Chapter 2~ Old Wounds, New Scars

 Old Wounds, New Scars

Elena POV

I escaped the ballroom the first chance I got. The laughter inside had become suffocating, each cheerful voice pressing against the fragile wall of composure I had spent years building. Smiles were easy to fake for strangers even for family, but pretending my heart hadn't nearly stopped the moment I saw Adrian Kane again? That required a strength I wasn't sure I still possessed.

The cool night air greeted me like an old friend.

I stepped onto the stone terrace and drew a slow, deliberate breath, hoping it would steady the storm raging inside me.

Beyond the terrace stretched the estate's gardens, illuminated by lanterns that cast pools of golden light along winding pathways.

White roses climbed elegant arches, and a marble fountain stood at the centre, its gentle trickle the only sound that seemed untouched by celebration.

Sophia had always loved this place.

When they were children, she used to tell me that one day she would get married somewhere that looked like a fairytale. Tonight, she finally had her wish.

I smiled despite herself. Don't ruin this for her.

That promise had become my anchor.

I descended the terrace steps, the hem of her midnight blue dress brushing softly against the gravel path. The farther I walked from the music, the quieter the world became. Crickets sang from the hedges, and a cool breeze stirred the leaves overhead.

For the first time that evening, I felt I could breathe.

I stopped beside the fountain and rested her fingertips against the cool marble edge. Water rippled across the surface, distorting her reflection.

"You've changed," I whispered to the woman staring back at me, older, stronger, but not healed. Not completely.

My mind betrayed me, replaying the moment inside the ballroom.

The way Adrian had looked at me.

Not with arrogance, not with pity, with regret. 

I hated herself for noticing because regret didn't erase abandonment.

Regret didn't erase birthdays spent waiting for a call that never came.

It didn't erase the humiliation of explaining to everyone why the man who claimed he loved me had disappeared without a word.

I closed my eyes. Stop thinking about him.

 Footsteps sounded behind me. Then another. Measured. Unhurried.

Every nerve in my body recognised that walk before my mind accepted the truth. I didn't turn.

"I wondered how long it would take," I said quietly.

Silence answered first.

Then his voice.

"I wasn't sure you'd want me to follow."

His voice was deeper than I remembered, roughened by years I knew nothing about. Yet hearing it stirred memories I had spent countless nights trying to bury.

I kept my eyes on the fountain. “You were right." Another pause. "I don't..."

He moved closer, stopping several feet away. He respected the distance, though I could feel his presence as surely as if he were standing beside me.

"I know I don't deserve your time."

"No," I replied. "You don't."

The words landed between us with quiet force.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke.

The fountain continued its gentle rhythm, indifferent to the history standing on either side of it.

Finally, I turned.

The lantern light caught Adrian's face, revealing details I hadn't noticed inside the ballroom.

There were faint lines at the corners of his eyes. A small scar near his jaw.

The effortless confidence he once wore had been replaced by something heavier. He looked tired, not physically, emotionally but I refused to let sympathy soften my resolve.

"You said you wanted to talk."

"I do."

"Then talk." He exhaled slowly.

"I've rehearsed this conversation a thousand times."

"And yet you still started with silence." A faint, humourless smile touched his lips.

"I suppose I did." 

I folded my arms across my chest. "Say what you came to say, Adrian."

He looked at me for a long moment.

"I owe you an apology."

"You owed me one five years ago."

"I know."

"No." My voice sharpened. "Don't say you know." His expression tightened.

"You don't know what those years were like."

I took a step toward him before I realised I was moving.

"You don't know what it feels like to wake up every morning wondering why you weren't enough." His eyes closed briefly.

"You don't know what it's like to answer questions from people who watched you fall in love." Another step.

"You don't know what it's like to defend someone who never defended you."

The words poured out, years of restrained pain finally finding air.

"I waited for your calls." Nothing.

"I checked my phone every hour." Nothing.

"I convinced myself you were hurt." Nothing.

"I even told myself there had to be a reason." Still… Nothing. My voice cracked.

"And then I realised..." I laughed bitterly.

"...you had simply chosen not to come back." Silence settled over the garden.

Adrian stood motionless, as though every word had struck him squarely in the chest.

When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"I deserve every bit of your anger."

I blinked rapidly, refusing to let tears escape.

"You don't get to stand here and accept blame like it's noble.”

"I know."

"There you go again." He lowered his head.

"I don't have the right words."

"No." I swallowed hard.

"You had them once." The breeze carried the scent of roses between us. None of us noticed.

"I loved you," I said quietly. The confession hung in the air.

"I loved you enough to plan a future with you." Adrian's throat worked as though the words had stolen his breath.

"And you disappeared without giving me the dignity of an explanation." He finally lifted his gaze.

"I never stopped loving you." My expression hardened.

"That doesn't make what you did any less cruel." I turned to leave.

Behind me, Adrian's voice stopped me.

"I was a coward." I froze.

"I convinced myself that leaving was the only way to protect you." Slowly, I looked back over my shoulder.

Protect me?

The words echoed through my mind. I wanted to dismiss them, to laugh, to walk away but something in the way he said them... It wasn't an excuse.

 It sounded like a confession, and for the first time that night… I wondered if the truth behind Adrian's disappearance was far more complicated than I had imagined.