obk_Writter

Evelyn Hart, a talented but emotionally scarred architect, has spent years building a new life under a borrowed identity. After the tragic death of her best friend, Sophia, Evelyn assumed Sophia’s name to escape her own troubled past. Now, she’s hired to restore a crumbling 19th-century mansion, where she meets Liam Carter, a charming historian with a mysterious air.  

As they work together, their connection deepens, and Evelyn begins to let her guard down. But Liam has secrets of his own. Unbeknownst to Evelyn, he’s not a historian but a journalist investigating Sophia’s disappearance—a case that has haunted him for years.  

Just as Evelyn considers confessing her true identity, a shocking discovery in the mansion’s walls turns everything upside down. A hidden letter suggests Sophia’s death was no accident, and Evelyn may have been involved. To make matters worse, Liam reveals he’s known the truth about Evelyn all along. He fell in love with *her*, not the persona she was pretending to be, but their relationship is now tangled in a web of lies, betrayal, and danger.  

Can love survive when it’s built on a foundation of lies? And what happens when the truth threatens to destroy everything they’ve built?

THE LIES WE KEEP FOR LOVE

You've probably felt it before—the weight of regret pressing down on you like a heavy blanket, suffocating and impossible to shake off. For Evelyn Harper, that feeling never truly went away. It followed her everywhere, even into the quiet corners of Blackthorn Manor.

Evelyn lay awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling. The discovery in the hidden chamber had left her shaken, unable to sleep. Margaret Whitmore's warning echoed in her mind:

They know about Evelyn Harper.

How? Why? And who exactly were "they"?

Her thoughts turned to Claire, her best friend whose death still haunted her dreams. That night three years ago kept replaying in her head—the argument, the anger, the guilt. She'd promised herself she wouldn't think about it anymore, but here it was again, creeping back into her life through the walls of this old mansion.

In the early hours of the morning, Evelyn gave in to the urge to confront her memories. Pulling out an old notebook she'd kept hidden in her apartment, she flipped through its pages. Each entry chronicled her friendship with Claire—the laughter, the fights, the plans they'd made together.

Claire says she feels like someone's watching us. I told her she's being paranoid, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe there's more to this than we realize.

Evelyn reread the words, her heart sinking. At the time, she'd dismissed Claire's fears as overactive imagination. What if she'd been wrong? What if ignoring those warnings had cost Claire her life?

As she closed the notebook, something caught her eye—a folded piece of paper tucked inside. Unfolding it revealed a list of names and dates, along with a note scrawled in Claire's handwriting:

If anything happens to me, check these places first. They might hold answers.

Below the note was a map of Seabrook, marked with several locations—including Blackthorn Manor.

Evelyn froze. Why would Claire mention this house? Had she known something Evelyn didn't?

Before she could dwell on it further, her phone buzzed with a text from Liam:

> Hey, thought you might want to see this. Found another journal in the library. Meet me there when you can.

His timing couldn't have been worse—or better.

When Evelyn arrived at the mansion, Liam greeted her with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "You okay?" he asked, noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

"I will be," she replied, forcing a smile. "What did you find?"

He handed her the journal, its cover worn and faded. Inside, the entries detailed the life of a woman named Eleanor Whitmore—Margaret's grandmother—who had lived in the mansion decades earlier. One passage in particular caught Evelyn's attention:

Today, I saw them again—the strangers lurking near the gate. They whispered things I couldn't understand, but their eyes… their eyes spoke volumes. Something is coming, and I fear it has to do with Evelyn.

Evelyn's breath hitched. How could Eleanor have written about her? She hadn't even existed during that time.

Liam noticed her reaction. "What is it?"

She hesitated, unsure how much to reveal. "It's complicated."

Who are the strangers mentioned in Eleanor's journal? Is there a connection between them, Claire's death, and Evelyn's past? And why does Blackthorn Manor seem determined to drag up secrets she'd rather keep buried?

You wouldn't ignore these questions, would you? Neither can Evelyn. As the lines between past and present blur, she begins to wonder if uncovering the truth will set her free—or destroy everything she's built.

Chapter 7: Sophia’s Shadow – Evelyn’s Guilt Over Her Friend’s Death Resurfaces