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."

vividly recall the day of Damien's passing. Clad in his pilot uniform and a piece of luggage in hand, he stood in the sunlit courtyard, waving goodbye

imagined it would be

transformed into

a heavy sadness settling upon him like an oppressive weight,

solace, yet any words seemed feeble in the shadow of such

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

like Damien; he is the

fingertips tightened around the paper. "But the authorities confirmed there were no survivors

"This is unbelievable."

as he said, "Even if you didn't see his body, the chances of surviving such a plane crash are nearly

the crash, why didn't he reach out to

it just be

Cyrus returned, his attempt to conceal his emotions faltered, his reddened eyes betraying his inner turmoil. "Could this person be Damien's double? How else could they

a possibility," Jasper

hope. They tirelessly

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