The system’s voice echoed in my mind:
“Since you’re already here, you might as well stay and watch the ending”
There was a trace of regret in its tone.
I nodded and, like a detached observer, watched the chaos unfold beneath me.
Because of my death, Tristan and Rachel Whitmore’s wedding couldn’t continue.
The guests left one by one, while Tristan stood frozen, staring at Cole Hawthorne, who was cradling my lifeless body. His face had gone pale.
He stood there for a long time, mouth open as if to speak, but no words came out.
Rachel, terrified by the sight, clung to Tristan’s arm, her voice trembling as she called out, “Tristan…”
But Tristan flung her off, hard.
C
I watched as Tristan turned on Rachel and shouted, “Shut up! If you hadn’t come back, she wouldn’t have died!”
Ha
I wanted to laugh.
A cold laugh.
Tristan was always like this, wasn’t he? The fault was always someone else’s. He never admitted he was wrong
Rachel, frightened by his tone, stood there silently, tears welling up in her eyes, not daring to say another word.
Tristan slowly walked over to where my body lay and reached out to touch my face.
But before he could, Cole shoved him away, sending him stumbling backward.
Cole’s eyes were bloodshot, like a wild animal protecting its young. He growled, “Get lost!”
Normally, Tristan wasn’t someone to be pushed around, but this time, he simply got up, dazed, and asked quietly:
“What.what happened to her?”
Cole didn’t respond. Instead, he gently carried me back to his car, then turned and punched Tristan square in the face.
The blow was hard, splitting Tristan’s lip and knocking out two of his teeth.
“What happened?” Cole sneered, throwing another punch that sent Tristan crashing into the dirt
“She died from myocarditis–complications from the rain three years ago. Did you know that? While she was in the hospital, delirious with fever, where were you?
“When she was crying alone in that shabby apartment at Gull Cove, where were you?”
Tristan, dazed, lay there, taking punch after punch, muttering to himself:
“Myocarditis. from the rain…where was I?”
Where was he?
He was overseas, chasing after his white moonlight, Rachel.
I bet he remembered now–how I had pleaded with him that night to fetch me some water, to take me to the hospital.
Even when he saw my medical report, he still chose to leave, running off to find Rachel.
Snow began to fall again, thick and heavy, covering the blood I had coughed up on the ground.
Cole didn’t bother with Tristan anymore. He got into his car and drove me away from the wedding.
Tristan stayed where he was, lying motionless in the snow, his eyes vacant as he kept muttering to himself:
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? If you’d told me…I wouldn’t have left…why?”
How pathetic.
Some pe
Some people only know regret when it’s far too late.
Rachel got up and tried to help Tristan to his feet, but Tristan shoved her away his eyes wild as he screamed, “Get out! It’s all your fault!”
Rachel fled.
And there, in the falling snow, Tristan remained, a lone figure etched against the white.
