Chapter 5

Returning to the apartment,

I was overwhelmed with emotion.

This place used to be my safe haven.

But now, the storm inside was too violent, and there was no room left for me.

Just as I finished packing my bags,

Liam and Chloe rushed through the door.

Liam cornered me against the wall, his eyes bloodshot as he begged me not to leave.

"Elena, we love each other so much. Why are you doing this over a silly argument?"

"If you don't want me protecting other people, I won't. I'll be your hero, and yours alone."

"It's too late tonight. Tomorrow, I promise, I'll make Chloe move out. Okay?"

Right.

We used to love each other so much.

A love where we would have given our lives for one another...

Memories of his grand gestures flashed through my mind.

Once, when I said I wanted pastries from Paris, he hired a private charter jet to fly them in overnight.

On my birthday,

He rented out an entire amusement park just to put on a private firework show for me.

And when my father attacked me, he threw himself in front of the blade, getting stabbed twice just to get me to the hospital safely...

But no matter how beautiful the past was, when it's time to let go, you have to let go.

If you keep trying to fish for a fallen sword in a flowing river, you only torture yourself.

But Liam was stubborn.

To calm him down, I decided to play along and agreed to stay.

I would leave secretly in the morning.

"Okay, I'll give you one last chance."

Liam let out a sigh of relief, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"Get some sleep. I promise you won't see a third person in this house tomorrow."

That night,

My insomnia returned.

In the dead of night,

I suddenly felt a chill on my back.

I opened my eyes, and my heart stopped.

Standing by the window was the man I feared most in this world. My father.

He had climbed up the balcony and broken into my room.

He crept toward me, his eyes filled with greed.

"Found you at last, you useless brat!"

"Give me the money right now, or I'm selling you to that old man down the street."

The paralyzing fear of my childhood threatened to choke me.

But this time, I refused to be his victim.

I clenched my fists.

I lunged forward and bit his wrist as hard as I could.

My teeth sank deep into his flesh, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

He screamed in agony and shoved me away violently.

I crashed heavily onto the floor.

My arm swept across the bedside table, knocking over the burning scented candle.

The flame caught the sheer curtains instantly.

Within seconds, the fire climbed up the fabric, roaring into a blaze.

Panicked, my father didn't care about the money anymore. He scrambled back out the window to save his own skin.

By the time the smoke seeped through the door into the hallway, Liam and Chloe finally realized something was wrong.

Chloe was choked by the smoke and fainted,

collapsing right into Liam's arms.

Liam looked at me, trapped in the middle of the raging fire, a look of sheer conflict on his face.

"Elena, this is between you and your father! I can't let Chloe get hurt!"

"I have to get her to safety first. I'll come back for you!"

"You know fire safety! Try to get out on your own, I'll be right back!"

The thick, hot smoke stung my eyes, but I just laughed softly.

Since nobody cared if I lived or died, I would save myself.

Maybe Liam was right.

I couldn't wait for someone else to carry an umbrella for me. I had to walk through the rain myself.

In that moment, I realized that the heart that chose me first had been beating inside my own chest all along.

I stopped looking toward Liam. Instead, I turned toward the open balcony.

Below the balcony was a rushing river.

My only chance at survival.

I wiped the tears from my face, and without a single shred of hesitation,

I jumped straight into the dark water.