5

Chapter 5

The footsteps stopped outside the door.

Voices.

"...He's awake?"

A woman's trembling voice.

"No... don't rush in. The doctor said he still needs rest."

A deep, steady voice answered, though it carried a crack that betrayed months of worry.

Another voice, younger and brighter, spoke through tears.

"I told you... I told you he'd come back."

Adrian's heart beat faster.

He knew those voices.

Not because he had heard them before.

Because Adrian Valen's memories recognized them.

His mother.

His father.

His younger sister.

The doorknob slowly turned.

The door opened.

A beautiful woman stepped inside first.

Her elegant appearance was ruined by red eyes and sleepless nights.

The moment she saw him sitting up...

Her hands flew to her mouth.

Tears burst from her eyes.

"Adrian..."

She rushed forward without hesitation and wrapped both arms around him.

"So you're really awake..."

"I thought..."

"I thought I'd lost you..."

Her body shook with sobs.

Adrian froze.

No one...

No one had ever hugged him before.

Not once.

Not in twenty-six years.

He didn't know what to do.

His arms remained stiff at his sides.

Behind her stood a tall man with streaks of gray in his hair.

His face remained calm.

But his clenched jaw and reddened eyes told another story.

He had probably cried long before anyone else arrived.

He simply refused to do it now.

"Welcome back, son."

Just four words.

Simple.

Steady.

Yet they carried a year's worth of hope.

A young girl peeked from behind him.

The moment their eyes met, she burst into tears.

"You idiot!"

She ran toward the bed and threw herself onto him too.

"You promised we'd go hiking after your meeting!"

"You liar..."

"You slept for a whole year..."

She cried into his shoulder like a child who had finally found what she thought she'd lost forever.

Adrian could only stare.

His chest tightened.

It hurt.

Not because of the memories.

Because he knew...

None of this belonged to him.

These tears...

These hugs...

These smiles...

Were meant for another man.

The real Adrian Valen.

The one who had already died.

Slowly...

Very slowly...

He raised one trembling hand.

It hovered in the air before awkwardly resting on his mother's back.

She hugged him even tighter.

In that instant...

Something warm spread through his chest.

It wasn't the artificial warmth created by machines in a laboratory.

It wasn't survival.

It was something he had never experienced.

Love.

Unconditional.

Without expectation.

Without fear.

For a dangerous moment...

He wanted to believe it belonged to him.

Then reality returned.

A cold voice echoed inside his mind.

You're stealing someone else's life.

His hand stiffened.

His eyes darkened.

If they knew...

If they knew the Adrian they waited for had already died...

Would they still look at you like this?

Would they still call you "son"?

Or would they look at you as the stranger who took his body?

His breathing became uneven.

Guilt settled deep inside him.

Not because he had chosen this.

He hadn't.

But because he was living a happiness that had never been meant for him.

His father noticed the change.

He stepped closer.

"Adrian?"

"You look troubled."

"Is something wrong?"

Adrian looked into the man's eyes.

For the briefest moment...

He almost told the truth.

"I'm not your son."

The words reached his throat.

But they never came out.

Because he saw the hope in their faces.

Hope that had survived an entire year.

Hope that had refused to die.

He couldn't destroy it.

Not today.

Not when they had only just gotten him back.

He swallowed the words.

"...I'm just... tired."

His mother gently cupped his face.

"Then rest."

"We're not going anywhere."

"We'll stay with you."

Those words pierced deeper than any scalpel ever had.

We're not going anywhere.

For twenty-six years...

Everyone had walked away from him.

Now...

Three people had chosen to stay.

And Adrian made a silent promise.

I may never truly become the son you lost.

But as long as I wear this name...

I will protect this family with my life.

Even if they never know the truth, because from now onward, he is Adrian.

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