Can’t Win Me Back

The hospital ward grew heavy with silence.

Mandy and Neil stared at Alyssa, stunned beyond words.

"M-Ms. Alyssa, you knew that man was Mr. Damien?" Neil asked, disbelief etched into his voice.

"Yes." Alyssa's reply was quiet, her lips pressed into a thin line. She lowered her gaze, her voice barely above a whisper. "We found out when Cyrus took Damien's cigarette butt for a paternity test."

Mandy approached Alyssa, her shoulders trembling slightly.

"So, you and Cyrus knew... and you both kept it from me?" Mandy said, her voice catching in her throat, tears welling up.

Alyssa felt a sharp pang in her chest. "Mandy, I'm sorry. It was my decision. Cyrus had nothing to do with it."

Mandy's tears fell freely now, her grief spilling out in raw sobs. "Do you know what it's been like for me all these years, thinking Damien was gone? Winston, Miley, Lyla, and Colene kept telling me to move on. I tried to accept that he was dead, that we'd never find his body. But I never did."

Her voice broke. "Night after night, I'd dream of Damien, drenched to the bone, standing there. 'Mom... the water's freezing...' he'd say, again and again."

Neil sighed deeply, his heart heavy. Alyssa's hands trembled as guilt gnawed at her.

Uncontrollable tears flowed down Mandy's cheeks, her eyes burning with grief and resentment. "Lyse, you knew everything, and you hid it from me. Didn't you think about how selfish that was? How unfair, how cruel?"

This outburst, these harsh words, was unprecedented from Mandy, who loved Alyssa like her own child.

Alyssa was more precious to Mandy than her own child. But the intense pain she was experiencing now made her lose her usual calm and collected demeanor.

choked out again, her voice strained with

watch Alyssa take the blame alone. "Mrs. Taylor, you've watched Ms. Alyssa grow up. You know her character. She wouldn't act without careful consideration. I'm certain she had her reasons for keeping

swallowed hard, her voice shaky. "Mandy, Damien's in grave

Mandy froze.

lost his memory. He's being manipulated, a pawn in someone else's game. And the

by direct retaliation. That's why I kept it from you

twisted with worry, her tear-filled

I can't say. It's for your

saw them," Mandy said, her hand gripping Alyssa's tightly. Her voice was laced with fear. "If this mastermind needs Damien for something, why would he

hadn't regained his memory yet, and Justin

to

sheer complexity of the

Mandy. "Mandy, try not to

so strong, so resilient. No one can

when I took him to the hospital, the doctor

moved to her side,

Damien again. I would rather die if I were to lose

him, Mandy. This time, I will make sure that

then, Mandy's cell

to the screen, where a blinking red

asked, "Mandy,

a tracker on Damien's phone while he was unconscious. Solana City is too big. This is the only