Elena hadn’t realized how exhausting guilt could be until she started retracing the roads she once swore never to walk again with every turn of the wheel feeling heavier than the last while every streetlight that flickered past reminded her of something she’d said, something she couldn’t take back.She didn’t even know what she was looking for exactly, maybe forgiveness, or maybe just a chance to look him in the eye and not feel the crushing weight of regret pressing against her chest although sometimes she told herself she only wanted closure but deep down she knew that was a lie and that she wanted him to see her again, and to know that she hadn’t forgotten him.Her car rolled to a stop near a small superstore on a quiet street corner which was the kind of place Adrian would have never been seen around before because he used to despise crowded spaces, said they made him feel like a man trapped behind glass, surrounded by noise he couldn’t escape.She almost laughed at the irony beca

Elena arrived at the old pier café thirty minutes earlier than the agreed time and even then her hands were shaking too much to hold her coffee properly because she hadn’t been here in years.She sat beside the window overlooking the restless waves while rehearsing her words in her head until they sounded like lines from a play instead of something she actually felt.She whispered under her breath “Just stay calm…. just say it and don’t sound desperate” but her chest tightened anyway because every time she blinked she saw the look on Adrian’s face outside that superstore; tired, distant, and nothing like the man who once held her proudly in his arms, and she hated how it made her stomach twist and she hated even more that part of her still loved him in a quiet selfish corner of her heart.She kept checking the door until she forced herself to stop because counting seconds would only make the wait worse. So, she took a slow breath and whispered “It’s just a conversation, and nothing mo

Elena had never known that regret could feel like a physical weight or that it can sit on her chest, pressed into her ribs and refuse to lift even when she tried to distract herself but she’d driven home in silence gripping the steering wheel as if it were the only thing keeping her steady after meeting Adrian at the pier café, and the moment she stepped into her apartment, everything she had been pushing back came rushing to the surface; the way Adrian wouldn’t meet her eyes for too long, the guarded tone in his voice, and the subtle shift in his expression when she mentioned Seraphina’s name, that flicker of pain he tried to hide, and that was when the truth sharper than any argument they ever had hit her fully that Adrian wasn’t hers anymore, not even a little and not even in memory.Elena found herself driving without thinking the next morning while the city blurred past her windows and the roads were familiar but meaningless.She arrived at Adrian’s safehouse before she even real

Mara’s question hung in the kitchen like smoke that refused to rise while the small lantern on the table flickered throwing shadows across the old woman’s wrinkled face though her voice hadn’t been harsh or intrusive but just painfully soft and that softness was what broke Seraphina’s defenses.Seraphina’s fingers tightened around the edge of the wooden chair but she kept her eyes on the table with her breath shaking in her chest although her first instinct was to lie, to smile, and to say that she wasn’t hiding at all but that she was only “resting” or “passing through” or “needed space” but Mara wasn’t a woman you lied to, not when she looked at you like that; steady, warm, and patient.Seraphina swallowed with her voice barely holding “I’m not hiding from an enemy.”Mara tilted her head gently “Then who?”Seraphina hesitated and then forced the words out “Someone I love.”The silence that followed was thick and deep though a goat bleated somewhere near the fence outside while the n

The city lights stretched out below like a field of fireflies while Adrian Hart stood at the edge of the panoramic window with the wind brushing against his face cold and sharp as a small comfort to the storm raging inside him but he didn’t turn when Rhea’s voice came from behind.“You really intend to go in there alone?” she asked with arms crossed and voice firm but threaded with concern.Adrian didn’t answer immediately but pressed his palm against the glass watching the streets, the cars, and the shadows moving without care “I have to” he said finally with his voice low but the steel beneath it made her flinch “This isn’t just about me but it’s about her… and if I hesitate, even for a second I don’t know what Cortez might do.”Rhea took a step closer with her eyes scanning him carefully “You think this is just about Seraphina? You’re walking into the den of a man who thrives on manipulation, Adrian. You cannot… you cannot let your emotions…”“I’m not letting emotions rule me” he c