Chapter 163 - One Hundred and Sixty-Three
Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Three
Malachi’s POV
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. The world had tilted sideways and nothing made sense anymore.
Emily was dead. I’d buried her myself. I’d held her cold hand and put her in the ground and stood there for hours after everyone else had left because I couldn’t make myself walk away.
But she was standing in front of me. Breathing. Alive.
"Is it really you?" My voice came out rough. Broken.
She laughed, and the sound was nothing like I remembered. It was harder. Sharper. "The Blackwoods are so easy to fool. You see what you expect to see. Believe what you want to believe. You never questioned it, did you? Never wondered if maybe things weren’t exactly what they seemed."
I took a step toward her. She didn’t move. Didn’t flinch.
"How?" That was all I could manage. One word. One question that encompassed everything I couldn’t understand.
"Does it matter? I’m here now. That’s what matters."
"You died in labor. The baby..." I stopped. Couldn’t finish.
"The baby died. That part was real." Her voice went flat. Empty. "But I didn’t. I came close. Close enough that everyone believed it when they were told I didn’t make it. Close enough that no one questioned the body in the casket."