I believed his lies, thinking maybe he just didn’t like the ocean.
But last night, when I scrolled through Rachel Whitmore’s social media, I discovered the truth.
Tristan did love the ocean. He and Rachel had made a promise to see the ocean together for the first time in their lives.
He didn’t avoid the ocean because he didn’t like it; he avoided it because he wanted to share that first moment with her, not me.
The fresh sea breeze hit my face as soon as we arrived, the salty air filling my lungs and lifting my spirits. Cole smiled and placed a small blue flower in my hair, pointing toward the horizon where the sun was just rising over the water.
“Lana, look.”
“Every day, a new sun rises over this beach. New sunlight, new beginnings.”
“So maybe… that light wasn’t meant for you. But you can wait for the next sunrise.”
His voice was deep, hesitant, as if unsure of what to say.
This confident, accomplished businessman, who could conquer boardrooms without breaking a sweat, was suddenly acting shy and awkward, like a teenage boy.
I looked up, and before I could stop myself, I kissed him.
But Cole… I didn’t have a choice.
I was dying.
I sighed inwardly as a sharp pain stabbed through my chest. I kissed him harder, desperately, even biting his tongue in my frantic need to feel
something.
If only I had more time. I would love to sit here with Cole, watching the ocean until the end of time.
But I didn’t have time.
As the sun set, Cole drove me back to the small room in Gull Cove.
He didn’t leave that night. I was the one who asked him to stay.
He held me close, like a big, warm dog, as we slept.
The moon hung high, frost clinging to the branches outside. My heart pulsed with a dull, painful ache.
The system’s voice interrupted the silence.
“Host, tomorrow is Tristan’s wedding.”
“If you want to die at his wedding, you should start getting ready…”
I sighed, clutching my chest as the pain intensified.
Cole was still holding me tightly, murmuring incoherently in his sleep.
“Lana, don’t go, don’t go…
I smiled, a sad but peaceful smile.
At least someone in this world still cared about me.
But I had to go.
I didn’t want to die in Cole’s arms, forcing him to watch my body grow cold.
I wanted him to remember me as beautiful, always.
I left Gul
In the soft, falling snow, I left Gull Cove
- 10.
By the time I arrived at Tristan and Rachel’s wedding with a bouquet of white butterfly flowers, the ceremony had already started.
Rachel,
Tristan, in a sleek black suit, stood beside Rachel, who was dressed in a stunning white gown.
They looked perfect together.
They really did.
But it should have been me standing there with Tristan.
Instead, I was like an uninvited intruder, awkward and out of place, met with confused and judgmental stares.
Pain shot through my chest.
The myocarditis was starting to flare up.
I couldn’t hold it in and began to cough, blood staining my hands as I tried to stifle the sound.
The laughter and happiness on Tristan and Rachel’s faces froze at the sound of my coughing, and the entire room turned to look at me-
<
dressed in a mud–stained wedding gown that no longer looked pure or white.
Tristan’s eyes darkened, his lips pressing into a thin, cold line, his expression as icy as the frost outside.
