asked, her voice smooth, but her expression s

n here? Defne again-that name, coming from the mouth of the woman

close to Defne and so familiar wi

to make strangers pause-but their faces differed slightly,

sed state, her voice barely above a whisper as she tried

s care than usual. The thud echoed in the quiet room. She made herself comfortable in a chair

ng shadow-tall, silent, and unreadable, offering no co

she dreaming? Had she misunderstood? She blinked repeatedly, trying to clear her mind and make sense of what was happening. She looked intensely at the

e confidence with which everyone called her that name-Defne-baffled her to the core. It wasn't a fluke. It w

and to touch Ayla, but Ayla instinctively pulled away, recoiling from her like she was fire. The gesture left Mrs. Do

fought back tears. She felt like a spectator in a play she didn't audition for-one with a terrifying script and no escape route. Her

fne,

more, her eyes caught on something-a clear, stainless container resting on the table beside her bed. It glinted under

t cold like it had been sculpted from the ice of Polaris. Alien. Detached. Wrong. Her fingertips grazed over unfam

me the f

s offered his phone to her. Its front camera wa

ran mad at what her eyes beheld. The person on the screen-no, in the camera-was not her. It was Defne. She knew it. Y

Panic surged through he

h, my Lord! What's happening to me?" she cried out again and again, as t

id firmly, his voice flat and decisive, before snatching his phon

cried, her voice rising with every word. "There must be a

s remained unmoved. C

Mrs. Dogans. "The person you are with is Ayla. Not your daughter Defne. You ar

feel it-to see her for who she really was. But instead of warmth, all she got was the chilling reaction of a wom

"You are Defne. I know you must still be traumatized from the acciden

ve wave of her hands. Her facial expression conveyed her s

who I am-call the doctor for a test. A DNA test. I think a DNA test will res

out warning, she grabbed Ayla by the hair, yanking her head back and forc

she sa