The door opened slowly.
Not dramatic.Not violent.
Just enough for the hallway light to spill into the room.
Mira didn't step back.
That alone made Rayan's chest tighten.
For years—whatever those years contained—she had always moved away first. Braced. Protected the child. Prepared for impact.
But now she just stood there.
Still guarded. Still tense.
But standing.
Behind her, Isha clung to her shirt, wide-eyed and silent.
Rayan didn't move.
The memory that had started to break open in his head was still pushing forward like a storm trapped behind glass.
Blood.
Tile.
A scream that refused to leave his ears.
His stomach twisted violently.
"What did I do?" he asked, barely above a whisper.
The question landed between them like something alive.
Mira's face didn't change immediately.
But her eyes did.
Something old moved there. Something heavy.
"You don't remember?" she asked.
Rayan shook his head slowly.
"I feel it," he admitted. "But I don't see it."
That answer made her laugh.
A quiet, broken sound.
"Of course you don't."
The words weren't cruel.
They were tired.
Years-tired.
Silence stretched across the hallway.
Rayan forced himself to keep his hands visible, loose at his sides.
He didn't step closer.
He didn't dare.
"I'm not asking for forgiveness," he said carefully."I just… need to know what kind of man I was."
The air in the room shifted.
Mira stared at him for a long time.
Long enough that Rayan felt every second like a weight pressing on his ribs.
Then—
"Isha," she said softly.
The child looked up.
"Go sit on the bed."
The little girl hesitated, glancing between them like she understood more than she should.
But she obeyed.
The moment she moved away, the temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Because now the conversation had no shield.
"You want to know?" Mira said.
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
Rayan nodded once.
She took a slow breath.
"You broke the kitchen table."
A flicker of memory.
Wood splitting.
His stomach dropped.
"You threw a plate," she continued.
Another flash.
Sound exploding against a wall.
He staggered slightly.
"And the night you're remembering…"
Her voice almost cracked.
But she forced it steady.
"You didn't stop when I asked."
The words hit like ice water.
Rayan's head throbbed violently.
Images slammed harder against the barrier in his mind.
Her backing away.
His shadow on the wall.
The child crying somewhere in the house.
He grabbed the doorframe to stay upright.
"I didn't—" he started.
But the sentence collapsed.
Because deep down—
something inside him knew she wasn't lying.
Across the room, Mira watched him carefully.
Waiting.
Testing.
Because part of her expected anger.
Denial.
Blame.
That was the pattern.
But instead—
Rayan looked sick.
Actually sick.
Like the memories were poison.
That confused her more than rage ever could.
"You see why the locks exist," she said quietly.
Rayan nodded slowly.
"Yes."
No excuses.
No arguments.
Just that.
For a moment, the room held a strange stillness neither of them understood.
Then—
Isha's small voice broke it.
"Mama…"
Both adults turned.
The little girl was staring at Rayan.
Not with fear.
Not fully.
Just uncertainty.
"Papa crying?"
Rayan touched his face.
His fingers came away wet.
He hadn't noticed.
And that was the moment Mira's chest cracked open.
Not forgiveness.
Not trust.
Just something human she hadn't felt toward him in years.
Confusion.
Because monsters didn't usually look like that.
The problem was—
she had seen him be one.
Which version was real?
Which one would stay?
Inside Rayan's mind, the shadow shifted again.
Watching.
Waiting.
Careful, it whispered.Hope is dangerous.
Rayan closed his eyes.
And for the first time since waking in this life—
he felt truly afraid of himself.
That night, Mira didn't lock the door immediately.
She noticed it only after several minutes had passed.
Her hand hovered over the lock.
Thinking.
Thinking too much.
Then slowly—
click.
She locked it anyway.
Across the hall, Rayan heard it.
And nodded to himself in the dark.
"Fair."
But behind his closed eyes—
the memory was still growing.
And the worst part hadn't surfaced yet.
End of Episode 7