When Dominic survived the surgery, he fell apart. Helena was gone, and he saw no reason to keep living. I stayed beside him then, even as I grieved my own loss—knowing the heart beating inside him once belonged to the man I loved.
It was during that broken time that Dominic proposed to me.
I refused. I wasn’t ready. I thought living together would be enough.
Everyone hated my decision.
My parents accused him of manipulating me. Adrian’s parents looked at me as if I had committed an unforgivable sin. “That heart does not make him Adrian,” his mother told me through tears.
But I stayed anyway.
Because I wanted to believe that something good could grow from all that pain.
Now, with Helena back, I understood the truth.
There was no place for me.
I remained on the cruise, unmoving, while laughter and music echoed around me. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t breathe. I drifted to the deck, staring at the black sea beneath a sky heavy with storm clouds.
“Where am I supposed to go?” I whispered.
Rain began to fall. People scattered. I stayed.
Thunder cracked. The ship lurched violently. Screams followed.
A sudden impact threw me backward. Another wave surged.
I grabbed the railing—but my hands slipped.