Aliya’s POV

“The Truth.”

I stared at those two words, reading them over and over again. My fingers hovered above the page, trembling with hesitation. Just as I was about to keep reading, a familiar voice came through the receiver—sharp, female, and so unmistakable that it made my entire body tense.

“There’s a reason why things happen the way they do, Aliya. But the biggest one… is that you were born a Van Alen.”

I froze and my heart dropped.

I knew that voice. I could never mistake it—not in a million years.

“Hello?” I yanked the phone closer to my mouth, yelling into the receiver. “Hello?!”

But the line...