Chapter 6 Emotional Breakdown

# Chapter 6: Emotional Breakdown

I returned to my cottage in a daze, locking the door behind me as if physical barriers could keep out the emotional chaos threatening to overwhelm me. The revelation about Derek and Julian's true relationship had shattered my already fragile state of mind. Two identical men, both lying to me in different ways, both claiming to want me for different reasons.

I called Sophia immediately, desperately needing her rational perspective.

"Twins?" she echoed in disbelief after I'd explained everything. "Julian has had a secret twin brother this entire time?"

"Not just any brother," I said, my voice shaking. "A twin he's been estranged from for years, who apparently has a history of... of trying to take over Julian's life."

"And this Derek deliberately sought you out," Sophia clarified, her tone concerned. "Maya, this is seriously disturbing behavior. You need to come home. Now."

"I know," I whispered. "But part of me still wonders if Derek was telling the truth about Julian having him committed. What if Julian isn't who I thought he was either?"

Sophia sighed heavily. "Look, I've known Julian for as long as you have. He's distant, yes. Cold sometimes, absolutely. But manipulative and cruel? That doesn't sound like him."

"People keep secrets, Sophia. Five years of marriage, and he never once mentioned having a twin brother."

"A brother who sounds deeply troubled," Sophia pointed out. "Maybe Julian was protecting you."

"Or protecting himself," I countered.

After hanging up, I paced the small cottage, my mind replaying every interaction with Derek, searching for signs of manipulation I might have missed. But all I could remember was how alive he'd made me feel, how seen. Had that all been calculated? A performance designed to lure me away from Julian?

Then again, Julian had been distant and cold for years. That wasn't Derek's doing. Our marriage had been fracturing long before I'd set foot in Bayview.

A knock at the door startled me from my thoughts. I approached cautiously, calling out, "Who is it?"

"It's Elise," came the unexpected reply.

I opened the door to find a slender woman with short auburn hair standing on my porch. She offered a tight smile. "You don't know me, but we need to talk."

"Elise," I repeated, the name instantly recognizable from Julian's story. "You're—"

"The ex-girlfriend who got caught in the middle of their twisted relationship," she finished for me. "May I come in?"

Still stunned, I stepped aside to let her enter. Elise surveyed my cottage briefly before turning to face me.

"Julian called me," she explained. "He thought you might benefit from speaking with someone who's been in your position."

"How did he even know how to reach you?" I asked.

Elise smiled wryly. "We reconnected a few years ago. Purely platonic—we both needed closure on what happened."

I gestured for her to sit. "Does Derek know you're here?"

"No, and I'd prefer to keep it that way." She settled onto my sofa. "Julian told me what's been happening. History repeating itself, apparently."

"I'm not sure what to believe anymore," I admitted. "Both of them have lied to me."

Elise nodded sympathetically. "The Winters twins. So identical physically, so different in every other way." She leaned forward. "Maya, I need you to understand something: Derek is dangerous, but not in the way you might think. He doesn't use violence or threats. He uses emotional manipulation. He gets inside your head, makes you question everything."

"That's what Julian said," I acknowledged.

"Because it's true." Elise's eyes darkened with painful memories. "When I was with Julian in college, I was happy. Our relationship wasn't perfect, but it was good, stable. Then Derek started showing up when Julian wasn't around. Small interactions at first—bumping into me at the campus coffee shop, offering to help carry my books."

The pattern sounded eerily familiar.

"I knew they were twins," Elise continued. "But Derek started saying things... planting seeds of doubt about Julian. Suggesting that Julian was hiding parts of himself from me. That Derek understood me in ways Julian never could."

"And you believed him?"

Elise sighed. "Gradually, yes. Derek has this way of making you feel like the most fascinating person in the world. He listens intently, remembers everything you say, makes you feel seen in a way that's intoxicating."

I nodded, recognizing the exact feeling she described.

"Before I knew it, I was confiding in Derek about my relationship with Julian, sharing private details, doubts. He became my confidant. And then..." She paused, shame crossing her features. "Well, you know what happened. Julian found us together."

"What happened after?" I asked.

"It was a disaster. Julian was devastated, furious. Derek was... triumphant, initially. Like he'd won some victory. But within weeks, he lost interest in me. Once I wasn't Julian's anymore, I wasn't interesting to him."

Her words hit me like a physical blow. "You think that's what Derek is doing with me? Using me to hurt Julian?"

"I think it's more complicated than that," Elise said carefully. "The twins have a... unique psychology. Julian spends his life controlling his emotions, while Derek indulges every impulse. They're two halves of the same whole, in some ways."

"And what about the psychiatric facility?" I asked. "Derek said Julian had him committed."

Elise's expression grew serious. "That part is true, but not the way Derek presents it. After the incident with me, Derek became increasingly erratic. He started showing up at Julian's classes, impersonating him, damaging his relationships and reputation. One night, he drove Julian's car into a tree. Said he wanted to 'feel what it would be like to die as Julian.'"

I gasped. "That's..."

"Terrifying," Elise finished. "The family intervention was necessary, Maya. Derek needed help."

I absorbed this new information, trying to reconcile it with the charming, passionate man who'd made me feel so alive. "Why are you telling me all this? You don't even know me."

"Because I wish someone had warned me," Elise said simply. "And because, despite everything, I care about both of them. They're damaged, Maya. Both of them. Their relationship has poisoned them in different ways."

