Gunnar’s POV

Riley almost collapsed right in front of us.

Her legs gave out so fast that Cane had to catch her before she hit the ground. He grabbed her arms tightly while she stared at him like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

"No," she whispered. "No, it can’t be."

Her breathing turned rough immediately. She pressed her hand hard against her chest and looked like she was struggling to breathe properly.

"Riley," Cane said carefully, "everything I’m telling you is the truth."

She shook her head quickly. "No. No, stop saying that."

"That woman Daphne killed was your mother’s guard, she protected you for years in Crescent Hollow. Your mother trusted her with your life before she died."

Riley’s lips trembled badly.

"And Daphne murdered her."

Riley let out a broken sound and bent forward slightly like the words physically hurt her. Cane kept holding her steady while she struggled to calm herself down.

"Why?" she cried out. "Why would Daphne do that?"

"Because your uncle wanted every person connected to you dead," Cane answered. "He wanted you isolated. No protection. No one to tell you the truth."

Riley looked at him with tears running freely down her face now.

"So all this time..." she whispered. "Everything was planned?"

The silence after that became unbearable.

I stood there watching her completely break apart in front of us and for the first time in a long while, I genuinely hated myself for keeping all of this.

"Your uncle has been trying to kill you for years," Cane continued. "Daphne wasn’t the only one sent after you."

Riley slowly looked up at him."What?"

"There were others."

She frowned through tears."What others?"

"Assassins. Hunters. Spies. Some got close to you without you even realizing it, some even work in your company, even the closest of people around you."

Riley stared at him blankly.

"But none of them succeeded," Cane said. "Your mother placed a protection spell around you before she sent you away from Elyndorath."

Riley’s eyes widened slightly."A spell?"

"That’s why direct attacks against you kept failing. Your mother knew enemies would come after you one day."

Riley slowly covered her mouth with her hand.

"So my whole life..." she whispered shakily. "People were trying to kill me and I didn’t even know?"

Cane nodded slowly.

I watched Riley take several unsteady steps backward away from all of us. She looked overwhelmed. Angry. Confused. Hurt. She kept staring at the floor like she was trying to make sense of everything at once.

Then suddenly she looked up again.

"And Ethan?" she asked quietly.

The moment she said his name, nobody answered immediately.

Riley noticed that silence instantly. "What about Ethan?" she repeated.

Caden rubbed the back of his neck while Cane looked away briefly. I already knew she wasn’t going to like whatever answer came next.

"Ethan didn’t know everything at first," Cane finally said.

"At first?" Riley repeated sharply.

"He only found out later."

Her eyes narrowed immediately. "And he still treated me like shit?"

Nobody answered her again.

That made her laugh bitterly. "Wow."

She wiped her tears aggressively and looked at all of us one after another.

"This is actually insane."

"Riley-"

"No," she snapped at Cane. "Don’t Riley me right now."

Her voice echoed through the room sharply. "You all knew this whole time?"

Cane sighed quietly. "We were trying to protect you."

"By lying to me?"

"It wasn’t that simple."

"Oh really?" she laughed bitterly again. "Because it feels pretty damn simple to me."

She pointed at Cane angrily. "You knew everything about me"

Then she pointed at Caden. "You knew too."

Then her eyes landed on me.

"And you..." she said quietly.

I held her stare without speaking.

"You looked me with cold glares in the face every single day and never said anything."

I stepped toward her slowly. "We couldn’t."

"There!" she shouted immediately. "That stupid answer again!"

Her chest rose and fell heavily as she stared at us.

"What do you mean you couldn’t?"

"Because if your uncle found out you remembered anything about Elyndorath," Cane explained, "he would’ve come after you himself. That was why your memories was wiped in the first place."

"But he already did!" Riley shouted back. "He killed my parents!"

The room went silent again. Riley looked completely shattered saying those words out loud.

"My whole life was fake," she whispered.

"No," Cane said immediately. "Not all of it."

"How wasn’t it fake?" she asked angrily. "The people around me lied to me. My memories mean nothing now. I don’t even know who I am anymore."

I hated hearing that.

Caden suddenly walked toward her carefully.

"You won’t go through this alone," he said quietly.

Riley looked at him immediately.

"We’ll go with you to Elyndorath."

She stared at him for a few seconds before laughing softly like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

"Wait a minute, how come you all suddenly care and telling me these things?"

"We’ve always cared."

"Bullshit." she snapped at Caden this time. "I’m serious. Why are you all suddenly acting nice toward me?"

She folded her arms tightly around herself. "I used to be Ethan’s boring wife, remember?"

"You were never boring," I said before I could stop myself.

Her eyes immediately moved to me. "Oh really?"

She scoffed loudly. "That’s funny coming from you."

I frowned slightly. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Do you want me to remind you?" she asked coldly. "Just a while ago, you almost slept with my sister."

Nobody spoke.

Riley laughed again but there was no humor in it. "Exactly."

Caden cursed quietly under his breath.

Then Riley looked directly at me.

"And Gunnar," she continued, "do you remember when you told me you wanted to know why Carian played her death?"

I stayed quiet.

"I saw your face that day," she continued. "You looked guilty as hell. She occupied your damn head."

"That’s not what you think," I answered immediately.

"Oh please," she snapped. "Don’t insult my intelligence."