Ava's apartment had become a shell, a place devoid of comfort and peace. The walls, once familiar and safe, now seemed like silent witnesses to her internal chaos. The air around her felt dense with unresolved questions, the past whispering like ghosts that refused to rest. She hadn't been able to shake the memories that had resurfaced in the days following Marcus's execution. Every moment with him was now viewed through a different lens, and it was tearing her apart.

She leaned against the counter in her kitchen, staring at the half-empty cup of coffee that had long gone cold. The steam had dissipated hours ago, and yet she hadn't moved from her spot. Her hands shook slightly as they gripped the mug, though she was sure it wasn't from the cold.

Her mind had been spinning in endless loops since her conversation with Eric earlier. He had tried to reach her, to make her see reason, but how could she? Every conversation, every interaction, felt like a thin thread that could snap at any moment.

Flashback:

Ava stood in a dimly lit room, the air thick with tension. The sound of distant voices echoed from outside, but within the room, only silence reigned. It was just her and Marcus.

The man she thought she knew.

"You need to listen to me, Ava," Marcus said, his voice low, yet commanding, as always. His eyes bore into hers, a mixture of urgency and something else—something she couldn't name.

"Why? What's the point?" Ava replied, her voice sharp. "Everything's gone to hell. You're going to be executed, and I'm just... here. Alone."

Marcus stepped closer, the space between them closing. She could feel the heat of his body, his presence enveloping her. But even in his proximity, there was an unsettling coldness in the air. He reached out and cupped her cheek gently, but she recoiled instinctively, not out of disgust, but because she couldn't trust him anymore.

"We're not done, Ava. There's more to this than what you think," Marcus whispered.

"I don't understand," she muttered, but the doubt was already creeping in. Was she missing something?

His grip tightened on her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "You think you've been playing the game, but the truth is, you've been a part of it all along."

Ava pulled away, her heart racing. "No. No, that's not true."

But even as she said it, she felt the weight of his words. What if he was right? What if she had been more involved than she could remember?

End of Flashback

Ava blinked hard, trying to shake the remnants of the memory that refused to fade. Her heart hammered in her chest as she set the mug down on the counter, her breathing shallow. She had to know the truth. She had to understand the full extent of what had happened, what she had been a part of.

She grabbed her phone from the table and stared at it for a long moment, contemplating whether to call Eric. She had been avoiding him for days, unsure of whether to trust him with her fragmented thoughts. But she needed answers.

With a deep breath, she hit the call button.

The phone rang once, twice, before Eric's voice came through, surprisingly calm.

"Ava? Are you okay?"

She swallowed hard, her voice faltering. "No. I don't know anymore. I... I need you to tell me everything."

Eric's silence on the other end was deafening. For a moment, Ava thought he might hang up, but then he sighed deeply.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

Ava closed her eyes, her grip on the phone tightening. "Marcus. I... I don't know if I ever really understood him. Or what he did to me. Everything he said before the execution, it's—it's messing with my head. I need to know what happened, what I missed."

"Ava, you don't know the whole story," Eric said softly. "There are things... things that Marcus never told you. I didn't want to be the one to tell you, but you need to hear it now. You deserve to know the truth."

Ava's heart dropped. "What truth?"

She could hear Eric's hesitation, the weight of what he was about to say hanging heavy in the air. "You were more involved than you realize, Ava. Marcus wasn't the only one pulling strings. You were too. In ways you don't even remember."

Her breath caught in her throat. "What are you saying?"

"Don't make me say it, Ava. But you... you were part of the game, the plan. Marcus was trying to protect you, to keep you from remembering the whole truth. But it's time you faced it. You were never just a pawn."

Ava's knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the couch, clutching the phone to her ear. "No. No, that's not true. I couldn't—"

"Ava, listen to me!" Eric interrupted, his voice urgent now. "Everything that's happened, everything that you've been through, it was orchestrated. And you were never just a victim. You were part of something much bigger. Something you were too blind to see."

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. The walls of her apartment seemed to close in on her as her mind reeled from the revelation. What did this mean? What did she have to face now?

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Ava whispered, her voice breaking.

"I didn't want to hurt you," Eric said, his voice softening. "But you need to remember, Ava. You need to face the truth, no matter how ugly it is. Only then can you move forward."

Ava's fingers trembled as she hung up the phone, staring at the screen in a daze. Her breath was shallow, her head pounding with the weight of everything she had just heard. She wanted to scream, to run from it all, but she knew there was no escape. The game had never really ended. And now, she was tangled in it more than ever.

As she sat there, trying to collect herself, her eyes were drawn to the photograph of her and Marcus again, the one she had almost forgotten. His eyes stared back at her, dark and unreadable, as if he were silently asking her to remember.

Ava closed her eyes, her heart heavy with the weight of his absence, and the weight of the truth she could no longer ignore.