25. Eliana
Eliana
The car slammed into a tree with a deafening crash.
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything except the ringing in my ears.
My body had been thrown against the seat, and pain pulsed through my leg when I tried to move.
The windshield was shattered, tiny pieces of glass scattered across the dashboard and seats, while smoke curled from beneath the hood and filled the air with the sharp smell of something burning.
I blinked repeatedly, trying to understand where I was.
Ethan was slumped against the driver's seat, his head tilted to one side, and he wasn't moving.
For a moment, I simply stared at him before remembering the gun.
Fear cut through the confusion, and I fumbled with my seatbelt, my fingers trembling so badly that it took several attempts before I managed to release it.
The moment I shifted my weight, pain shot through my injured leg, nearly sending me back into the seat.
I gritted my teeth and forced myself upright because I knew I had to get out.
I pushed the passenger door open and stumbled into the cold night air. My leg protested with every movement, but I kept going. I didn't stop to look at the wreckage behind me or wonder whether Ethan was conscious. I simply ran, and the forest swallowed me almost immediately.
Branches whipped against my arms and caught in my clothes as I pushed deeper between the trees.
Sharp rocks dug into the soles of my shoes, and more than once I stumbled, catching myself against rough bark before I could fall.
I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care.
I only knew I had to get away. Every breath burned as I forced myself forward, and my injured leg was becoming harder to use, but the thought of Ethan finding me gave me enough strength to keep moving.
Then I heard my name. “Eliana!”
I froze as Ethan's voice echoed through the trees. He was awake. I looked over my shoulder, but the darkness between the trees gave me nothing. I could hear branches snapping somewhere behind me, and the realization that he was coming made me run faster.
My vision blurred with tears as I pushed through the forest. My foot caught on a root, and I nearly fell, but I grabbed a branch and steadied myself before continuing.
Then a gunshot shattered the night. I flinched violently as the sound rolled through the trees, followed by a silence that felt even more terrifying.
He had fired, and I didn't wait to find out whether he had been aiming at me. I ran harder.
My head suddenly began to pound. At first, it was only a dull ache, but within seconds it intensified until I could barely think. I pressed one hand against my temple as I stumbled forward, trying to keep my balance, when something flashed through my mind.
Adrian's blue eyes appeared beneath bright sunlight, his expression softened by a smile I knew.
The image vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, only to be replaced by the sound of laughter and warm sunlight falling across intertwined hands.
I gasped and stumbled backward as another memory rushed through me, this one showing a pair of tiny baby shoes resting in my hands while Adrian stood beside me, his fingers wrapped around mine.
The memory disappeared before I could hold on to it.
I pressed my fingers against my temple, fighting the throbbing pain as more fragments crashed through my mind.
Adrian was laughing, Adrian was leaning toward me, and his voice was saying my name.
I could feel the warmth of his body beside mine, see a ring, and hear a promise I couldn't quite understand.
Then came an overwhelming sense of happiness followed by grief so deep that it seemed to tear through everything inside me.
My injured leg gave out beneath me, and I caught myself against a tree as tears streamed down my face.
I couldn't understand what was happening or why I was remembering things that shouldn't exist. Adrian's face felt like something I had known long before I met him again, and the realization left me struggling to breathe.
“Eliana!”
The voice came from somewhere behind me, and I panicked as I forced myself upright. But this voice sounded different. It wasn't cold or angry. It was desperate.
I turned, and a figure emerged between the trees.
Adrian.
He was running toward me, his clothes disheveled, his hair damp, and his face drawn with fear and exhaustion. He looked nothing like the composed man who had stood on my father's porch only hours earlier. He looked terrified, as though the possibility of losing me had once again become real.
My body moved before my mind could catch up.
I ran toward him, and the moment I reached him, I threw myself into his arms. Adrian caught me instantly, wrapping his arms around me as I trembled against him.
He didn't ask questions or demand an explanation.
He simply held me, as though letting go would mean losing me all over again.
I buried my face against his chest and broke down.
"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I'm so sorry."
His arms tightened around me, and when he pulled back enough to look at me, his eyes were filled with emotion. One hand came up to my face, his fingers gently brushing away my tears.
"We'll talk later," he said softly. "Right now, I just need you safe."
I shook my head as more tears slipped down my cheeks. "I hurt you."
"We'll talk about that later." His thumb moved gently beneath my eye. "You're here. I have you.”
His voice broke slightly on the last word, and he looked at me as though he needed to make certain I was real.
Something about those words sent another memory through my mind. His voice saying something similar, his hand covering mine, and a promise whispered somewhere I couldn't place. My head throbbed again, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Adrian..."
"I'm here."
