Chapter 34: Family of facade

Eiden remained still, frozen in place, as he watched the woman his mother place her disguise into her bag and walk away, calm and composed, as if nothing had just happened. No confrontation, no tension, no explanation. It was as if the alley hadn't just become a crime scene in his heart.

He didn't try to go after her. Didn't shout. Didn't move. Because in that moment, Eiden didn't recognize her. She looked like his mother, Dally Forth. Her face was the same. Her hair. Even her scent that lingered briefly in the air. But he would rather believe she was a doppelgänger. Or maybe a twin. Something absurd. And yet he himself was walking around with an absurd phenomenon called a system in his head. So was it really that far-fetched?