Part 1Never Look Back

Five years into my marriage with Adrian Lopez, his long-lost love, Marilee, miraculously came back from the dead.

She moved into my home, kissed my husband, and my son even started calling her "Mommy."

Adrian told me she had cancer and that he needed to make it up to her. He told me to be the bigger person.

My son, Leo, said to me, "You're just not as gentle or pretty as her. And she doesn't have any scars."

So I gave them what they wanted. I faked my own death and disappeared, finally starting the quiet life I’d always longed for.

More than a decade passed in a blur. Then, Leo Lopez enrolled in the university where I teach.

He found me, his eyes red-rimmed with tears, and demanded, "If you never wanted me, why did you even have me?"

* * *

It was the break between classes, and the grounds below the lecture hall were swarming with students.

Leo ignored the curious stares, his fingers clenching the fabric of my sleeve. The heat of his gaze made me feel like I was being roasted over an open flame. I lowered my eyes, fighting to appear calm.

"You must have the wrong person, young man. I've never been married, and I don't have children."

His voice was deceptively steady. "Really?" he shot back. "The same face, the same build, even the same first name. Did I get it wrong, or are you just too scared to admit who you are?"

It was a dramatic twist of fate.

After faking my death, I fled the country and ran into the Reeds, a couple mourning the recent loss of their daughter. They saw the resemblance between us and asked me to take on her identity.

By some cosmic coincidence, her name was also Ava.

Sometimes you just have to accept that another "you" exists somewhere in the world.

As Ava Reed, I finished my doctorate abroad and eventually became a university professor. When Mr. Reed passed away, his final wish was to be buried back home, so I returned to the States with his wife. Not long after, she passed away too.

Once again, I was alone in this vast world.

As for Leo, the child I had left behind, I never imagined I would see him again. His sudden appearance caught me completely off guard.

I used to imagine what he’d look like when he grew up. But standing here, he didn't seem to resemble me or Adrian. I searched my mind, but the image of his younger self was already a blur. When I walked away from the Lopezs, I left with nothing but the clothes on my back, a clean, sharp break. Every photograph I had cherished, every memory I’d saved—all of it had been turned to ash in the fire.

My thoughts were a chaotic whirl.

Leo’s grip on my sleeve tightened, as if he feared I would vanish the moment he loosened his hold.

A colleague I knew passed by on her way to class and, seeing the situation, came over to intervene. "Mr. Lopez, I think you've made a mistake," she said gently. "It's just a resemblance. You shouldn't hold up Professor Reed's lecture."

Doubt flickered across Leo’s face, and his grip slackened. I seized the opportunity, pulling my arm free and hurrying up the stairs.

At the landing, I glanced back. Leo stood there, a lonely, dejected figure. He was as striking as Adrian, the kind of person you could spot in a crowd instantly.

He looked heartbroken.

But I felt no pang of sympathy.

I just told myself, Ava, you can look back, but you can never, ever go back.