Time/Date: TC1853.01.20 (Late Morning)

Location: Metropolitan Police Station - 4th Ring, Interrogation Room Three

They let Selene sit alone for twenty minutes.

Time to let the shock wear off. Time for reality to start seeping in through the cracks Feng’s evaluation had opened. Time for the truth to do what truth always did when it finally broke through decades of carefully constructed lies—devastate everything in its path.

Morrison was already pulling files, that detective mind working through timelines and implications with the methodical precision that had made him one of the best investigators in the 4th Ring. "If we’re looking at systematic psychological conditioning spanning decades..." He spread crime scene photos and background documents across the observation room table. "We need to understand the full scope of what was done to her."

Veyne moved to the window, looking into the interrogation room where Selene sat alone. The woman’s hands rested on the table now, still. No longer worrying at that ruined silk sleeve. Just staring at her palms like they belonged to someone else. Like she was seeing them for the first time and couldn’t reconcile what Master Feng had said with fifty years of believing herself incompetent.

"She hasn’t processed it yet," Veyne observed quietly. "Not really. Right now, she’s in shock. But when it hits her..." She didn’t finish the sentence. Didn’t need to. They’d both seen enough interrogations to recognize the moment between denial and acceptance. The space where a person’s entire worldview crumbled, and they had to decide what to build from the rubble.

"When it hits her," Morrison said, closing one file and opening another, "she’s going to realize exactly what was stolen from her. Her entire potential. Everything she could have been. Everyone she could have helped. Every advancement she could have contributed to medicine and alchemy."

Wu stood at the window, military bearing rigid. His dark eyes tracked Selene’s movements—or lack thereof. The stillness of someone whose foundation had just collapsed. "The question is," he said quietly, "what do we do with this information? She’s still guilty of baby swapping. Still guilty of systematic abuse. Still guilty of witness tampering—paying those hotel workers to flee."

"But now we understand why," Chen interjected, looking up from her tablet where she’d been pulling Caelia Lin’s records. "If someone spent fifty years conditioning you to believe you were worthless... if your own twin sister systematically destroyed your sense of self-worth while simultaneously stealing everything you wanted... What kind of person would that make you?"

"It doesn’t excuse the crimes," Wu said firmly. "Understanding motivation doesn’t absolve guilt."

"No," Chen agreed. "But it might explain how a woman with extraordinary natural talent, who should have been famous and respected, ended up bitter enough to swap babies and poison children. It’s hard to be a good person when everyone’s told you that you’re worthless."

Veyne turned from the window. "She’s ready. Look at her hands."

They all looked. Selene’s fingers had started trembling. Small movements at first, then increasing. The physical manifestation of shock wearing off, and reality starting to sink in.

"Let’s go," Morrison said, gathering his notes. "Before it fully hits and we lose the chance for coherent questioning."

When Veyne and Morrison returned to the interrogation room, they found Selene staring at her hands with an expression that had moved beyond confusion into something approaching horror. She had the look of someone watching their entire life rearrange itself into a shape they didn’t recognize.

"Mrs. Brenner," Veyne said gently, settling back into her chair with careful precision. "I know you’re processing a lot right now. But we need to discuss something with you. Something important."

Selene looked up. Her eyes held something fragile—like glass under pressure, spiderwebbing with cracks that would soon spread to complete shattering.

"You said Caelia told you your potions were half-baked," Morrison began, his weathered face showing careful neutrality mixed with genuine compassion. Years of investigating crimes had taught him to recognize victims even when they were also perpetrators. "That your tutors said you weren’t talented enough. That you should stop wasting time on alchemy because you’d never be good enough."

"Yes," Selene whispered. The single word barely audible.

"Mrs. Brenner." Veyne leaned forward slightly, gray eyes steady and serious. "Master Feng is one of the most respected alchemists in the Empire. He’s evaluated hundreds of candidates for the Imperial Guild over a career spanning twenty-five years. Tested thousands of potions. Trained dozens of master-level alchemists. And he just told us that you’re one of the most naturally gifted alchemists he’s ever encountered in his entire professional life."

