---- Chapter 14 Derek Gomez POV: The knowledge that Elaina had found happiness with someone else should have been the end. It should have been the final, merciful blow that allowed me to let go. But my obsession, twisted and toxic, refused to die. | had to see her. One last time. | needed to see with my own eyes that she was truly okay. It was a selfish, desperate need, a final act of a dying man grasping for a memory of light. | drove to the small coastal town in Northern California. It was the antithesis of my world-quiet, slow, unassuming. | found the bookstore, "The Reading Nook," a charming, ivy-covered building on the main street. | parked across the street, my heart pounding a frantic, painful rhythm. And then | saw her. She came out of the bookstore, carrying a box of books. She looked... radiant. More beautiful than | had ever seen her. The quiet sadness that had always lingered in her eyes was gone, replaced by a vibrant, confident glow. She was wearing a simple sundress, her hair was longer, and she was laughing at something the man beside her-Graham-was saying. He took the box from her, his touch gentle and easy. He ---- leaned in and kissed her, a soft, lingering kiss that spoke of a deep and comfortable intimacy. It was like a physical blow. The air was knocked from my lungs. | watched them, a voyeur to the life that should have been mine. They walked down the street, hand in hand, disappearing into a small cafe. | sat in my car for hours, unable to move, a prisoner of my own regret. | saw them emerge later, still smiling, still connected in a way we never truly had been. The love they shared was quiet and steady. The love | had offered her was a destructive hurricane. That night, | checked into a cheap motel on the edge of town. | bought a bottle of the cheapest whiskey | could find and drank myself into a stupor. The alcohol didn't numb the pain. It sharpened it, turning my grief into a razor-edged blade that carved up my insides. In a drunken, desperate haze, | found her address. A small cottage by the sea. | drove there, parking a block away. The lights were on. | could see their silhouettes moving inside. | saw them dancing in the living room, a slow, easy sway. | saw him tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. | was poisoning myself, but | couldn't look away. A few days later, a storm rolled in off the Pacific, battering the small town with torrential rain and violent winds. | was in my motel room, the whiskey my only companion, when a news alert flashed on the TV screen. A fishing boat had been ---- caught in the storm, its engine failing. It was being smashed against the rocks near the old lighthouse. The name of the boat's owner was Graham Barnett. A cold, terrible thought, born of whiskey and despair, slithered into my mind. If he were gone... would she turn back to me? Would she need me again? It was the thought of a monster, and | knew it. But | was a monster now. | had nothing left to lose. | got in my car and drove toward the lighthouse. The roads were flooded, the wind buffeting the car. | saw the flashing lights of the Coast Guard and a crowd of townspeople huddled on the cliff, their faces illuminated by the sweeping beam of the lighthouse. | saw Elaina. She was standing at the very edge of the cliff, her face pale with terror, her eyes fixed on the struggling boat being torn apart by the waves. She was screaming his name, her voice snatched away by the wind. And then, | saw him. He was clinging to the wreckage of the boat, a wave washing over him, pulling him under. Without a second thought, without any conscious decision, | was out of the car and running. | tore off my jacket and plunged into the churning, icy water. The cold was a shock, stealing my breath. The current was a brutal, powerful force, pulling me under, tossing me around ---- like a rag doll. But | fought it. | swam with a strength | didn't know | possessed, my eyes fixed on the spot where | had last seen Graham. | was a strong swimmer, but the ocean was stronger. A piece of driftwood, tossed by a wave, slammed into my side, and | felt a sharp, searing pain as my ribs cracked. | gasped, swallowing a mouthful of salty, freezing water. My vision started to blur. My limbs grew heavy, numb. | was losing. But then | saw him. He had surfaced, clinging to a piece of the mast, his face bloodied. He was alive. | saw Elaina on the cliff, her silhouette a beacon in the storm. | thought of our lost child. | thought of the man she had become because of me. This was my penance. This was my chance to do one good thing. To save the man she loved. To give her back the happiness | had stolen With the last of my strength, | pushed the piece of driftwood | was clinging to towards him. "Grab on!" | yelled, my voice raw. He looked at me, his eyes wide with confusion, not recognizing the monster from his lover's past. "Go!" | choked out, as another wave crashed over me, pulling me down into the cold, dark depths. ---- As the darkness consumed me, the pain in my chest finally receded. The guilt, the regret, the endless, agonizing ache... it all washed away. The last thing | saw, in my mind's eye, was Elaina's face. Not the cold, distant stranger from the gallery, but the young woman | had first met, her eyes full of a cautious hope. And she was smiling. Finally. She was smiling.