"Adrian?" Aurora whispered, her voice trembling as her eyes welled with unshed tears. "Is it truly you?"
She rose to her feet, her breath unsteady.
"Well, Father said so," Adrian replied.
Aurora's brow furrowed in confusion.
"What do you mean—Father? Who—"
Jonathan's deep voice cut through the air, steady and firm. "That is right. I am your father, Aurora. And it was I who saved Adrian. I tried to save your mother, but… it was too late." Aurora's head reeled, the world tilting beneath her feet.
She had never spared much thought for her father, for her mother had never spoken of him. It had never mattered before—her mother had loved her and Adrian well enough.
But now, to learn that her father had been alive all this time, to hear that the only memories missing from her mind were of the day her mother perished and those of Stephen and the others… It was too much to bear.
