---- Chapter 15 Elaina Higgins POV: The world was a chaotic symphony of wind, rain, and the frantic shouts of the Coast Guard. | stood on the edge of the cliff, my heart a cold, hard knot of terror in my chest. | watched, helpless, as the waves crashed over Graham' s struggling boat, tearing it apart piece by piece. "Graham!" | screamed his name until my throat was raw, but the storm swallowed my voice. | saw him clinging to the wreckage, then a wave pulled him under. A sob tore from my throat. | was going to lose him. The thought was unbearable. After everything, after finally finding a safe harbor, | was going to be cast back out into the storm. Then, something impossible happened. A man, a stranger, plunged into the violent sea. He fought against the current with a desperate, superhuman strength, swimming towards the spot where Graham had disappeared. | watched, my breath held, as this unknown hero battled the ocean. | saw him reach Graham. | saw him push a piece of debris towards him. And then, | saw a massive wave crash down, and the stranger was gone. ---- The Coast Guard boat finally reached Graham, pulling his battered body from the water. They brought him to shore, and | ran to him, my legs shaking so hard | could barely stand. He was alive. Battered, bruised, and hypothermic, but alive. As they loaded him into the ambulance, | asked one of the rescuers about the other man. "The one who went in after him," | said, my voice trembling. "Did you find him?" The rescuer, a grim-faced man with weary eyes, just shook his head. "We're still searching. But in a sea like this... it's not likely." | rode with Graham to the hospital, my hand clutching his, willing him to be okay. He had a broken arm, several cracked ribs, and a nasty gash on his forehead, but he was going to live. The next morning, as Graham slept in his hospital bed, a police officer came to his room. "Ma'am," he said, his voice gentle. "We found the body of the man who went into the water last night. We identified him from the rental car he left at the scene." He paused, his expression full of a sympathy | didn't understand "His name was Derek Gomez." The world tilted on its axis. ---- Derek. It was him. He was the stranger. He had been here, in this town. He had seen us. And he had saved Graham. He had saved the man | loved. He had sacrificed himself for my happiness. A wave of dizzying, complicated emotion washed over me. Grief, shock, and a strange, hollow ache that felt like a phantom limb. The hate | had carried for so long, the cold, hard shield | had built around my heart, suddenly felt heavy and useless. He had been a monster. He had destroyed me. But in the end, he had done one, final, redemptive act. He had given me back my future. A few weeks later, a package arrived for me from a law firm in New York. Inside was a letter from Derek, written before his death, and a thick stack of legal documents. He had left me everything. His company, his fortune, his properties. His entire empire. | sat on the porch of our cottage, the sound of the calm ocean a soothing balm, and read his letter. His words were not excuses or pleas for forgiveness. They were a confession. A raw, unflinching account of his guilt, his regret, and the all- consuming obsession that had driven him to the brink. | know | don't deserve your forgiveness, Elaina, he wrote. | don' ---- t even ask for it. All | ask is that you live. Live a full, beautiful, and happy life. The life you deserve. The life | stole from you. Graham is a good man. He will give you the peace | never could. This inheritance is not a gift. It is a restitution. A pathetic attempt to repay an unpayable debt. His final words were almost illegible, the ink smudged as if by tears. | loved you. | know | destroyed that love, but it was real. In my own broken, selfish way, | loved you more than anything. | hope that, wherever you are, you are smiling. Tears, hot and unexpected, streamed down my face. They were not tears of love, or even of forgiveness. They were tears of closure. Tears for the girl | had been, for the man he could have been, and for the tragic, broken love story that had finally, finally come to an end. | folded the letter and put it away. | would use his money, not for myself, but to do good in the world. | would start a foundation in my mother's name, helping women who had been left behind, women who needed a second chance. It would be my legacy, and in a strange, twisted way, it would be his, too. Graham came out onto the porch, his arm in a sling, and sat beside me. He took my hand, his touch warm and steady. "Are you okay?" he asked, his kind eyes searching my face. | looked out at the endless expanse of the ocean, at the ---- horizon where the sky met the sea. The storm was over. The waters were calm "Yes," | said, a small, genuine smile finally reaching my lips. "I am The past was a ghost, a story that had been told. My future was here, beside me, a quiet, steady love that felt like coming home. | was free.