CHAPTER 34 – THE FACE I NEVER Knew
Rina
I couldn't breathe.
The moment his eyes met mine, everything inside me froze. The restaurant noise dulled, like someone had turned the volume down on the world, and all I could hear was the frantic pounding of my own heart.
He looked exactly like them.
Not just similar. Not just a passing resemblance that could be brushed off as coincidence. Exactly.
And suddenly, I was back in that hotel room.
The smell of cheap cologne and spilled wine. The muffled laughter outside the door. The sound of my own ragged breaths as the world spun and spun.
I had spent five years trying to lock that memory away, trying to pretend that night had never happened. And now, here he was flesh and blood and impossibly real.
My stomach twisted.
He wasn't just some faceless stranger anymore. He was the man who had taken everything from me.
I felt bile rise in my throat.
"Mommy," Lila whispered, tugging my sleeve, pointing. "That man looks like us."
Lyra giggled. "He is us! He looks like Daddy!"
The word hit me like a gunshot.
Rage and panic surged together, hot and sharp.
Before I even thought, I was on my feet, pulling them close. "Liora, we're leaving."
She blinked but didn't argue, tossing money on the table.
I didn't look back at him.
I couldn't.
If I did, I might throw the nearest glass at his perfect, arrogant face.
The ride home was a blur.
"Mommy?" Lila's voice was small, worried. "Did we do something bad?"
"No, baby." My voice came out strangled.
Lyra tilted her head, frowning. "Then why do you look mad?"
Because I hate him.
Because if what I've always suspected is true, then he was part of the reason I lost everything.
But I couldn't tell them that. Not yet.
"Mommy's just tired," I lied. "We'll talk later."
When we finally got home, I collapsed on the couch, my whole body buzzing with fury and fear.
Liora sat across from me, quiet for a long moment before she spoke.
"Okay," she said. "Who was he?"
My nails dug into my palms. "The man from that night."
Her face softened. "Rina…"
"I knew it the second I saw him," I spat. "It wasn't just the girls' faces. It was the way he looked at me, like he recognized me too. Like he knew."
Liora hesitated. "Do you think he was involved?"
My throat tightened. "Of course he was involved! Who else could have been there that night unless he was part of it? My stepfamily set me up, and he just happened to be in that hotel room? Please."
The words were bitter, but they were the truth I had carried for years.
"They destroyed me, Liora. They made sure my life ended that night my name, my reputation, my future. And he was the final blow."
Liora didn't argue, didn't defend him just watched me, letting me vent.
I buried my face in my hands. "I don't want him near my kids."
"You might not get a choice," she said gently.
"I'll fight him." My voice shook, but my resolve didn't. "If he tries to take them from me, I will fight him with everything I have."
That night, I stood in the twins' doorway, staring at their sleeping faces.
They were so peaceful, so perfect. They had no idea that the man who had given them life had just walked back into mine.
My chest ached as the hatred simmered, tangled with fear.
I didn't care if he was rich, powerful, or untouchable he wasn't taking them.
I won't cry.
He wasn't going to win.
I will never let them.
Not again.