My Cousin Could See Through Every Lie We Told Chapter 08

My Cousin Could See Through Every Lie We Told Chapter 08

The second I walked out of the precinct, my phone rang. It was 

my parents. 

They knew I hadn’t liquidated the business or sold the house, and they were already playing the part of the apologetic 

parents. 

“Emma, your mom and I were just so stressed. We lost our 

heads.” 

“Come home. Your mother made your favorite–homemade Sunday pot roast.” 

I told them I’d be there. 

Of course I would. 

How else was I going to tear down Tessa’s mask? 

When I walked through the door, my mother hugged me tight, sobbing into my shoulder. 

Then, she grabbed my hands, her face beaming. 

“Emma, we’ve already announced it. We’re adopting Tessa.” 

“The gala is in two weeks.” 

“After talking to you today, we realized you were feeling left out. We promise to treat you both as equals from now on.” 

“You grew up together. You aren’t mad that we’re adopting her, right?” 

I was stunned. They were actually asking for my permission? 

I didn’t say no. 

My parents started crying tears of joy. 

“Our Emma is still so well–behaved.” 

In my peripheral vision, I saw Tessa’s jaw tighten. 

She looked like she wanted to grind her teeth to dust. 

She glared at me, but the second I turned my head, she dropped her eyes, burying the malice. 

When she looked up, that sweet, vapid mask was back in place. 

She leaned in, clinging to my arm just like she used to. 

“I’m so glad you kept a backup plan, sis.” 

“But I was right, wasn’t I? They were just scammers. You can 

always trust me.” 

My parents jumped in to smooth things over. 

“Tessa’s right. You girls are sisters now–you need to help 

each other out.” 

“Your sister has a gift. If you just listen to her, you’ll save yourself so much trouble!” 

I laughed internally, my face carefully blank. 

“My bad. I’ve been way too paranoid. From now on, Tessa, I’ll 

trust you completely.” 

If they hadn’t kicked me out, Tessa definitely had another card 

to play. 

Fine. I’d play along and see exactly what she was planning. 

I’d been spending all my time researching this whole 

“rebirth” thing online. 

The posts I made were mostly mocked. 

(You’ve read too much fiction. Who actually believes in rebirth?] 

[Maybe it was just a super vivid dream?] 

A dream? 

The feeling of that truck hitting me—the sensation of every bone in my body shattering–that had felt too damn real. 

Like I’d lived it. 

Then, one comment at the bottom caught my eye. 

[I don’t buy the supernatural stuff. You might just have had a set of false memories implanted]. 

I stared at the screen, my heart hammering against my ribs. I 

sent the user a private message. 

[Hey, can you tell me more about memory implantation?] 

The reply came hours later. 

[It’s simple. Someone slipped you a fabricated memory while you were sleeping.] 

[When you woke up, your brain accepted that you’d already “died,” and you misinterpreted it as a past life.] 

I couldn’t breathe. My fingers were shaking so hard I could 

barely type. 

[Is the tech really that advanced?] 

[Absolutely. I mean, we’ve got people walking around 

“detecting lies” now, right? Memory implantation is nothing compared to that.] 

[If what you’re saying is true, you’ve been subjected to a 

high–level implant. That’s why it feels exactly like a lived 

experience.] 

I thanked him and clicked off. 

Every memory of my past life? It wasn’t rebirth. 

It was a scripted hallucination fed to me while I slept. 

And the person behind it? It was obviously Tessa.