The cellar was a tomb.
Damp air pressed against the stone walls, carrying the stench of mold, rust, and blood. Torches sputtered weakly, their flames barely piercing the suffocating shadows.
Elena knelt on the icy ground, her body weak, wrists bruised raw by chains. Every breath rattled her lungs, each inhale a painful reminder that her strength was slipping away.
Before her, Victoria stood in her silk gown, smiling like a queen who had finally won her throne. Beside her lounged Adrian, Alexander's ambitious nephew, his dagger glinting in the firelight as he spun it lazily between his fingers.
"You should have died years ago," Victoria whispered, crouching down to Elena's level. Her perfume was sickly sweet, masking the rot in her words. "But I wasn't finished with you yet. I needed you to hand me everything first—your husband's love, your children's affection, his empire. And you did. Like the fool you've always been."
Elena's vision blurred with tears. Her voice cracked. "You lied to me… all those years… You told me Alexander didn't love me. That he only kept me for the children."
Adrian chuckled, leaning closer, his smirk cruel. "And you believed it. Do you know how easy you were to manipulate? A lonely girl desperate to be loved, starved of attention. All it took was a few words from Victoria, a few smiles from me, and you fell into our hands. You hated your husband. You hated your children. You gave us everything."
The words cut deeper than any blade.
Her mind spiraled back to the past—the night Alexander had begged her not to leave, the tears in Sophia's little eyes, Ethan and Daniel clutching her dress. She had torn herself free, blinded by Victoria's lies, running into Adrian's waiting arms.
She had spat cruel words at Alexander: "I was never yours."
Now she knew. Every doubt, every resentment, every whispered poison had been planted by them. And she had chosen to believe.
Her heart cracked. "I destroyed him… I destroyed all of them."
Victoria's hand gripped her chin, forcing her to look up. "Yes. And that's why this is perfect. You will die branded as the unfaithful wife who betrayed the man who loved her most. While I… I will be remembered as the one who saved him."
Elena's tears spilled freely. "You… you're monsters."
Adrian's smile widened. He pressed the tip of his dagger to her throat, a cold line of steel against her skin. "No, Elena. We're survivors. You were nothing more than the perfect weapon to cut Alexander down."
The blade lifted, gleaming in the torchlight.
And then the doors exploded open.
"Elena!"
The voice hit her heart like thunder.
Her head snapped toward the doorway, and her breath caught in her throat.
There he stood.
Alexander.
After seven long years.
His white shirt was torn, soaked in blood. His broad shoulders heaved with exhaustion. His sword, already dripping crimson, caught the firelight as he strode forward. But it was not his weapon that made her sob—it was his eyes.
Piercing blue, fierce with rage, burning with love.
Even now.
Even after everything.
Adrian's mocking laughter cut through the silence. "Uncle, still clinging to your broken toy? Seven years, and you still can't let her go?"
Alexander's gaze never moved from her. "Touch her, and I'll end you." His voice shook the air, low and deadly.
Elena's tears blurred her vision. "Alex…"
The chains at her wrists snapped as he slashed through them, and suddenly she was in his arms—warm, strong, trembling. His body curved around hers, shielding her from every shadow.
"I never stopped loving you," he whispered against her hair, his voice raw with pain. "Not once. Not even for a day."
Her chest broke with sobs, her bloodied fingers clutching at his shirt. "I was wrong. I left you. I left Sophia. Ethan. Daniel. I believed them. Alex, I—"
"Shh." His lips pressed to her temple, his arms shaking as he held her tighter. "We'll go home. Together. I'll take you back. I'll take us all back."
But fate had other plans.
Steel clashed. The cellar erupted in chaos. Shadows surged forward, blades flashing. Alexander turned, sword carving a path through the enemy, every strike fueled by seven years of heartbreak.
"Elena, stay behind me!"
His blade split steel, tore flesh. He fought like a man possessed, rage and desperation blending into a storm. For every wound he took, three enemies fell.
But Adrian was waiting.
The dagger slid between Alexander's ribs. Blood sprayed. His body staggered.
"Alex!" Elena screamed. Her heart ripped open as he dropped to one knee, still clutching his sword.
Adrian grinned, yanking the blade free. "You should have let her die, uncle. Now you'll die with her."
The second strike came—straight toward Alexander's chest.
Without thinking, Elena threw herself forward. The dagger plunged into her, slicing through flesh and bone. Pain exploded through her chest, hot and searing.
Her knees buckled. She collapsed against him, blood soaking both of them.
"No!" Alexander's voice shattered, his arms catching her as they both crumpled. His sword fell with a metallic clang. His trembling hand cupped her face, thumb brushing her tears.
"Elena! Stay with me—please—stay—"
Her vision blurred, the world tilting. "Alex… I was blind. I ruined everything… and yet… you still came for me."
His forehead pressed to hers, his own tears falling. "Because I love you. Always."
She coughed blood, her voice fading. "If… if there's another life… I swear… I'll protect you. I'll love you… no matter what it costs me."
His smile was faint, broken, but his eyes never left hers. "Then I'll wait for you, Elena. Across lifetimes… I'll wait."
And as their blood mingled, as their breaths slowed, husband and wife—betrayed, broken, yet bound by love—slipped into death together.
The world grew silent.
Darkness took them both.