I opened my eyes and looked at him, and for the first time, I wasn't seeing only the man from the cottage. I was seeing flashes of someone else, someone I had loved, someone I had lost, and someone I had somehow found again.
My lips parted, but before I could speak, a branch snapped behind us.
Adrian's expression changed. His body shifted in front of mine, shielding me as he turned toward the sound. I gripped the back of his shirt, suddenly aware of how still the forest had become.
Another branch cracked somewhere in the darkness.
Adrian reached for my hand and pulled me closer. "Stay behind me."
I nodded, unable to take my eyes off the trees. Somewhere out there, Ethan was still coming, and this time, Adrian was standing between us.
Above us, the sky had turned dark and stormy, thick clouds gathering over the coastline as distant thunder rolled across the sea. The first drops of rain began falling through the branches, landing against my face.
Suddenly Ethan emerged from the trees and stepped closer, the gun still in his hand. His calm mask was finally gone, replaced by desperate rage.
“So this is how it ends,” he said bitterly.
Adrian stepped in front of me without hesitation, shielding me with his body. Rain began falling harder, darkening his clothes as he kept his eyes fixed on Ethan.
“It’s over, Ethan,” Adrian said firmly. “I’ve already called the police. They’re on their way. Don’t make this worse.”
Ethan's expression twisted with disbelief. “You stole everything from me. She was supposed to choose me.”
I looked at him through the rain, forcing myself to stand my ground despite the fear running through me.
“I was never yours,” I said, my voice shaking but steady.
For a brief moment, Ethan's expression crumbled with heartbreak. He looked at me as though those words had wounded him more deeply than anything else could have. Then the heartbreak disappeared, replaced by something darker.
He raised the gun. The shot echoed across the forest.
Adrian reacted instinctively, throwing himself in front of me. The impact sent him staggering backward, and I screamed his name.
“Adrian!”
Before Ethan could fire again, Adrian lunged at him. The two men crashed into each other, and the gun fell somewhere into the undergrowth.
They struggled violently in the rain, years of hatred finally erupting between them. Ethan swung at Adrian, and Adrian struck back. They shoved, grappled, and fought for control as rain poured over them and thunder rumbled overhead.
“Stop!” I screamed. “Please, stop!”
Neither man heard me.
Ethan grabbed Adrian by the collar and drove him backward, but Adrian caught his arm and forced him away. Their fight carried them farther across the soaked ground, closer and closer to the towering cliff overlooking the raging sea.
I followed them, terrified.
“Adrian!”
The rain had turned the ground beneath their feet into mud. Water streamed toward the edge, carrying loose soil with it. The earth shook beneath them, but neither seemed to notice.
Ethan swung again. Adrian blocked the blow. Then Adrian looked toward me.
It lasted only a second.
My eyes filled with tears. “Adrian!”
The ground suddenly cracked beneath their feet. Adrian's expression changed as the earth gave way. I rushed toward them, reaching out with both hands, but I was too late.
The cliff collapsed.
The earth broke apart beneath both men, and Adrian and Ethan disappeared over the edge.
“NOOOO!” I dropped to my knees and reached toward the empty space where Adrian had been.
Below me, the raging sea swallowed them.
“Adrian!” My scream echoed across the water as the storm raged overhead.
Within minutes, police and rescue teams arrived after tracking Adrian's emergency call. Officers rushed toward the cliff while helicopters swept the coastline with powerful searchlights. Divers entered the turbulent ocean, searching through the waves despite the dangerous conditions.
I stood there beneath the rain, watching them search. They searched through the night. Then through the following day.
Days became weeks. Nothing was found. No bodies. No trace of either man. Eventually, everyone accepted what seemed impossible to accept.
The sea had claimed them both. Everyone except me.
I returned to the cliff again and again, standing exactly where I had last seen Adrian alive. I refused to believe that our story could end there, beneath the storm and the waves.
One evening, I stood at the edge as another gray sky stretched across the horizon. The wind moved through my hair while the ocean crashed against the rocks below.
I looked down at my hand. The engagement ring Adrian had given me was still there. Thankfully Dad kept it safe for me all these years.
I rubbed my thumb slowly over the ring, tracing the familiar shape as memories of a life I had once forgotten moved quietly through my mind.
He had given me this ring. He had loved me. And somehow, even after everything we had lost, I had found my way back to him.
Only to lose him again.
Rain began falling, soft at first and then steadily, soaking my clothes as I continued staring across the endless waves.
I closed my fingers around the ring.
Tears blurred the horizon. “Please...” I whispered into the wind.
My voice broke as I looked toward the sea one last time. “Come back to me.”
Only the sound of the ocean answered.