Aurora laughed faintly, despite her exhaustion. "That’s because you never give the chance to replace you."
Their laughter drew small smiles from the others. Olivia sighed. "Emily really does love you like her own goddaughter."
Emily smiled back modestly.
When the room cald a little, Olivia brought a bowl of porridge to Aurora. "Eat this before you take your dicine."
Aurora wrinkled her nose. "dicine again? I’m fine. It was just a small coma..."
Everyone’s eyes widened slightly at her nonchalance, but before anyone could scold her, she suddenly turned toward Mary.
"Mom," Aurora said softly, "did I... know Spencer when I was a child?"
Her question dropped into the room like a stone into still water.
Mary blinked, montarily startled.
"Why are you asking such a question, dear?"
There was a glint that flashed in her eyes, which Aurora missed as she was busy thinking about her dream.
"I saw a dream in which I t a miniature version of Spencer."
Mary and Adam exchanged a look before reaching a decision.
"Spencer? No, dear. You t him only in high school."
Olivia frowned thoughtfully, as if recalling sothing, but stayed quiet.
Adriana and Lucas exchanged puzzled glances, while Theodore raised an eyebrow. Adam, however, turned away, his jaw tightening ever so slightly.
Though Aurora was disappointed, she decided that since it was just a dream, she wouldn’t think much about it.
After all, dreams were just fragnts of the subconscious.... strange, scattered pieces of emotion and mory stitched together by sleep.
Smiling faintly, she muttered to herself, "It was probably because I miss him too much... that’s all."
Turning to her family, who still hovered around her bed with worried faces, she forced a reassuring smile.
"Really, everyone, I’m fine now. You don’t need to worry so much. It was just a weird dream. I probably had it because I miss my boyfriend, that’s all."
Mary pressed her lips together, clearly unconvinced, but seeing the light returning to Aurora’s eyes after four days of unconsciousness, she finally nodded.
Olivia brushed a few strands of hair from Aurora’s forehead and said softly, "Alright, but you’re still weak. Rest a bit longer. We’ll be outside if you need anything."
Aurora nodded, and one by one, her family mbers left the room.
Once the door clicked shut, Aurora let out a long sigh and sank back onto her bed, her gaze fixed on the ceiling. "Just a dream," she whispered again. "It has to be."
Yet, no matter how many tis she repeated those words, the image of little Spencer, his dark hair, his gentle smile, his blue eyes gleaming under the afternoon sun, refused to fade from her mind.
anwhile, in the living room outside her room, the Waters family stood in tense silence. The atmosphere felt heavy, almost suffocating, until Olivia finally broke it.
"Why did we even lie to her?" she asked, her tone sharp, filled with restrained frustration. "Why didn’t we tell Aurora that she and Spencer were childhood friends?"
Mary’s expression darkened. She looked at Olivia with a mix of pity and exhaustion before replying softly,
"Because we can’t, Olivia. Didn’t you see what happened just now? The mont she dreamt about those mories, she went into a coma for four days. If we tell her everything, she might not survive the shock."
Olivia bit her lip. "But..."
Mary raised a hand gently, stopping her.
"Listen to , Liv. Aurora didn’t forget those mories by accident. Her mind chose to seal them away because they were too painful to bear. The doctors warned us back then... if she ever tried to rember everything forcefully, her brain could experience severe neurological stress. It could trigger seizures, even another coma."
Olivia’s mouth tightened. Deep down, she understood Mary’s reasoning, yet a pang of guilt gnawed at her chest.
She turned away slightly, her voice trembling. "I know you’re trying to protect her... but I just can’t stand seeing her so clueless. She’s living her life without knowing what really happened, without rembering how much that boy ant to her."
Her voice softened as her mind drifted back to years ago.
"Back then, I didn’t like Spencer. I thought he was a scheming little rich kid trying to manipulate Aurora. I didn’t want my naive, innocent sister getting hurt, so I kept them apart whenever I could. But the day they separated..." Olivia’s eyes glistened. "I saw that boy cry, Mom. He cried like his whole world was falling apart. That was when I realized how much they truly ant to each other."
