

"DID. Dissociative Identity Disorder. The doctors in prison diagnosed it. The trauma... it split me."

Alexander stared at her. Then he threw his head back and laughed. It was a condescending, dismissive sound.

"Oh, Aubrey. Is this some new tactic? Some new game to make me feel guilty? You're not crazy. You're just being dramatic."

"I am not Aubrey," Aja said quietly.

"I love you," he insisted, ignoring her. "I've always loved you. Katerina... she was a mistake. A moment of weakness. She means nothing."

"You let me go to prison for a year as a 'lesson'," Aja reminded him, her voice like ice.

"It was a mistake!" he said, his voice rising. "I was wrong. I admit it. But we can get past this. We have to. I need you."

He wanted her to compromise. To accept Katerina's presence in their lives, at least for now. He talked about Katerina being "vulnerable" and "dependent" on him. He spun a tale of obligation and responsibility.

"We took an oath, Alexander," Aja said, quoting the words Aubrey had cried over for three years. "In sickness and in health. For better or for worse."

He had the audacity to look uncomfortable. "That's different."

"Is it?"

"Katerina will be gone soon," he promised, his eyes pleading. "I just need some time to handle it, to get her set up somewhere else. Then it will be just us again. I swear it."

He reached across the table, taking her hand. Aubrey would have melted. Aja felt nothing but the clammy touch of a liar.

"You'll see," he said, misinterpreting her silence as acquiescence. "Everything will go back to the way it was."

Aja pulled her hand away slowly. How could anything go back? The man Aubrey loved had never existed. He had been changing for years, his success feeding a narcissism that consumed everything in its path. Aubrey had just refused to see it.

She remembered Aubrey' s first suspicion. A late-night text. The scent of another woman's perfume on his shirt. When she had confronted him, he'd gaslighted her, called her paranoid, made her feel like she was the one with the problem.

He had broken her long before Katerina ever stepped off that cliff.

"I want a divorce, Alexander," Aja said.

The confident mask fell. Panic flashed in his eyes. "No. Don't say that. We can fix this. I'll do anything."

Anything except the one thing that mattered. He had never intended to leave Katerina. He wanted both. The respectable, supportive wife and the exciting, illicit mistress. He was a king who believed he was entitled to his entire kingdom.

"I will fix this," he said again, his voice regaining its command. "I will get rid of her. I promise you, Aubrey. Just give me a little time."

Aja looked at him, at the desperate sincerity he was trying to project. It was a masterful performance. But she wasn't the audience he was used to.

"You promise?" Aja asked, her tone unreadable.

"I promise."