The words hung in the air. Heavy. Inescapable.

"Which means," Morrison continued with gentle inexorability, "that Caelia lied to you. Your tutors lied to you. For decades. Deliberately. Systematically."

Selene’s breathing quickened. Small, shallow gasps like someone forgetting how to properly draw air. "No, I... I mean, Caelia wouldn’t... we’re sisters. We’re twins. Why would she..."

"Mrs. Brenner." Veyne’s voice stayed gentle but firm, the tone of someone who had to deliver terrible truths whether they wanted to or not. "Think about it. Really think about it. Master Feng said this level of talent can’t go unnoticed. Said someone should have identified your abilities decades ago when you were first training. Your tutors were educated professionals. They would have seen your potential. They had to have seen it."

"Unless," Morrison added carefully, "something else was at play. Did they simply recognize that Caelia wanted you discouraged? Or did Caelia herself interfere with your work to make you think you were failing?"

The cracks in Selene’s composure were spreading now. Visible fractures in the facade she’d maintained for fifty years, in the identity she’d built around being the pretty twin, the one without talent, the one whose only value was her face.

"But why would Caelia..." Her voice broke. "Why would she do that to me? We’re sisters. We shared a womb. We grew up together. Why would she want to hurt me like that?"

"That’s what we’re trying to understand," Veyne said. Her gray eyes held steady, witnessing without judgment. "But Mrs. Brenner, I want you to think about something. Really think about it. Take your time."

She paused, making sure Selene was listening. Making sure the words would land.

"If you had been properly trained. If you had been recognized as a master alchemist when you were young, when your talent first manifested. If you had been valued for your intelligence and skill instead of just your beauty..." Veyne’s gray eyes held steady. "What would your life have looked like?"

And that’s when it finally started to hit.

Not all at once—the human mind couldn’t process that much devastation simultaneously. But piece by piece. Implication by implication. The truth spreading through her consciousness like poison, touching everything, transforming everything.

Selene’s face went white. Not pale—white. The color draining so fast it was almost visible, like watching time-lapse footage of flowers wilting.

"I could’ve..." Her voice came out strangled, barely more than a whisper. "I could’ve gone to the Imperial Academy. The real programs, not just the decorative courses for noble ladies. Could’ve studied under Guild Masters. Could’ve had access to ancient texts and experimental techniques. Could’ve..."

"You could’ve been famous," Morrison said quietly, each word carefully chosen. "Respected. Valued for your mind instead of your appearance. People would have sought your expertise. Your opinion. Your innovations."

"I could’ve..." Selene’s hands were shaking now, trembling against the table surface. "Darian. Light take me, Darian." Her voice broke on his name, on the weight of fifty years of grief and longing. "He values talent. Intelligence. Innovation. He married Caelia because she was brilliant, not because she was beautiful. Everyone knows that. The whole Empire knows he chose brilliance over beauty."

The realization was dawning. Spreading. Growing into something that would consume everything, change everything, reframe fifty years of memories into a different shape.

"If I had been recognized as a master alchemist..." She looked up at them, and her eyes held devastation so profound it was almost physical. "If people had known about my abilities... If I had been famous for my innovations instead of dismissed as the pretty twin... everything would have been different. My whole life. Every choice. Every opportunity."

Selene made a sound that wasn’t quite a sob. Wasn’t quite a scream. Something in between—the noise of understanding that’s too large to be contained by a single emotion, too devastating to be expressed in civilized sound.

"She stole him." The words came out in gasps, broken by breathing that had forgotten its rhythm. "She didn’t just... she didn’t just win his affection. She didn’t just happen to be the one he fell in love with. She made sure I couldn’t even compete. Made sure I thought I had nothing to offer except my face. Made sure I believed I was stupid, worthless, incompetent at the one thing I actually excelled at."

