My first instinct was to stand, to cover it, to make it disappear. I quickly pulled my clothes back on, hands unsteady.

I didn’t know why she was here. I didn’t understand why she looked like that, as if she was holding herself together by force.

For a second, I almost told her the truth. Almost.

But then everything came back.

The money, the hate, the sea burial I was still chasing, the way Arkin looked at me like I was a mistake that never ended.

So I forced a smile instead. A wrong one.

“What do you mean save him?” I said lightly, brushing it off. “You’re overthinking it.”

Her eyes narrowed.

I shrugged.

“This?” I added, touching my back like it meant nothing. “It’s nothing. I got it in prison. Fights happen there. Men don’t really like sharing space, especially when there are women involved.”

I let out a short laugh, hollow and controlled.

“Some of them got strange, fighting over attention, over nothing. I was just caught in the middle.”

Her face changed instantly.

Anger. Disgust. And disappointment sharper than both.

Her hand shot forward and grabbed my wrist.

“Dahlia,” she said through clenched teeth, “do you even hear yourself? After everything Arkin went through for you, this is what you say? You’re still like this? Still filthy, still shameless?”

Her grip tightened.

“Do you have no heart at all?”

I couldn’t breathe properly, but I still managed a small, strained laugh.

“What do you expect from me?” I said. “You already decided who I am a long time ago.”

She shook me slightly, voice rising.

“So what, you just sleep around? After everything between you and Arkin, after everything he gave you, this is what you became?”

My throat tightened.

I shouldn’t have spoken.

But I did.

“Arkin was never just one thing,” I said slowly. “He’s not the only one who mattered in my life.”

Her expression snapped completely.

That was it.

She shoved me away hard, as if I was something she couldn’t stand touching anymore.

“Disgusting,” she said coldly. “You’re absolutely disgusting. Loving you was the biggest mistake of his life, and honestly, mine too for ever tolerating you.”

She turned sharply.

“And don’t ever stand in front of him again.”

Then she left.

The door slammed.

Silence rushed back in, heavier than before.

I stayed where I was, slowly sliding down until I sat on the floor.

So this was what I wanted, right?

For her to hate me.

For everyone to stop looking at me like I still existed.

Then why did it feel like something inside my chest was being pressed down, slowly breaking?

Like something was still bleeding even though nothing should have been left.

I exhaled.

“It’ll pass,” I told myself quietly.

It had to.

....

Later, Trixie showed up.

She always did things like that, acting like she belonged everywhere, especially where I didn’t.

“Get in,” she said, tossing me the car keys. “Arkin said you need to run an errand. I’m driving.”

I didn’t ask why.

I just followed.

The car ride started silent, but her energy shifted quickly, restless, too controlled.

She tapped the wheel once, then again, then laughed under her breath.

“You know,” she said, glancing at me, “it’s funny. You always look so tired. Like you’re already halfway gone.”

I didn’t respond.

Her smile widened. “Do you ever think about that?” she asked. “About just disappearing? Or are you still too stubborn for that?”

Before I could answer, she slammed the brakes, hard and fhe car jerked to a stop. She then opened the door and ran out.

“Help!” she screamed, voice instantly soft, broken. “Someone help me!”

Then she collapsed right in front of the car.

Footsteps rushed in immediately.

Arkin. Then Arkin’s mother.

Trixie lifted her head slightly, weak, and perfect.

“Arkin…” she whispered, glassy-eyed. “Don’t blame Dahlia, please. Don't blame my sister… she didn’t mean it…”

Then she coughed blood. Arkin’s mother dropped beside her instantly.

“Trixie! Stay with me!” she cried. “What happened? What did she do to you?”

The bright red blood hit Arkin’s mother’s eyes first, and I saw it immediately, that look, the same one she had the day everything fell apart years ago, cold and sharp like I had already been sentenced without a word.

Her gaze locked on me, then snapped as she stepped forward.

“Dahlia,” she said, voice rising and trembling with rage, “you really never change, do you, who were you messing with this time that you’d do something like this to Trixie?”

