“Keegan?” The ghost of her dreams was alive…real. A rush of memories flooded her mind of him. Touchable reddish-brown curly hair. Freckles gave him a demeanor of contentment even when angry. Which was never. Keegan rarely became angry. Keegan captivated Mary Jane as he stood next to her sister at the entrance of the club.

He wore a simple pair of jeans and a checkered button-up. The ease of inserting herself into his world was there. The sweet memories of love very evident in his eyes and the simple smile he provided. Mallory once wore distressed or frayed jeans and frumpy t-shirts, or if given the chance, she’d wear tights, a top, and ballet flats. She used to be at Keegan’s side. They were great debaters and chess players, and they’d had the perfect all-American childhood. They were always together.

Keegan belonged to a world her mind had purged.

Peter Grienke hadn’t just brainwashed his wife from leaving her sister and the plagued memories of her mother and stepfather, Vin.

Peter had brainwashed her long before that. Her entire world, Mallory and Megan’s past, was always meant as a ruse to keep her away from a family that loved her. She could only assume that the second brainwashing she endured at the hands of Lyle and Beasley counteracted the original one.

The one that made her his docile wife.

“And you are?” Wulf questioned. Standing with his back to Mary Jane, Wulf didn’t notice her as he began to shake Keegan’s hand.

“Keegan Little,” Keegan said, his eyes drinking her in with pure fascination and adoration. “I was Mallory’s fiancé a few years ago.”

“Oh.” Wulf turned around as his line of vision met up with Keegan’s. They both stared at MJ, each with his own set of memories connected to the same woman. But Mary Jane had been another girl when she loved Keegan. Now she was a woman, and she loved Wulf with every bit of her.

The true memories were slowly coming back to her since seeing Keegan in the ocean, and she hadn’t gotten around to telling Wulf. There was no need. They had built a life, and that life was perfect.

Mary Jane hugged her sister. Yes, Megan had fit into the scheme of things. Unchangeable because Peter had given her a false world that revolved around Megan. He hadn’t given Mary Jane a fictitious scenario for Keegan. Her fiancé hadn’t fit into the diagram of lies that Peter had cultivated within her brain. Keegan had been erased. Peter just transformed Megan into the worst type of sister anyone could have, and Mary Jane still couldn’t wrap her mind around that. He’d said that temperament wouldn’t change.

Technically, that was true, because Mary Jane still sought out her sister even after all those alleged vile things her sister had done. But now, Mary Jane did not want to know her. The twins had once been attuned to each other. Closer than anyone could be.

The memories of searching high and low for a strung-out panhandler every few months were incorrect. There were no fights between the twins about rehab. No traveling the worst parts of L.A. to Long Beach and back again when Megan ran off. All of it was a lie.

Guess I’ve gotta hand it to him. Peter was very self-centered in his tastes. From the beginning, he made himself my savior, with his story of rescuing me out of a hard life.

After hugging her sister, who held onto her so tightly and so long, Mary Jane let go. She looked at Megan for the first time in years. They were a spitting image of each other. Except, Megan’s short hair was in a ponytail and she wore khaki pants and a collared shirt.

“Thank you.” Megan went to Wulf and hugged him. “Thank you so much for allowing me to see my sister.”

Megan broke down crying as he let her go. “I’m not a drug…I’m not a drug addict.” She lifted the sleeves of her blazer to show there were no tracks of drug use, as if proof was needed.

Megan’s words were a streamlined-rush as if she had to get it all out. Wulf nodded continuously as she spoke. Megan needed the others to believe her while the proof slapped them in the face. Her entire persona was too clean for the lies Peter had fed Mary Jane.

She continued, “Mal and I…, we got along all throughout our youth. We weren’t the kind for sibling rivalry. We were friends. That’s the way we were raised.” Megan’s tear-drenched eyes turned to her twin as she pleadingly said, “Remember, Mallory?”

There were no words for Mary Jane. She didn’t even succumb to the polite nodding Wulf had done to agree with her sister. She silently listened as Megan tried to prove she was not a bad person. And Mary Jane remembered this also.

She’d once been a good girl. AP Spanish and Chemistry courses, and if Physical Education had an honor class, she’d have added that along with her other courses too. She didn’t have a mother who sold her to boyfriends as a child. That was all a story Peter had given her, and a story Mary Jane wasn’t aware that she was feeding to Wulf until just recently. There had been no reason to divulge the truth, until it came to her door.

“Let’s go sit inside of Umbirtos,” Wulf suggested as partygoers walked by them.

“Yes,” Megan sniffled, pushing her sleeves back down. “Mal, I promise you, I’m going to show you everything we used to do. Mom and Dad loved us. Please just listen. Okay?”

“All right.” Mary Jane glanced as Keegan gave her sister a shoulder rub. She’d stomach the woman’s presence, though she didn’t need a history lesson regarding her true identity.

She still hated it.