Dear Diary,

I have survived. This is as much as I can possibly write about the years following my last entry. In this record of my life, the one thing that I wish to remain after me is that statement. I have survived.

I married Robert, in truth, with desperation. I needed to save Brickwoode, and that wonderful man offered himself to me. And while I always have loved him as a brother, I had never been able to see him as anything else.

On the day of my wedding, I had two unexpected guests. Andrew, and his new wife, Elizabeth. It seems that upon returning home, he heard of my pending nuptials and not hearing the truth of the matter, he decided that I had betrayed him. He married Elizabeth; the one woman that I have always known to want what was mine.

Despite the pain that this brought me, I still married Robert, and through that experience, I have been able to learn what real love is. I have grown to love Robert with my full heart, and I do believe that this would have happened naturally, only given time. He is such a wonderful man, so generous and his joy for life inspires me to live each day, and feel the possibilities within each day.

Andrew and his new bride disappeared soon after my wedding. I have not heard from him at all. Even though I love Robert so much, I still find myself wondering what could have been, what may have been if only one small action had not been misinterpreted.

It was the night before my wedding, and I was standing on my balcony, crying for my Andrew, feeling as though I was about to betray him. Robert was comforting me. Andrew, who had returned home and had come straight to see me, saw only his lady in his closest comrade's arms. He ran straight to Elizabeth that night, and the rest is history.

But for that, could I have lived a different life? I love Andrew still, but what cannot be, cannot be. Fate changed my life drastically, and still I survived.

Lady Katherine of Brickwoode

Sighing after she finished rereading the last entry, Cairo sent the ancient volume down on her lap. She had been reading for hours, and yet she couldn't stop herself. To her, the answers about what had gone wrong in her life, were hidden somewhere in the words of the journal.

Tired and worn, with burning eyes, she left the journal rest on her night table as she stood up. She needed to smell the fresh air, to remind herself where she was. She wasn't there, she wasn't in that time ten months ago. She was in her quaint cottage. Nick was gone, he was out of her life, at his own wish.

Walking barefooted on the dry wood of the desk, Cairo watched the stars twinkling above her. The sky was so clear, she could see all the stars she could hope to see.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? No wonder you came here, you and your poetic soul," a warm voice whispered behind her.

"It's quiet here. It's also private. I don't want to be around people, I don't want to let myself be exposed to that again," she answered, looking straight ahead of her.

"Carrie, you know that it's not his fault. We couldn't see it then, but it's her. She has some sort of power or something over him. He is not Nick. And we don't know what to do. You know him better than anyone did, even myself, and you are the only one that can help us get him back," he said, pleading.

"Brian, I couldn't. I tried and I tried and still, I couldn't. I had so many chances, there were so many things that I had to say to him, that I needed to tell him, and none of it worked!" she said, her wall broken down, she started to sob.

Gathering her into his arms, Brian held her while she sobbed. Stroking her hair away from her face, he pressed his forehead against hers.

"The least you can do is try. If you give up, then they win," he whispered. She looked away, as a fresh batch of tears clouded her vision.

"Did you ever read the letter I got from Brad? I kept, I don't know why. Nick read it. That's why he knew," she said distantly.

"Knew what, Carrie?" Brian asked.

"He knew exactly what to say to hurt me. 'I've never loved you'. That's twice now, must be a curse or something," she laughed dryly.

"Nick was lying. Who couldn't love you?" Brian asked, trying to lighten her mood.

"I don't know…But he thought that I could cheat on him. He honestly thought that I could. Have you ever had it happen to you? It's like someone just reaches into your heart, and rips it out, all while laughing at you. After what happened, I could never do that someone, and he thinks I could have," Cairo said.

"Hey, remember? That's wasn't Nick."

"Where's Stacey?"

"Well…After London, things just fell apart. She dumped me," Brian said slowly.

"This sucks, you know that? C'mon, enough of this stupid crying and wallowing in the past. Let's go watch bad 80's horror movies and laugh at other people's crappy lives," Cairo suggested.

* * * *

Brian was sprawled across her couch. They had been up all night, laughing to tears at Cairo's collection of terrible horror movies. The sun was starting to rise, and snatches of sunlight were starting to creep in through the trees. Cairo was sitting by her bay window, reading the journal. Again. She was a woman obsessed, despite her efforts to put it all behind her.

"What are you reading?" Brian asked, looking over her shoulder.

"An old journal that I found on my bookshelf, in Brickwood. I think she's an old relative or something," Cairo explained, holding it out for Brian to see.

"Really? That's neat," he asked, flipping through the pages.

"Yeah, it's been pretty interesting," she said, taking it back. She flipped to the last entry, fascinated by it. It just held her attention, she must have read it a hundred times.

"Wow, sounds like she had a pretty crappy life," Brian said. Cairo swatted him.

"Don't read over my shoulder, it's annoying," she ordered.

"Well, her life really wasn't that bad, just a part of it. But she got past it pretty well."

"What year was this?"

"You know what? I don't know. I think it's in the back somewhere," Cairo answered. She flipped to the back cover, where she was sure she had seen the date. Suddenly she gasped.

"Hey Brian…I think we need to do some detective work. You up to it?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty nosey. Why? Where's the mystery?" he answered, frowning.

Cairo held up the journal so he could see it. Scratched and worn, it was very hard to see. Someone had tried very hard to make it disappear. But not quite hard enough, because the words were still completely visible.

Printed on the inside back cover of Lady Katherine's journal were the words: Made In Taiwan.