Instinct took over. I sidestepped.
She adjusted mid-fall, throwing herself toward the coffee table instead. Her elbow cracked against the sharp corner, and she crumpled with a wail, tears streaming instantly.
"Sister!" Her voice was pure wounded betrayal. "Why did you push me?!"
Denys was already moving, his long strides eating up the distance. I stepped back reflexively, certain he was coming for me—
And then my collar pulled loose.
The top button gave way, revealing the dark red birthmark just below my collarbone.
The room went deathly still.
I watched the color drain from Denys's face. His eyes locked onto that mark like it was a ghost rising from the grave. Every muscle in his body went rigid.
"It's you." The words came out fractured, disbelieving. "It's really you."
He seized my wrist—not grabbing this time, but gripping, like I might dissolve if he let go. His fingers dug in hard enough to bruise, but his eyes—his eyes were wild with something I couldn't name. Shock. Recognition. And beneath it all, a desperate, almost feverish hope.
"Five years ago. That woman—" His voice cracked. "It was you."