This chapter takes you one step closer to the truth.In silence, the most uncomfortable truths lie hidden.But when memories begin to speak, nothing remains where it once belonged.
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Helen’s face, tense with worry, didn’t escape her husband, Adam. With a tender gesture, he took her hand and met her eyes, searching for what her words weren’t saying.
“Your face tells me it’s been a rough day,” he said softly, though his voice carried concern. “What’s troubling you, honey? Did something new happen with Ley?”
Helen let out a weary sigh, the weight of the day etched in her gaze. “I can’t say exactly. Nothing specific happened, but ever since I told her about the cause of her paralysis, about the bracelet and everything else, it feels like she’s been slipping deeper into herself with each passing day. Her torment is eating away at both of us. Ley isn’t like the other girls. She’s strong, determined to walk again, but I’m afraid she won’t easily surrender to this new life. She’s restless to get out, furious she’s still not allowed. She keeps saying only prisoners are locked away.”
Adam furrowed his brow, his expression darkened. “Have you brought this up with your superiors? I just don’t get why they’re keeping her confined. She’s got every right to feel that way, because she is! What are they still afraid of? Haven’t they done enough by leaving her like that?”
A lump formed in Helen’s throat; tears threatened to spill. “Adam! How can you say that? I’ve tried, but I get nowhere. They keep saying they can’t risk unrest in the city and that, before they introduce her to the others, she has to prove she’s more compliant and follow the rules. But they don’t understand that locking her away could make things worse.”
Adam studied her with a look that mixed compassion and firmness. “Part of this, whether you mean to or not, comes from what you tell them. They only know what you report. For once, set duty aside and actually listen to Ley,” he murmured, running his fingers slowly through her hair in a calming gesture.
Helen dropped her gaze, sorrowful. He didn’t relent. “Maybe there are fragments of her old life stuck somewhere in her memory. Like what happened with the Red twins… or others we know nothing about.”
Helen csped her hands together as if in prayer, her voice trembling with fear. “Adam, please! I know what you mean by ‘memories.’ I beg you, don’t keep pushing these theories. You know what would happen if the wrong people heard you. The very thought terrifies me. Promise me you won’t say a word to Ley. She’s already suffered enough.”
Adam kissed the top of her head and pulled her close, but he wouldn’t let go of his convictions. “I’m sorry, love, but we both know we can’t blindly trust everything they tell us. And I can’t keep tolerating the brutal ways they punish anyone who breaks the rules. Don’t you see? They’re just trying to force their version of reality on us.”
“And what proof do you have that there’s another reality?” she shot back, her frustration spilling out.
“I’m not the only one who thinks this way. People are scared, they’d rather stay quiet and hide behind a veil that makes everything seem easier. Just like you. If you really care about that girl, then make sure she understands the rules before she ever leaves that room, otherwise she could get herself in trouble. I’ve worked with kids my whole life. In the library, I listen, I watch, I understand. And just like with the Red twins, I believe there are others among us who remember pieces of the lives they had before. And those memories… they tear apart everything we’ve been told since the day we arrived in Edenlost.”
Adam, a few years older than Helen, was around sixty-five. An unassuming man by appearance, yet quietly charismatic: salt-and-pepper hair, brown eyes, tall and broad-shouldered, still athletic. He wore simple but well-kept clothes, complemented by accessories like a belt, a watch, and sometimes sungsses.
He’d been taken from his previous life at thirteen and put to work as a librarian. Books gave him protection and comfort. He had never fully accepted life in Edenlost, and for years he had quietly confided his doubts to his wife, though she refused even to consider them.
They’d married at around thirty and had been inseparable ever since: true partners in every sense.
That night, Helen stayed awake long after Adam had gone to bed. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Ley’s gaze: sharp, intense and impatient. In that restless silence, she realized a simple yet powerful truth: she could no longer just obey.
It was time to break the pattern.
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? The story doesn’t end here.
If you’re following Ley’s journey, thank you for being part of it. Every read, every return, truly matters.
Edenlost – The Borderless City is a complete novel, avaible on Amazon for readers who want to experience the full story without waiting, from the first question to the final revetion.
? Read on Amazon:https:///dp/B0FFN36JV3
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