Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

"I'm sure." Lauren nodded firmly.

In an unusual departure from his usual composure, Cyrus fixated on the portrait, his usually steady demeanor giving way to a tense stillness, his eyes tinged with red.

Concerned, Lauren approached him, noting the uncharacteristic reaction. "Cyrus, are you alright?"

Cyrus responded hoarsely, "I'm sorry. I need to go to the restroom. Where is it?"

Jasper raised his hand, indicating the direction. Cyrus immediately left with purposeful strides.

"Lyse, do you recognize him?" Jasper hugged Alyssa by the waist and asked with anxious urgency.

Alyssa took a deep breath, striving to quell her tumultuous emotions. "He bears a striking resemblance to my late brother, Damien, who perished in a plane crash."

Jasper and Lauren widened their eyes in disbelief.

Damien's untimely demise had left an enduring wound in the Taylor family's collective heart. Tears welled in Alyssa's eyes as she reflected on the painful memory.

"Our family refrained from discussing Damien ever since his passing, especially in the presence of Mandy and Cyrus. Not out of forgetfulness, but because his memory was too painful to confront."

ache of loss resurfaced, threatening to overwhelm her. "I can still vividly recall the day of Damien's passing. Clad in his pilot uniform and a piece of luggage in hand,

never imagined it would be our

transformed into an

sadness settling upon him like an oppressive weight, suffocating

solace, yet any words seemed feeble in the

realization jolted her, her gaze following Cyrus' departure with concern etched on

only look like Damien; he

fingertips tightened around the paper. "But the authorities

"This is unbelievable."

said, "Even if you didn't see his body, the chances of surviving

crash, why didn't he reach out to

it just be a

conceal his emotions faltered, his reddened eyes betraying his inner turmoil. "Could this

a possibility," Jasper

the plane crash, Winston and Mandy never lost hope. They

his loss, fueled by the absence of definitive proof, kept her clinging to