Not a Mirror, But a Shadow

I had just stepped out of my room when I saw Nathan standing at the end of the corridor. Silent. Staring at me.

He was wearing his usual black suit. But there was something different today—his gaze. Not cold. But blank. Like he was putting something together in his head.

"Nathan?"

He didn't answer. He just gestured for me to follow him.

We entered his private study. He closed the door, then locked it. Click.

The ticking of the wall clock was audible. A sound I usually never paid attention to… now deafening.

"I know you're seeing Arvid again," he finally said.

I froze.

"I was just—"

"—talking?" he interrupted. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe that?"

I stared at him. "Nathan, you can't control everything in my life."

He approached slowly. Not hard, but every step he took made me take half a step back.

"I've already lost you once," he whispered. "Do you think I'll stay silent when someone tries to ruin you… again?"

I stiffened. "Arvid didn't break me."

"But he dug up something that should have been buried."

He rested his hands on the table, looking straight at me.

"Listen, Del. I know you've changed. I know you're not completely… her."

I fell silent. My body felt frozen.

"But I accepted you. Without asking. Without forcing. Because I love you… completely."

His hands were shaking. "But if he—Arvid—keeps digging up things that you're not even ready to face… it could destroy everything."

I stepped back.

"So you want me to stay away from him?"

"Yes." His answer was quick. Firm. Non-negotiable.

I took a breath. "Because you're afraid he'll find out I'm not Adel?"

He didn't answer right away. Then, slowly…

"I've known you weren't her since the first day you woke up from your coma."

The words fell like a sledgehammer.

"Do you think I don't know my own sister? The way you talk, the way you look at me, even the way you type her phone password… everything is different."

I wanted to speak. But my lips were sealed.

"But I accept it. Because to me, you are more real than anyone who has ever existed in that body."

He came closer again. Closer than before.

"I can keep my mouth shut, Del. I can protect you from anyone. But don't make me choose between you and… the truth."

His hand touched my cheek, soft but gripping.

"Because if I have to choose… I will choose you. By any means."

That night, I sat alone on the balcony. The wind bit my skin, but my mind was colder than the night air.

Nathan knew. From the start. But he was silent. He loved me not because he believed I was Adel… but because he accepted me as a replacement. As a doll with a new soul.

And Arvid?

He didn't accept without asking. But he never demanded.

I began to feel caught between two men who loved me—one with obsession, one with honesty.

And more than that… I began to realize, the secret I thought I could keep forever… was slowly breaking apart in the hands of those who loved me too much.

That night I had a dream.

But it was not an ordinary dream.

I stood in the same room—Adelina Gavrila's room—but the colors were different. The white curtains had turned gray. The walls felt narrower, as if pressing in from all sides.

In front of a large mirror, there was a girl sitting. Her hair was long, her white dress flowing. But the mirror was cracked. And the girl… was looking at me.

Not angrily. But disappointed.

"I never invited you here," she said. Her voice was not mine, but I could feel it in my spine.

I wanted to answer, but my lips didn't move.

"I didn't die. I just got lost. And you… took my place."

The cracks in the mirror crept up.

"I didn't want to kill you. But I didn't want to disappear either."

I woke up with a scream. My breath was labored, cold sweat soaked my back.

The room felt like the dream—everything was the same, but something was… wrong.

I stood up, walking towards the large mirror.

And for a split second, my shadow moved slower than my body.

The next day, I blanked out. Livia said I was talking to myself in the library, but I didn't remember. When I looked at my phone log, I found messages I never sent.

To Nathan:

"Will you still love me if I really come back?"

And to Arvid:

"You're too slow. He's already won."

I don't know who wrote them.

But I do know: it wasn't me.

The days that followed were chaotic. I started hearing whispers when I was alone. Short words, familiar, but always vague:

"Please..."

"Don't steal it all..."

"I'm still here..."

One afternoon, I walked into the painting room. For some reason, my feet carried me there.

In the corner of the room, there was an empty canvas.

But in my hand, there was a wet brush.

I didn't even realize I was painting.

And on that canvas, a half-finished sketch appeared: my face. But her eyes weren't mine. They were Adelina's. The old one.

I dropped my brush. My hands were shaking.

"I'm starting to lose myself…" I whispered.

But a voice whispered in the back of my head:

"Or maybe… you've just become one with me."

That night I couldn't sleep. So I wrote. Just to keep my thoughts mine.

But when I opened my notebook, the first page was already filled. The writing was neat. Not mine.

"If you want to stay, leave my past alone. Leave Nathan alone. Leave my life alone.

You can love him. But he'll always love me."

My hands were shaking. Every letter on the page felt like a fresh wound.

I didn't know what hurt more:

– Being loved for the new me,

– Or being blamed for replacing someone who wasn't ready to leave?

At the end of the night, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Now I didn't know who was looking at whom.

And for the first time, I wasn't sure… if I was still whole.

Or just the remains of two souls who stole each other's bodies.