After Elise left, I sat in silence for a long time, her warnings echoing in my mind. The sun set, casting long shadows across my cottage floor. I should have been packing, preparing to return to the city with Julian as he'd suggested. Instead, I found myself paralyzed by indecision.

That night, sleep eluded me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw their faces—identical yet distinct. Julian's controlled features, his emotions always held in check. Derek's expressive eyes, his passion unrestrained. Two sides of the same coin, Elise had said. Two halves of a whole.

When I finally drifted off near dawn, my dreams were vivid and disturbing. I was in a maze, trying to find my way out. Julian stood at one exit, his hand extended, offering safety, stability. Derek waited at another, promising passion, adventure. As I moved toward one, the other called out, their voices blending until I couldn't tell them apart.

I woke with a start, my heart racing, the sheets tangled around my legs. The cottage was dark except for a sliver of moonlight slicing through a gap in the curtains. For a disorienting moment, I thought I was alone. Then I registered a presence—a figure sitting in the chair across from my bed.

"Julian?" I whispered, reaching for the lamp.

"Guess again," came Derek's voice, sending ice through my veins.

I scrambled upright, pulling the sheets around me. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"You should lock your windows," he said casually. "Anyone could just climb right in."

"Get out," I demanded, trying to keep my voice steady. "Now, or I'm calling the police."

Derek leaned forward, his face catching the moonlight. "I needed to see you. To explain."

"There's nothing to explain. Elise told me everything—about college, about your obsession with taking Julian's place."

Something dangerous flashed in his eyes. "Elise. So Julian dragged her into this too. How predictable." He stood and moved closer to the bed. "Did she tell you how she cried out Julian's name the first time we were together? How she kept coming back to me anyway?"

I recoiled from the cruelty in his voice. This was a side of Derek I hadn't seen before—cold, calculating, vindictive.

"She said you lost interest once she wasn't Julian's anymore," I said.

Derek laughed humorlessly. "Is that what she thinks? I lost interest because she was never interested in me—only in the fantasy of having both brothers. The safe one and the dangerous one."

"Please leave," I said, reaching for my phone on the nightstand.

"Do you know what it's like?" Derek continued as if I hadn't spoken. "Growing up as someone's duplicate? Always compared, always measured against each other. Julian was the good twin. I was the troublemaker. He got the praise; I got the concern. Identical DNA, different destinies."

Despite my fear, I felt a flicker of sympathy. "That doesn't excuse what you've done."

"I'm not looking for excuses," Derek said, sitting on the edge of my bed now. "I'm looking for understanding. When I saw your photo in Julian's wallet during one of our rare interactions years ago, I was curious. When I discovered you were staying in Bayview—my territory—I was intrigued. But when I met you, Maya..." His voice softened. "When I actually got to know you, something changed."

"Stop," I whispered, not wanting to hear more lies.

"You're extraordinary," he continued, reaching for my hand. I pulled away, but he persisted. "You have this fire inside you that Julian has been systematically extinguishing. I didn't expect to genuinely care about you."

"If you care about me, you'll leave," I said firmly.

Derek studied me for a long moment, then stood. "I'll go. But remember this: Julian might seem like the safe choice, but he's as damaged as I am. He just hides it better." At the door, he paused. "We're two sides of the same coin, Maya. You can't have one without acknowledging the other."

After he left, I sat shaking in my bed, his words reverberating in my mind. Sleep was impossible now. I moved to the living room, turning on all the lights, checking and rechecking the locks on doors and windows.

As the first light of dawn filtered through the blinds, I heard another knock at my door. Approaching cautiously, I called out, "Who is it?"

"It's Julian."

I opened the door to find him looking as haggard as I felt. "Are you okay?" he asked immediately. "You look terrible."

"Derek was here," I said flatly. "In my bedroom. In the middle of the night."

Julian's expression hardened. "Did he hurt you?"

"Not physically." I moved aside to let him in. "He just... talked. About you. About your childhood."

Julian ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Maya, we need to leave Bayview. Today. Derek is escalating, becoming unpredictable."

"I had a dream about you both," I said, not directly responding to his urgency. "You were at opposite exits of a maze. Both calling to me. I couldn't choose."

"This isn't a dream, Maya. This is our life. Our marriage."

"Is it?" I asked sadly. "Because it feels like I've been sleepwalking for years. Derek woke me up."

"By manipulating you," Julian insisted. "By creating a fantasy version of himself designed to appeal to everything he knew you were missing."

"And whose fault is it that I was missing those things?" I challenged. "Derek may have targeted me deliberately, but he didn't create the problems in our marriage. You and I did that all on our own."

Julian had no response to that truth. We stood in silence, the morning light highlighting the exhaustion on both our faces.

"I don't know who I am anymore," I finally whispered. "When I'm with you, I feel safe but unfulfilled. When I was with Derek, I felt alive but uncertain. I'm being torn apart between you."

Julian moved closer, tentatively taking my hands in his. "Maya, I know I've been distant. I know our marriage has suffered. But please, give me a chance to make it right. Away from here. Away from Derek's influence."

I looked into his eyes—so identical to Derek's in color and shape, yet holding none of the wild intensity that had drawn me to his brother. Could Julian change? Could he become more open, more passionate? Or was that side of him buried too deep to recover?

"I need time," I said, pulling my hands away. "Time to think."

But even as I said it, I knew time wouldn't solve my dilemma. The identical twins had awakened conflicting desires within me—safety versus passion, stability versus adventure, controlled love versus wild desire. How could I possibly choose between them when what I truly wanted was both?