Her breathing was coming faster now. Harder. The kind of hyperventilation that preceded a complete breakdown.

"I could’ve had a different life." The words tumbled out faster, realization building momentum. "Could’ve been respected. Could’ve made a name for myself. Could’ve walked into rooms and had people value my opinion. Could’ve contributed to imperial medicine. Could’ve saved lives with my research. Could’ve..." Her voice cracked completely. "Could’ve been the one Darian chose. Could’ve had real children with him. Not stolen ones. Not swapped ones. Real children born from love and respect, and partnership. Could’ve had the family I wanted. The recognition. The honor. The sense of purpose."

Morrison and Veyne exchanged glances. This was the moment. When the full weight of it finally landed and crushed everything beneath it.

"She didn’t just take Darian from me," Selene whispered, and her voice held the hollow quality of someone seeing an abyss open beneath their feet. "She took everything. My future. My dreams. My entire potential. Every life I could have saved. Every student I could have taught. Every innovation I could have contributed to imperial alchemy. She made sure I had nothing except beauty, and then she watched—she watched—as that beauty faded and I became bitter and twisted because I thought I was worthless."

The tears were coming now. Not delicate crying—the kind of tears that came from grief so deep it had no bottom. From a realization so devastating it couldn’t be contained.

"Fifty years," Selene’s voice rose, control shattering like that glass under pressure, finally giving way. "FIFTY YEARS I believed her. Believed the tutors. Believed I was stupid. Believed I was wasting my time. Believed the only thing I had to offer was my face and maybe advantageous marriage connections."

She stood abruptly. The chair scraped against linoleum with a harsh sound that made both investigators tense. But Selene wasn’t moving toward them. She was just standing, as if sitting had become impossible, as if the weight of realization required movement to process.

"She could’ve let me have alchemy." The words came out raw, stripped of pretense or dignity. "Could’ve let me have that one thing. The one thing I loved. The one thing that felt like mine. But no. NO. She had to take that too. Had to make sure I was beneath her in every possible way. Had to make sure I knew—that I BELIEVED—I was inferior in every way that mattered to the man we both loved."

Her voice was rising now, control completely gone. The shock burning off, replaced by something that looked like molten rage mixed with unbearable grief.

"I could’ve been famous!" The words came out as a scream. "I could’ve been respected! I could’ve walked into the Imperial Academy and had professors compete for the chance to mentor me! I could’ve had students and research and laboratories and contributions to medicine that would’ve been written about in history books! I could’ve been SOMEONE!"

She grabbed the edge of the table. Knuckles white with pressure.

"Fifty years of lost potential," she whispered, and the words carried more weight than screaming. "Research I could have conducted. Lives I could have saved. Students I could have mentored. And all of it stolen by someone who should have celebrated my talents instead of burying them."

She sank back into the chair, the surge of energy draining away as suddenly as it had come.

"My mother. My father." Her hands came up to cover her face, words muffled but still audible. "They would’ve been proud. Would’ve valued me. Would’ve seen me as more than just the pretty twin who embarrassed the family with her lack of talent. They would’ve celebrated my achievements instead of constantly comparing me to Caelia and finding me wanting."

The full scope of it was hitting now. Wave after wave of realization, each one more devastating than the last.

"My grandparents. The Lin clan elders. They would’ve respected me. Given me resources. Given me opportunities to advance the family name through actual achievement instead of just advantageous marriages." Her voice cracked. "I could’ve made the Lin name mean something in alchemy. Could’ve brought real honor to the family instead of being the disappointing twin they had to find a husband for."

"I could’ve been a mother that my children respected," she whispered through her fingers, and this seemed to hurt most of all. "Could’ve been someone worth emulating. Could’ve taught them about discipline and innovation and the satisfaction of mastering complex skills. Could’ve passed on knowledge instead of bitterness. Could’ve been..."

"Someone," Veyne finished quietly.

