Morning came without warmth. The home, usually filled with servants' voices and the sound of footsteps, now felt like an empty building forced to remain standing.
No one greeted me when I went downstairs. Even the scent of breakfast that usually filled the air seemed to have vanished, as though the kitchen had deliberately been left cold.
Dad was already sitting in the dining room.
Mom followed soon after, her face tense, as if last night had never truly ended. Tasya sat across from me, but this time there was no victorious smile on her face. My older brother merely played with his phone without really looking at the screen.
No one spoke.
Until finally, Dad set down his cup.
“Eleven o’clock,” he said. “They’ll be here at eleven.”
No one asked who “they” were. We all knew.
The Pradipta family.
That name now sounded like something heavier than just a family name.
Tasya shifted in her seat, then looked at Dad. “If this is true… what’s going to happen?”
Dad didn’t answer right away. Instead, his eyes flicked briefly toward me before quickly turning away.
“Everything will be decided today,” he said at last.
I lowered my head, trying to ignore that look.
But it was difficult.
Since last night, whenever someone looked at me, it felt as though they were trying to make sure I really belonged where I was supposed to be.
Or not.
Time passed slowly.
The wall clock ticked far too loudly, as if deliberately reminding us that something was about to happen.
And precisely when the minute hand pointed to five minutes before twelve, the doorbell rang.
Everyone fell silent at once.
Even our breathing seemed to stop.
Mom stood first, smoothing her hair even though it was already perfectly neat. Dad followed, then walked toward the front door.
I didn’t move.
But my eyes continued to follow them.
The door opened.
And for the first time, I saw them.
Two men stood outside the door, dressed so neatly that not a speck of dust dared cling to them. Behind them, a black car sat parked in silence, as though it were part of them, too.
But that wasn’t what made me hold my breath.
It was the person standing in the middle.
Revan.
He wasn’t smiling.
He didn’t look surprised, either.
His eyes immediately swept into the house, passing over Dad, Mom, and Tasya… then stopped.
Right on me.
And for the first time since all of this began…
I saw something different in his eyes.
Not warmth.
Not rejection, either.
But something that made my chest tighten even more.
As if he already knew.
Before anyone explained.
Before the prophecy was announced.
As if I… had been destined from the very beginning.
“So this is her,” one of the men behind Revan said, his voice calm but sharp. “The changed line.”
Mom stiffened.
Tasya immediately looked at me, then at Revan, then back at Dad, as if she couldn’t believe what was happening.
Dad nodded slowly. “Please, come in.”
Revan stepped inside without hesitation.
His pace was slow, but every step felt as though it changed the air inside this house.
And when he finally stopped not far from me…
He spoke.
“Long time no see.”
His voice was flat.
But for some reason, the words felt as though they were meant only for me.
I swallowed.
“I… don’t remember us ever meeting,” I replied softly.
Revan stared at me for a long time.
Too long.
Until I began to feel that maybe… I was the one who was wrong.
“That’s understandable,” he said at last. “You weren’t supposed to remember.”
The room immediately fell silent again.
Even quieter than before.
Mom looked at Dad as if asking him for an explanation. Tasya clenched her fists beneath the table. My older brother finally put his phone away.
And me…
I just stood there, surrounded by all their gazes, with one question I didn’t dare say aloud.
What exactly were they hiding from me?
And why… did I feel that the answer wouldn’t leave me safe?