Chapter 1: Past Shadows

The sun rays from the window  cast shadows across the dining table, Damian Clark's fork clinked against his plate. His grey eyes moving from his wife Victoria and to their son Edward, the silence brought tension to the room.

Edward shook his head and pushed his food around the plate, his handsome body physique leaning on his chair. Looking up his gaze met that of his father "can you imagine I had another dream last night," he said, his voice  barely above a whisper.

Victoria's hand trembled as she set down her wine glass. "Oh my dear Edward, this is not an issue we should be discuss over and over again. The doctor said"

She couldn't finish, Edward cut her half way.

"The doctor can say whatever he wants to, I don't care!" Edward's outburst echoed through the dining room. "These aren't just dreams and nightmares, this feels real like my memories."

Damian's lips tightened, He was short of words. "Son, it's been five years since the accident. You need to focus on the future, not dwell on a past you can't remember."

"I have heard enough, Father. I can't just pretend, I can feel it I'm missing something very important and I can't get my head over it. You are hiding something from me."

Edward stood up from the chair he was sitting 

"Please, sit down. Let's talk about this, we are your parents." Victoria tried to hold his hand.

But Edward pulled away, He was frustrated and afraid, you can see it in his eyes.

"I saw her again. The woman with the golden hair. She was laughing, and then suddenly she was crying. Begging me not to leave her." His voice cracked. "Who is she?"

Damian rose from his chair slowly, his aura following him. 

"Edward, we have had enough of you too. These fantasies need to stop. There are other important matters we need to discuss regarding your future."

"My future?" Edward scoffed. "You expect me to move forward without knowing about my past,?"

Victoria's face became pale. "Damian, perhaps we should"

"No Mom!," 

Damian cut her off sharply and turned to Edward, his tone softening but maintaining an edge of steel. 

"Son, I know this is difficult for you. But trust me when I say that dwelling on these dreams will only bring you pain and do you no good."

Edward clenched his fist by his sides. 

"And how would you know that, Father? You've never for  once acknowledged that these dreams might mean something. Do you care to explain why?"

Damian's jaw tightened. "Because I'm your father, and I know what's best for you."

"Do you?" Edward challenging his father, his voice rising. "Or do you just know what's best for your so called family legacy?"

"Edward! How could you say such a thing?" Victoria gasping for air.

Edward turned to his mother with fear. "I'm sorry, Mother, but I can't keep pretending, every night, I see flashes of a life I can't fully remember. A life that feels more real than anything I've experienced in the past five years."

He paused, running a hand through his dark hair. "There's a park with an old building. I can hear children laughing. And then there's this woman, she's always there, just out of reach. Her voice it's like a melody I can't quite recall, but I know it's important."

Damian exchanged a quick glance with Victoria, a pinch of something fear? guilt passing between them. 

"Edward," he said, for the first time that evening his voice was calm, 

"these are just fragments your mind has created to fill in the gaps. The doctors explained this. Your brain is trying to make sense of the trauma."

Edward shook his head repeatedly. "I won't take that for an answer. There's definitely something you two are not telling me, and I deserve to know is the truth, nothing less"

Victoria stood, her voice shallow. "Sweetheart, please. As your parents we've always wanted to protect you. After the accident, you were so fragile. We couldn't bear to see you in agony any more than you already had."

Edward's eyes narrowed. " What are you protecting me from exactly? My own memories?"

"Now, sit down. There's something we need to tell you about the royal family."

Edward's eyes narrowed. "What about them?"

Damian smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "An opportunity has arisen. One that could secure our family's place in history."

"What kind of opportunity?" Edward asked, suspicion lacing his words.

Damian leaned forward, and whispered. "The royal family is in crisis. They're looking for allies, powerful families to help them calm the storm. We could be that family, Edward. We could elevate our status beyond your wildest dreams."

Edward's brow narrowed further. "And how exactly do you intend to do that?"

Before Damian could answer, a maid burst into the room. "Mr. Clark! You need to see this immediately!"

Damian snatched  the tablet from her hands, His pupils already constricted as he scanned through the headlines. He looked up, meeting Victoria's questioning gaze.

"It seems," he said, "that fate has played right into our hands. The king has collapsed, and the royal family has run into bankruptcy."