"YES!" Selene’s hands dropped. Her face was a mask of devastation—tears streaming freely now, nose running, that careful composure completely destroyed. "Someone! Not just Caelia’s less talented twin. Not just the beautiful one who aged badly. Not just the bitter woman who married for security instead of love. SOMEONE with value and purpose and achievements that mattered!"

She turned to Morrison and Veyne. Her eyes were drowning in tears and rage, and grief all mixed together.

"She took my entire life," Selene said, each word enunciated with painful clarity. "Not just Darian. Not just one thing. My entire LIFE. Everything I could’ve been. Everything I could’ve accomplished. Every patient I could’ve helped. Every student I could’ve taught. Every advancement I could’ve contributed to imperial medicine. Every bit of respect and recognition and purpose I could’ve had."

Her voice dropped to a whisper that somehow carried more weight than screaming.

"She made me believe I was worthless. And I spent fifty years living that lie. Becoming bitter. Becoming cruel. Becoming petty and vicious and exactly the kind of person she’d shaped me into being. The kind of person who would hurt innocent children because they represented everything I’d lost."

Morrison stepped forward carefully. "Mrs. Brenner—"

"No." Selene cut him off, and her voice had gone cold now. The rage crystallizing into something harder. "You don’t understand. This isn’t just about what she stole. It’s about what she made me become. The abuse I inflicted on Mara—because I thought I was worthless and she represented everything Caelia had that I didn’t. The schemes. The cruelty. The baby swapping."

She looked down at her hands again. Those master alchemist hands that had been conditioned to believe they were incompetent.

"I became a monster because she convinced me I was nothing. And she did it deliberately. Systematically. For decades. Sabotaged my confidence. Made me believe that beauty was all I had while she got talent and brilliance and the man I loved."

The silence that followed was absolute. Even the fluorescent lights seemed to hum more quietly, as if the room itself recognized the weight of what had been said.

Finally, Veyne spoke. "Mrs. Brenner, we’ll need to investigate these claims thoroughly. Interview the tutors from your youth if they’re still alive. Examine education records. Build a case against Caelia Lin for systematic psychological abuse."

"A case?" Selene laughed—a sound with no humor in it, just bitter recognition of cosmic irony. "What case? What crime? She didn’t poison me physically. Didn’t hit me. Didn’t leave marks anyone could see. She just... broke me. Systematically. Completely. Made sure I could never be anything except what she wanted me to be—the inferior twin who made her look even more brilliant by comparison."

"That," Wu said from the doorway, and they all turned to see him standing there with military bearing, rigid and eyes hard with determination, "is exactly what we’re going to investigate."

He stepped into the room, and the temperature seemed to drop with the weight of authority he carried.

"Master Feng’s evaluation changes everything," Wu continued, his voice carrying the kind of command that made colonels straighten. "If Caelia Lin systematically suppressed your talents—paid tutors to discourage you, convinced you that you were incompetent, destroyed your potential over the course of decades—that’s psychological abuse of the most insidious kind. That’s a pattern of manipulation and control that suggests much larger schemes at work."

He moved to stand directly in front of Selene, and his expression was grim.

"And if she did this to you—her own twin sister, someone she should have protected and supported—what else might she have done? What other manipulations might be hidden in the Long family? In the Lin clan? In the lives of everyone around her? What other talents might she have suppressed? What other lives might she have destroyed for her own advancement?"

Selene sank back into her chair. All the fury had drained out, leaving only devastation in its wake. The kind of exhaustion that came from having your entire worldview shattered and having to rebuild from fragments.

"I hate her," she whispered, and the simple statement carried more weight than any scream. "I hate her more than I’ve ever hated anything. More than I hated myself for not being beautiful enough to keep Darian’s attention. More than I hated Mara for representing everything I’d lost. More than I hated the world for being unfair."

She looked up at them, and her pale blue eyes held something that looked almost like clarity through the devastation.