Her voice broke slightly, and Adriana gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Liv," she said quietly, "I understand how you feel. But maybe Mom’s right. Maybe it’s best to let Aurora rember naturally. Forcing her might do more harm than good."
Mary nodded in agreent, her voice steady but heavy.
"Exactly. It would be cruel to throw those mories at her all at once. Let ti do its work. The fact that she dread about it at all ans her mind is starting to heal; it’s slowly unlocking what it sealed away. That’s a good sign."
Olivia took a deep breath and finally nodded.
"Alright... we’ll let ti handle it. But if she rembers everything one day, she’ll know we kept this from her."
Mary’s eyes softened with sorrow.
"When that day cos, I’ll take responsibility. Until then, we just have to protect her. from the past and from herself."
The others agreed silently. They knew Mary was right. Even so, unease still lingered in their hearts.
anwhile, back inside the room, Aurora glanced toward her bedside table, and there it was. Her phone, carefully tucked under a folded towel. A small smile touched her lips. "Emily..." she murmured. "You really are the best."
Grateful for her thoughtful assistant, she grabbed the phone and quickly dialed Spencer’s number.
The line barely rang once before his deep, slightly hoarse voice answered, "Aurora? Finally."
"Spencer?" she said softly.
His tone sharpened imdiately. "Where have you been for the past five days? I called Emily, and she told you were sleeping. For five days? Who sleeps for that long? And why didn’t you tell anything?"
Aurora winced at the scolding in his voice. "Calm down, I’m fine," she said quickly, trying to sound lighthearted. "I just wanted to test sothing."
There was a pause on the other end. "...Test what?"
"Your loyalty," she said, grinning despite the situation. "I wanted to see how you’d react if I didn’t ssage or call for five days. And from what I can tell, you passed! You didn’t flirt with anyone else or get bored, right?"
"Aurora," Spencer’s voice dropped, firm and serious now. "Do you really think I don’t know what’s going on? Your voice sounds weak. You’ve been sick, haven’t you?"
Aurora froze. "N-no, I just..."
"Don’t lie to ," he interrupted. "If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll fly to New York myself. And if I do that... well, it won’t just be you who’s in danger. I might get killed too."
Aurora’s heart stopped. "Shut up!" she snapped instinctively. "Don’t say things like that, Spencer!"
Her voice trembled slightly... not with anger, but with fear.
Spencer let out a low breath. When he spoke again, his tone was softer, gentler.
"Do you feel that fear, Aurora? That’s how I felt for the past five days... not knowing if you were alive, not knowing what was happening to you. I was this close to getting on a plane."
Aurora’s anger lted into guilt. She sighed and said quietly, "I’m sorry, Spencer. I just didn’t want to worry you."
"Then tell everything," he said.
So, she did. She told him about the dream, the strange feeling of becoming her ten-year-old self, the mansion, and the little boy who looked exactly like him.
When she finished, she laughed softly. "It was so weird. Maybe I’ve just been thinking about you too much. I even imagined your miniature version!"
There was silence on the other end of the line. Spencer lay back on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. His throat tightened, and his eyes burned slightly.
After a mont, he forced a quiet chuckle. "Indeed, Aurora," he said in a low voice. "A strange dream, huh?"
But deep down, his heart twisted. It wasn’t a dream... it was their mory. The one she had lost.
He rembered that day vividly... the steps of the mansion, the sunlight in her hair, the promise about chocolates. He rembered how they had laughed, and how everything changed soon after.
The Waters family had made him promise never to ntion it again. They said that if Aurora ever rembered on her own, it would be a miracle. But if he tried to force it, she could break. And now, after all these years, she was dreaming about it again.
He exhaled slowly and replied with forced lightness, "Maybe I should co over and see for myself if you’re missing that much."
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