Shame coursed through her as tears streamed down her face, but her sorrow refused to be contained. In a quivering voice, she asked, "Theodore, what mysteries are you hiding from me? Who is Marley, and what connection do you share with Helen?

What secrets of the past do you guard? What am I to you? And why, oh why, do you withhold the truth from me?"

Theodore's countenance turned somber, a fleeting glimpse of dreadful cruelty flickering in his eyes before vanishing. He struggled to soften his voice, to soothe Ariana's weeping form. His heart ached as he looked at her tears.

"You cannot embrace the true essence of who I am."

Ariana, bewildered, and with tears blurring her vision, peered at him through her teary eyes.