Free Web NovelChapter 183: Chapter 183
Riley’s POV
I blinked, trying to picture it.
"I used to braid your hair for you," she continued, her voice calmer now but still filled with something emotional. "And sometimes I had to help you get dressed because you were always too impatient to do it properly."
I frowned slightly. "That doesn’t sound like me," I said, even though part of me already knew she wasn’t lying.
She smiled a little, like she expected me to say that. "It is you," she said. "Every part you Aem" She called in short which made pause for a minute, it sounded too familiar, like something that had been branded in my memory for a long time.
As her hand kept moving gently through my hair, something shifted again inside my head, and this time I recognized the feeling immediately because it had already happened once before.
Another chunk of memories started rushing in.
Not slowly. Not one at a time. They came in flashes, sharp and quick and very hurting.
I saw myself younger, sitting down while someone stood behind me, fixing my hair while I complained, trying to move away, and then I saw her again, Carian, laughing and telling me to stay still, her hands steady as she continued anyway like she was used to it.
Another flash came.
Me trying to rush out of somewhere, her stopping me and fixing my clothes properly before letting me go.
Another one.
Me arguing with her over something small, and her still helping me like it didn’t matter.
It kept going.
More moments.
More memories.
All of them real.
All of them mine.
And it made somehow cringe because I realized these weren’t things I had imagined or made up, these were things that had been taken from me, things I should have known all along.
She must have noticed the change in my expression because her hand stopped moving, and she slowly pulled it away from my hair, giving me space.
"You’re starting to remember," she said quietly.
I didn’t answer right away because I was still trying to process everything, trying to hold onto the flashes before they slipped away again.
After a moment, I looked at her.
"You said you wanted to see me," I said, bringing the conversation back because I needed to stay focused.
She nodded. "I’ve wanted to see you for a long time."
I hesitated slightly before asking the next question because this was the part that didn’t sit right with me.
"Summer said you want to come back," I said.
Her expression shifted again, becoming more serious.
"Yes," she replied.
I leaned forward slightly, watching her closely. "You can come back?" I asked, because that alone didn’t sound normal.
"Not on my own," she said.
I frowned. "What does that mean?"
She looked directly at me, not avoiding the question this time. "It means I can only come back with your help." ƒrēewebnovel.com
That made me pause, and I leaned back slightly, trying to understand what she was saying.
"My help?" I repeated, because that didn’t make sense to me yet.
She nodded. "Yes."
I stayed quiet for a moment, thinking, then asked the next question that came to mind because I needed to understand everything clearly.
"If you can move on," I said slowly, "why not just go to the afterlife instead of trying to come back?"
The moment the words left my mouth, I saw the change in her face immediately, and I knew I had said something wrong.
Her expression tightened slightly, and the way she looked at me changed.
"Do you want me gone that much?" she asked quietly.
That hit me hard, and I shook my head immediately.
"What? No," I said quickly, because that wasn’t what I meant at all.
"I didn’t mean it like that," I added, trying to fix it. "I just don’t understand why you would want to come back instead of moving on."
She stayed quiet for a moment, and I could tell she was thinking about it, and then she nodded slowly.
"I understand," she said.
Her voice was calm again, but I could still tell I had affected her, and that made me feel a little uncomfortable because hurting her wasn’t my intention.
I exhaled slightly and looked at her again. "Is there a reason you want to come back?" I asked.
"Yes," she said without hesitation.
I held her gaze. "What reason?"
She didn’t answer immediately, and that made me narrow my eyes slightly because it felt like she was choosing her words carefully.
Then I asked something else."Is it because of Gunnar?" I said.
She went silent. Completely silent. And that silence told me enough.
I didn’t speak, I just watched her, waiting for her to speak to confirm my words.
After a few seconds, she looked away briefly, then back at me.
"A little," she admitted.
I raised a brow. "A little?"
She nodded. "Part of it is because of him."
That made sense, at least a little, but it didn’t feel like the full answer.
"But not entirely," she added.
I leaned forward again, more serious now. "Then what’s the main reason?" I asked.
She looked at me in a way that made me swallow hard slightly because something about it told me I wasn’t going to like what came next.
"The main reason I want to come back," she said slowly, making sure I heard every word clearly, "is to fix something I did."
I didn’t interrupt her, I just waited.
"What did you do?" I asked.
She didn’t look away this time."I commited a sin," she said.
That word didn’t sit right with me at all but I still wanted to know.
"A sin against who?" I asked, even though I already had a bad feeling about it.
She held my gaze.
"Against you,"