Her hands shook as she pulled Trixie up and held her close, as if protecting something fragile.

“Stay still, sweetheart, stay with me,” she kept saying, panicked but forcing control. “Don’t talk, just breathe, okay?”

Then she shoved Trixie into the car and got in herself, the engine roaring alive.

“Dahlia,” he said, “what did you do this time, why is she on the ground like that?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out, and I didn’t even know what I was supposed to explain.

Before I could try, Arkin’s mother snapped, slamming her hand on the steering wheel as she lost control.

“I don’t care anymore,” she hissed. “Dahlia, you should die!”

The car surged forward, and bang.

My body rose then dropped hard.

For a few seconds I stayed conscious enough to feel it but not enough to understand it. Then everything went white.

---

I dreamed first, and that was the strange part.

I was back in a car, younger, hands gripping the wheel too tightly. My heart race like I might ruin everything just by existing, while Arkin sat beside me, softer then, not like this.

“Dahlia,” he laughed faintly, “relax, you’re not gonna crash, okay, I’m right here, just drive slowly.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t trust myself,” I said.

He leaned closer, calm and steady.

“Then trust me,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Then the dream shifted. His seat was empty, and suddenly he was outside the car watching me with red eyes.

“Dahlia,” he said again, but this time it wasn’t gentle. “Why did you do this, why do you always ruin everything?”

The engine roared louder, and he stepped forward as if he was the one coming for me now.

---

I woke up choking on air I couldn’t fully take in, staring at a white ceiling that smelled of antiseptic. Pain spread everywhere like it owned my body.

My chest felt crushed inward, and every breath dragged like glass through my ribs, until a nurse came in, checked briefly, and spoke without looking at me.

“You’ve got multiple broken ribs,” she said flatly. “Don’t move too much.”

Then she left, and that was it, no questions, no concern, just another case.

I stayed staring at the ceiling for a long time after that. Arkin didn’t come, not once, but I didn’t expect him to because he already decided what I was, and I was still here anyway.

---

When I left the hospital, the world outside had already moved on without me. Arkin and Trixie were preparing for the wedding.

Of course they were, and somehow I was still part of it, just not as anything important, only something to be used.

Arkin didn’t even look at me when he spoke.

“You’re coming with us,” he said simply. “Every step. Don’t disappear, Dahlia, I want you to see it.”

Trixie laughed beside him, leaning into his arm like she belonged there completely.

“Oh, I like that,” she said sweetly, then glanced at me. “You should come, sister, don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get a good view.”

Her smile sharpened slightly.

“And don’t act like you don’t deserve it.”

I didn’t answer, so I followed.

I watched everything, the dress selection, the venue, the photos, Arkin standing beside her like he had always belonged there, while Trixie laughed too loud, touched him too often, and glanced at me like she needed proof I was still standing.

Sometimes she leaned closer and whispered only for me.

“You know,” she said once, smiling sweetly in public but lowering her voice, “I always wondered how it feels to take everything from you, turns out… it’s really easy.”

I didn’t react, because reacting meant I still mattered, and I wasn’t supposed to.

---

On the anniversary of Arkin’s father’s death, I went alone with flowers in my hand to the same place that held everything I never asked for.

I sat by the tombstone and rested my head lightly against it as the wind moved cold but quiet.

“Mr. Wattson,” I said softly, “are you okay there? Do you get lonely,” I added, “I think you used to like me before everything, you said I was like family.”

A pause.

“I’m tired,” I whispered. “I think I’ll come soon too, so don’t wait too long, okay? Send my regards to my parents up there.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, and for once the noise in my head felt distant.

Then footsteps came.

I opened my eyes and saw Arkin’s mother.

And the closest circle of Arkin’s father behind her.

Her expression changed instantly when she saw me, as if I didn’t belong in the air itself.

“You!” she said sharply, “you still have the nerve to come here?”

