The weekend air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of rain as Elena walked through the small park near her apartment. She often came here when her thoughts grew too heavy, when she needed space to breathe. But today, even the soft rustle of trees and distant laughter of children couldn't ease the weight pressing on her chest.
Her lips still tingled from Adrian's kiss. Her body still hummed with the memory of his hands anchoring her, the raw certainty in his voice: You belong with me.
And yet Daniel's face haunted her like a ghost. His words, his regret, his plea—I never stopped loving you.
She was unraveling, torn in two, her heart a battlefield she didn't know how to survive.
"Elena."
Her steps froze. That voice. That ache.
Slowly, she turned.
Daniel stood a few feet away, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his eyes carrying a storm of longing and pain.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice guarded.
"I had to see you," he said. "You've been avoiding me."
"For good reason."
He took a step closer. "Because of him?"
She crossed her arms, holding herself steady. "Because I don't know what I feel anymore."
Daniel's expression cracked, raw and vulnerable. "That night at the gala, when I saw you in his arms—it killed me. But I thought, maybe I still had a chance to make things right. Tell me I don't, Elena. Look me in the eye and tell me you've moved on."
Her throat tightened. She wanted to scream yes, to cut the tether once and for all. But the truth lodged like glass in her chest.
"I can't," she whispered.
Daniel's jaw clenched. His eyes softened, hope flickering to life. "Then don't fight it. Don't fight us. What we had—it wasn't perfect, but it was real. You can't tell me you don't still feel it."
Memories surged unbidden—the nights they lay tangled beneath the stars, the way he had once looked at her as if she were his entire universe.
Her eyes burned. "You left me, Daniel. Do you know how much that broke me?"
"I left because I was a coward," he admitted, his voice breaking. "Because I thought walking away was saving you. But it was the worst mistake of my life. And if you'll let me, I'll spend the rest of my days proving I won't walk away again."
Tears slipped free, and she turned her face away. "It's not that simple."
"It is," he insisted, stepping closer until she could feel his warmth. "Do you still love me?"
Her lips parted, but no sound came. Because the silence itself was an answer she couldn't bear to give.
And then—
"Elena."
Her heart dropped. She knew that voice too well.
She turned slowly to see Adrian, standing at the edge of the path, his eyes dark, his expression thunderous.
The storm she'd feared had finally arrived.
The park seemed to shrink under the weight of Adrian's presence. His gaze locked on Daniel, sharp and lethal, before shifting to her with a flicker of betrayal.
"So this is where you go when you disappear," Adrian said, his tone deceptively calm, though every line of his body screamed fury.
"Adrian, it's not—" Elena began, but he cut her off with a look.
Daniel stepped forward, unflinching. "She doesn't owe you explanations. Not when her heart is still torn."
Adrian's jaw flexed. "Her heart is hers. But I'll be damned if I let you use her pain to claw your way back in."
The air between them burned, thick with rivalry, love, and rage.
And Elena, caught between the fire of Adrian's possessive love and the haunting pull of Daniel's regret, realized something chilling—
If she didn't choose soon, she wasn't just going to lose one of them. She was going to lose herself.