My Sweet Audrina

Audrina opens the story insisting she is seven, but her memory wobbles and the truth slips away behind the fog of time. The family shields her from dates and expectations, making each day feel elastic. She lives at Whitefern with her father, mother, aunt, and cousin, clinging to whispered hints of a stable past.

Damian tells Audrina stories about the 'first Audrina' and encourages self-hypnosis to reclaim lost memories. He frames memory work as a path to belonging and uses it to shape Audrina's sense of self. The practice blurs the line between protection and manipulation.

Vera seizes control of attention in the family, resenting Audrina and insinuating that she steals Damian's affection. She uses charm to manipulate others while quietly plotting against Audrina. Audrina becomes increasingly isolated and anxious, haunted by dreams of her sister's fate.

In the backstory, Audrina's elder sister (also named Audrina) is raped and murdered in the woods on her ninth birthday. Damian recounts this trauma as a cornerstone of the family's history. The event casts a long shadow over present relationships and memory work.

Audrina, seven years old, meets Arden Lowe and his mother Billie as they move into a nearby groundkeeper's cottage. She gradually visits them, and Damian allows the relationships to begin to form. The woods loom as both shelter and danger in Audrina's imagination.

Lucietta goes into labor on Audrina's ninth birthday and dies in childbirth, leaving behind a baby girl named Sylvia. Sylvia remains in the hospital for more than two years before coming home, bringing new caregiving demands to Whitefern. Audrina watches and worries as the family reshapes around the newborn.

Sylvia returns after a lengthy hospital stay and is mentally challenged, forcing Audrina into new caregiving roles. Audrina begins piano lessons with Vera at Lamar Rensdale's home, keeping Lucietta's musical talent alive within the house. The calendar of daily life tightens around Sylvia's needs.

Audrina discovers Vera and Lamar are intimate, and Vera becomes pregnant. Vera's scheming nature escalates as she exploits the situation to gain leverage, prompting a heated confrontation that ends with Vera leaving town with Lamar. Ellsbeth accepts the truth, offering a strained, uneasy peace.

When Audrina turns eighteen, she learns that Damian and Ellsbeth are lovers again. Ellsbeth threatens to leave Damian unless he helps Vera, who is now alone after Lamar's suicide. The next morning Ellsbeth dies in a mysterious staircase accident, plunging the house into upheaval.

Audrina runs away with Arden, taking Sylvia with her. The wedding night is awkward, as Audrina feels unready for sex. The couple seeks safety away from Whitefern, at least for a moment, before the truth begins to surface.

Damian invites Billie to live with them, offering Arden work that never seems secure. Vera returns to Whitefern, and Damian reluctantly allows her to stay. Vera immediately resumes trying to win Arden away, intensifying Audrina's fear of losing him.

Billie dies after another fall down the stairs, leaving Audrina to protect Sylvia from blame. The household trembles as Vera's schemes press on and Arden's presence becomes a source of tension. Audrina's sense of safety continues to crumble.

Audrina experiences a surge of desire and resolves to change her life. She shares a night of happiness with Arden, then wakes to check on Sylvia and wanders into the room of the first Audrina. Visions of the past sharpen, leaving her emotionally raw and determined to seek truth.

Damian reveals the full truth: the elder first Audrina never existed as an independent person. Audrina was gang-raped in the woods, and Damian deceived her by erasing the memory with electro-convulsive therapy and manipulating clocks to erase days. Arden had known the truth all along but kept it quiet to protect Audrina.

Vera slips and dies after a confrontation, joining the chorus of betrayal that haunts Whitefern. Audrina chooses to stay with Sylvia and redefine her life, embracing honesty over escape as she accepts the truth and her own new identity as the 'first' Audrina.