Episode 192
DOPPELG?NGER
Emily
I’m frozen.
I watched Brett lunge at River, grab his collar. Brett’s blue eyes were—still are—full of rage. Yet I see something else in his gaze as well.
I’m just not sure what it is.
I want to run to River. I want to throw my arms around him, press my face into his chest, and let my heart settle at last. But I can’t move. Something is wrong.
He doesn’t reach for me.
He looks at me, yes, but not the way he did before. Instead, there is hesitation. A flicker of something unreadable in his eyes.
And the stranger—why is he here?
I should be happy that River is back, but all I feel is an ache so deep I can barely draw breath.
Is he still mine? Was he ever?
I told him I loved him, but he didn’t return the sentiment. Still, he promised to help me, to get my designs back, to…
I sigh.
The man with him is blond—blonder than Brett but not as blond as I am. Of course, mine isn’t quite all natural. He’s tall, handsome, with a sculpted jawline and brilliant blue eyes. His hair is thick and unruly.
I cock my head. He reminds me of someone.
It hits me like a bloody anvil.
He looks like a bloody male version of Misty.
I must be seeing things.
I’m back, Emily, and I’m glad to see you.
River’s words to me before chaos broke out.
He still stands against the wall. Brett is holding Sienna’s hand whilst staring at the new man. Jake, his name is.
And Jake…
He looks …
Well, he looks like Misty, but he also looks…forlorn, really.
The weight in my chest is unbearable, pressing, crushing, leaving me raw and aching in ways I don’t understand. My mind races, grasping at pieces that refuse to fit.
River is here. He’s standing right in front of me, but it doesn’t feel real.
It should feel like relief. The man I love has returned.
Instead, I feel like I’m on the edge of something dark and dangerous, as if I’ve stumbled onto a stage mid-performance, but I don’t know my lines or what role I’m playing.
Who the hell is Jake, and why is Brett looking at him like he’s seeing a phantom?
I stare at him, at the sharp angles of his face, at the undeniable resemblance—the same striking blue eyes, the same high cheekbones, the same proud tilt of the chin.
God, he looks like Misty.
Misty is here, somewhere in this house, completely unaware that there is a man standing in the foyer who could be her male doppelg?nger.
No one speaks.
The silence is thick, suffocating, filled with a million unsaid things.
I force my voice past my tightening throat. “Who are you?” I say directly to Jake.
Sienna already asked, but she asked Brett.
Jake looks at me for a split second until he returns his gaze first to Brett and then to River.
No one answers.
Brett’s entire body is rigid, every muscle tense like a coiled wire ready to snap.
Sienna’s fingers are curled tightly around Brett’s, and she looks just as lost as I feel.
River exhales sharply, raking a hand through his hair. “It’s complicated.”
My heart clenches.
It’s complicated.
I take a step forward, voice shaking. “That’s not an answer.”
River finally meets my gaze, and something in his expression shifts—regret, maybe? Guilt? I don’t know. But whatever it is, it’s not the look of a man who is simply happy to see me again.
And I hate that.
“Emily—”
“No.” I shake my head. “You don’t get to come back with a stranger that seems to have both you and Brett in a tizzy—and I’ll just say it, a stranger that looks uncannily like one of the women here—and say it’s complicated like that’s supposed to mean something.
” I’m fueled by too many unanswered questions, too much confusion, too much everything.
“You left, River. You left, and now you’re back, and after I told you—”
River flinches before I can finish the statement.
Good. I don’t want to say it in front of everyone here anyway.
Jake clears his throat. “I’m Jake.” His voice is deep with a hint of sadness in it, an exhaustion that makes me pause.
He’s thinner than Brett and River, and there’s something hollow behind his piercing blue eyes.
His resemblance to Misty is undeniable.
I glance at Brett. His entire body is shaking despite Sienna holding onto him. His jaw is locked so tight I swear I can hear the grinding of his teeth.
This isn’t just shock.
This is devastation.
The kind of devastation that comes from losing something you never thought you’d get back.
No one moves.
No one breathes.
A pause. A beat.
Then Brett lets out a ragged breath, his voice barely above a whisper. “He’s Jake,” he says again. “And he’s supposed to be dead.”
The words hang in the air, heavy and final.
Sienna gasps.
River closes his eyes, exhaling slowly.
Jake shifts on his feet, his expression unreadable.
And I stand there in complete ignorance of what is unfolding around me.
Brett lets out a bitter laugh, but there’s no humor in it. It’s hollow, sharp, edged with something dangerous.
I feel sick.
“Tell me this is some kind of joke,” Brett whispers. “Tell me this isn’t real.”
Jake exhales, rubbing a hand over his face. “I’m real, buddy. I’m here.”
My head spins. My body sways.
River takes a step toward me, but I recoil.
“Don’t,” I snap, voice raw. “Don’t come near me right now.”
His face hardens. “Emily, let me explain.”
I shake my head again, wrapping my arms around myself.
I don’t want explanations.
I want River back. I want him to return my love.
Something cold grips my chest.
Brett’s pain is written all over him. He’s barely holding himself together, his entire body trembling with the force of it.
Sienna places her other hand on his arm. He doesn’t shake her off, but he doesn’t relax either.
Silence stretches among us, thick and heavy.
I look back at Jake, at his wary expression, at the ghosts haunting his blue eyes.
There’s more to this. I know there is.
I lick my lips, trying to steady my voice.
“Tell me,” I say. “Tell me everything.”
River looks at Jake.
Jake looks at Brett.
And Brett looks like he might break apart right in front of us.
But no one says a word.
Not yet.
Until June comes barreling toward us, clad only in a towel. “Why do you all look so glum?” Then she turns to Jake, a smile lighting up her pretty face. “And who might you be?”