Ophelia hated hidden rooms.
Truly.
Deeply.
Passionately.
Because every single time she entered one, she either:
got traumatized, discovered another family secret, or nearly collapsed from visions.
At this point, she deserved financial compensation.
Alekxander carefully helped her sit down on one of the old chairs nearby.
“You need to breathe slowly.”
“I am breathing slowly,” Ophelia muttered weakly.
She absolutely was not.
Her head still hurt badly.
The vision kept replaying over and over again inside her mind.
Mireille Ashbourne’s terrified face.
The little girl.
The man with the black ring.
And the worst part?
That voice.
Again.
Always that same voice.
Close enough to recognize.
But never enough to place properly.
Cassian paced nearby while reading through more documents quickly.
The tension in the room kept growing.
“That means the Society never really disappeared,” he said quietly.
Alekxander’s expression stayed cold.
“No. They just learned to hide better.”
Ophelia rubbed her forehead slowly.
“I have a question.”
Cassian looked up.
“Only one?”
She ignored him.
“If the Society feared people like Ophelia…” she hesitated slightly, “then why keep them alive at all?”
Silence followed.
And for some reason, that silence scared her immediately.
Cassian looked away first.
Alekxander’s jaw tightened.
Oh no.
“Oh my God,” Ophelia whispered.
“I’m not going to like this answer, am I?”
“No,” Alekxander admitted quietly.
Great.
Wonderful.
“They believed certain abilities could be controlled,” he continued carefully.
“Used.”
Used.
The word made her stomach twist painfully.
Cassian finally spoke again.
“The Ashbourne women were valuable to them.”
Not human.
Not important.
Valuable.
Ophelia suddenly felt sick.
Her fingers tightened slightly against the chair.
“So basically…” her voice came out quieter now, “people like me were treated like tools.”
No one answered.
Because yes.
The room suddenly felt suffocating again.
“I need air.”
Alekxander moved instantly.
“You shouldn’t leave alone.”
“I’m literally underground with secret cult history and ghost memories,” she snapped softly.
“I don’t think being alone is currently my biggest problem.”
Silence.
Cassian wisely stayed out of it.
Ophelia turned away before either man could stop her and walked deeper into the hidden room instead.
Old shelves lined the walls everywhere.
Books.
Letters.
Records.
Years and years of secrets buried underground.
The whispers returned softly around her.
Not loud this time.
Almost sad.
“Too late…”
“She found out…”
“Run…”
Ophelia stopped near another shelf quietly.
Her chest felt heavy suddenly.
Because for the first time since waking up here…
She finally understood something clearly.
The original Ophelia had been terrified.
Not dramatic.
Not emotional.
Terrified.
And nobody saved her.
A strange ache settled in Ophelia’s chest at the thought.
Because somehow, despite never truly meeting her…
She felt connected to her now.
Like two people caught in the same nightmare.
Her gaze drifted toward an old wooden box sitting near the corner of the shelf.
Unlike everything else in the room, it looked untouched.
Almost hidden.
Ophelia frowned slightly.
Slowly, she crouched beside it.
The whispers immediately grew louder.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Bad sign.
Very bad sign.
But before she could stop herself, her fingers brushed against the lid.
The vision came instantly.
Young Ophelia again.
Older this time.
Maybe sixteen.
She sat inside this same room crying quietly while writing something quickly into a journal.
“I can’t trust anyone anymore,” she whispered shakily.
Tears rolled down her face.
“They’re all lying.”
The younger Ophelia looked terrified.
Exhausted.
Alone.
Then suddenly…
The hidden door opened.
Young Alekxander stepped inside.
Ophelia froze.
He looked younger too.
Less cold somehow.
But the moment he saw her crying, his expression changed immediately.
Young Ophelia stood up quickly.
“You promised me my mother died naturally.”
Silence.
Alekxander stopped moving.
Oh no.
“You knew,” she whispered brokenly.
Pain flashed across his face instantly.
“I found out later.”
“But you still hid it from me.”
Young Ophelia laughed weakly through tears.
“Do you have any idea how alone I feel?”
The room felt painfully quiet after that.
Alekxander looked like he wanted to say something.
But nothing came out.
Then finally.
“I was trying to protect you.”
The exact same words.
Again.
Young Ophelia shook her head slowly.
“No,” she whispered.
“You were trying to protect yourself too.”
The vision shattered violently.
Ophelia gasped sharply and stumbled backward into reality again.
A pair of hands steadied her immediately.
Alekxander.
Of course.
His grip tightened slightly around her arms.
“What did you see?”
Ophelia stared at him quietly.
And suddenly…
She understood something she hadn’t before.
The original Ophelia didn’t just die scared.
She died heartbroken too.
Because she loved him.
And part of her believed he betrayed her.
The realization hit painfully hard.
Alekxander looked genuinely worried now.
“Ophelia.”
She slowly pulled away from him.
Not harshly.
Just enough to breathe properly again.
“You knew about her mother.”
Silence.
That alone answered everything.
Cassian looked uncomfortable immediately.
Alekxander closed his eyes briefly.
“Yes.”
Ophelia laughed softly under her breath.
Not happy.
Just tired.
“So every vision I see just keeps proving the same thing.”
His expression tightened slightly.
“And what is that?”
Ophelia looked directly at him this time.
“That everyone she trusted eventually lied to her.”
The words landed heavily between them.
Alekxander went completely still.
And for the first time since meeting him…
Ophelia watched him look genuinely ashamed.