Mattheo stands by the window, the green light from the lake bleeding into the stone walls. His reflection stares back at him—same dark eyes, same sharp features. The same name.

He lets out a quiet breath.

Riddle.

A name that will stick with people forever.

Some will move on. Some will forget. Some will even laugh about it in a few years’ time.

His jaw tightens.

But not him.

You see him shift his hands into his pockets, shoulders tense. For him, the name follows everywhere—into every classroom, every whispered conversation, every look that lingers a second too long.

Everyone will always associate him with him.

The man. The monster. The shadow he was born under.

He swallows, voice low, almost breaking as he speaks again.

He will never escape the hell he’s lived in since birth.

This is his fate.

Mattheo finally looks away from the glass, eyes dark with something dangerously close to fear.

And for the first time, he wonders—

He doesn’t know if he’s strong enough to survive it.