*Who's My Eternal*
*Two Days Later — Manila Bay*
Elian hadn't slept.
He sat on the porch of the Pink house. Same spot Cherry used to sit.
Staring at the water.
Arthur Harkwell was gone. The suits, the power, the ice in his eyes.
Left was Elian. 25. Hollow.
Noa and Cindy walked up the path.
Noa saw him and stopped.
This wasn't the boy who left.
This was a man carrying five years of ghosts.
"Elian," Noa said. Soft.
Elian looked up. Nodded once. Nothing else.
They sat. Talked. Or tried to.
About the bay. About boats. About nothing.
Because what do you say to a man who just found out he lost everything?
"_Nay_!" Mrs. Anna's voice called from the back. "Noa, help me with the water, _anak_."
Noa stood. Squeezed Elian's shoulder. "Be right back."
And then it was just them.
Cindy and Elian.
He was staring at the sea. Face cold. Jaw tight.
But God, he was handsome.
Even broken. _Especially_ broken.
Power looked good on him. Grief looked good on him.
Cindy moved closer.
Set her hand over his.
"I know it hurts, Elian," she whispered. Voice sweet. Practiced. "But I'm here for you. I've always been here."
She leaned in. Shifted so her dress slipped. So he'd look.
So he'd _see_ her.
For once.
Elian didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't even blink.
He looked down at her hand on his. Like it was a bug.
Then he stood.
Walked away.
Inside the house. Without a word.
The door shut.
Cindy sat there.
Alone.
The mask slipped.
And she spat it out, low and venomous:
"Cherry Pink."
Her nails dug into her palm.
"Even when you're _gone_, I still look like the mistress."
She stood. Smoothed her dress.
Smiled.
But her eyes were ice.
*Inside*
Elian heard her.
He heard everything.
And something clicked.
He pulled out his phone.
Dialed.
"Karim" he said when the old man picked up. "I need you to find someone for me. Private. Best you have."
"Who?"
Elian looked out the window. At the cliff.
At the place she fell.
"Cherry Pink," he said. Voice dead. "Alive or dead. I want the truth."
A pause.
Then Karim: "Consider it done.
Elian hung up.
Because if there was even a 1% chance…
He'd burn the world to find her.
*Batangas — Haynes Enterprises*
Cherry dropped her pen.
"Cherry?" Nicklaus asked.
"Nothing," she said. Rubbed her arms. "Just… cold."
She didn't know Elian was in Manila.
Didn't know he knew.
Didn't know he was looking.
But she felt it.
Like a shadow over her heart.