"But worse than hating her..." Her voice broke. "I hate myself for believing her. For letting her shape me. For becoming the person she wanted me to be—the bitter, cruel woman who would do terrible things because she thought she had nothing else. For wasting fifty years believing I was worthless when I could’ve been changing the world."

Morrison closed his notebook with careful precision. "Mrs. Brenner, you’re still facing charges for the crimes you committed. The baby swap. The poisoning. The systematic abuse. The witness tampering. Those actions were yours, regardless of Caelia’s manipulation. You made those choices."

"I know," Selene said simply. "I know. I’m not asking for forgiveness or claiming I’m not responsible. But now..." She looked down at her hands one more time. "Now I understand why I became capable of doing those things. Why I was so bitter. So twisted. So desperate to hurt anyone who represented what I’d lost—what Caelia had stolen from me by making me believe I had nothing to lose in the first place."

She looked up at them, and her expression held something that looked almost like terrible understanding.

"She didn’t just steal my life. She stole my soul. Made me into something I was never supposed to be. Shaped me into a monster while convincing me it was my own inadequacy that made me bitter." Her voice steadied with grim determination. "And now I’m sitting here, fifty years old, facing punishment for crimes I committed because she destroyed the person I could’ve been."

Veyne stood with professional efficiency. "We’ll give you some time to process. But Mrs. Brenner—this investigation just expanded significantly. We’ll be looking into Caelia Lin’s actions. Her manipulations. Who she paid. How far back this goes. The full scope of what she’s done, not just to you but potentially to others."

"Good," Selene said simply, and the word carried finality. "Because if I’m going down for what I did, she should answer for what she made me become."

Behind the glass, Officer Chen had stopped taking notes. Her sharp eyes were wide, tablet forgotten in her lap as she processed the implications of what they’d all just witnessed.

"Commissioner," she said quietly, "this is... this changes everything about how we understand this case."

"Yes," Wu agreed, his military bearing somehow even more rigid than usual. "It does."

Morrison emerged from the interrogation room. His weathered face showed deep concern mixed with something approaching horror at the systematic destruction they’d uncovered. "We’re looking at psychological manipulation spanning five decades. If Caelia could do this to her own twin sister—suppress her talents, destroy her potential, shape her into a bitter, cruel person capable of terrible crimes—what else is she capable of?"

"And there’s another question," Veyne added, joining them in the observation room. "The baby swap. Did Caelia facilitate it? Allow her own daughter to be swapped. To be raised in abuse and neglect. Why would a mother do that? Why would anyone with genuine maternal instinct allow their child to suffer?" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Wu’s jaw tightened. "Because it served some purpose we don’t understand yet. Some scheme that’s been running for seventeen years. Some long-term manipulation that required Mara to be in that specific position."

His communicator buzzed again. This time, when he looked at the screen, his expression shifted from grim determination to something approaching shock.

"The Emperor’s office," he read aloud. "Immediate SIS briefing required. Cosmic security implications." He looked up at his team. "This just went from a criminal investigation to a matter of imperial security."

They all looked toward the interrogation room where Selene sat crying. Her entire worldview shattered. Her life revealed as a lie spanning fifty years. A monster created by someone who should have protected her, shaped by systematic psychological abuse into something capable of terrible crimes.

And somewhere in the Second District, in a beautiful house with healing gardens and devoted family, Caelia Lin went about her day.

Brilliant healer. Devoted mother. Perfect matriarch. Wife to the legendary Darian Long.

Master manipulator who’d spent fifty years destroying her own sister while wearing a mask of love and support.

The morning light streaming through the station windows suddenly felt less forgiving. More like harsh truth that exposed everything it touched, revealing ugliness that had been hidden in plain sight for decades.

This was only the beginning of understanding what Caelia Lin had really done. What she was still doing. What other lives she’d destroyed while maintaining her perfect facade.

And in that interrogation room, Selene Lin—extraordinary alchemist who’d spent fifty years believing herself worthless—wept for the life that had been stolen from her and the monster that theft had created.