Before I could stand, she stepped forward and shoved me hard, and my back hit the tombstone as pain exploded through my ribs.

I slid down slightly, hands shaking as I tried to steady myself, blood already warm on my skin, while no one stopped her and no one reacted.

Arkin’s mother stood over me, voice cold with disgust.

“Don’t you ever show your face here again, Dahlia,” she said. “You don’t belong here,” she snapped. “Not near him. Not near anything in this family.”

Then it turned sharper.

“Murderer! That’s what you are. You’re the one who should’ve died, not him.”

Her hand shook as she pointed at me.

“What did the Wattson family ever do to you? Arkin loved you. My son loved you like you were part of us. And I treated you like my own daughter. So why? Why did you destroy us?”

By the end, her voice cracked completely, caught between rage and grief.

I stayed kneeling, barely able to breathe from my ribs.

I didn’t answer. Because there was nothing left that would make sense to her anyway.

Then Arkin stepped in.

He was quiet at first, just staring at me like he was deciding something he couldn’t say out loud. Then he finally spoke, low and controlled.

“Mom, stop,” he said. “Not here.”

He turned to me next.

“Dahlia, leave. Go to the car. Now.”

I forced myself up slowly. Every movement tore through me, but I still walked out without looking back, because looking back never changed anything.

---

Only after I left did Arkin’s mother finally speak.

She stood by her husband’s grave, face pale, voice rough like something buried for years had finally cracked open.

“Son,” she said to Arkin, “answer me honestly. Do you still love her?”

Arkin didn’t answer right away.

The wind moved through the trees, and the silence stretched too long.

Finally, he said, “No. I stopped a long time ago. And now I just hate her.”

His mother’s expression tightened, something breaking in her face.

“You’re my son,” she said quietly, “how did you hide this from me for so long?”

Then it turned heavier.

“Dahlia is your father’s killer,” she said, voice shaking. “How could you ever stand near her, let alone keep her with you? Do you understand what you’re doing? Your father can’t rest if he sees this.”

Arkin looked away. His jaw tightened, hands curling slightly at his sides like he was holding something back.

“Don’t worry,” he said quietly. “I’m going to marry Trixie as soon as possible. And Dahlia won’t be here much longer. I’ll make sure she disappears.”

---

After that, everything changed.

Arkin stopped hurting me directly. Not because he cared, but because it shifted into something quieter, more deliberate.

He took me back to places we used to go.

First was a private skybridge residence in California, a glass walkway between luxury towers overlooking San Francisco Bay.

We used to come here when everything still felt soft.

I remembered twisting my ankle once, and he carried me across the entire bridge like I weighed nothing, laughing like the world couldn’t touch us there.

We even left a lock along the railing.

I still remembered what he said.

“Dahlia,” he had laughed, “if we leave this here, you can’t run away from me anymore.”

And I had believed him. Now he stood beside me in silence while I searched for it. It took too long.

When I finally found it, my hands shook. Arkin didn’t stop me. I opened a cutter, snapped it open, and let the lock fall straight into the bay below.

Then we went to a modern coastal estate chapel in Malibu, a glass-built venue overlooking the cliffs where billionaire families held private ceremonies.

We had tied a ribbon there once during a quiet moment meant only for us.

I still remembered what I wrote.

“Arkin love Dahlia”

I didn’t speak when I saw it again.

We just stood there and then I untied it.The wind caught it, and it slipped through the glass edge, disappearing into the cliffs below.

Gone.

Just like that.

Next was a coastal estate garden where we once promised forever, laughing like the ocean would hold our words.

And then a private park inside his father’s estate where we planted a tree together and called it our future.

Every place felt like something quietly being erased from me.

Arkin didn’t speak much and neither did I. Because there was nothing left to argue about anymore.We had already decided.

By the time we finished, the sun was low over the ocean. Arkin leaned against the car door and lit a cigarette.

Then another and another.

He smoked like he was trying to burn something out of himself. Or maybe just trying not to feel anything at all.

…

After the cigarette burned out, Arkin finally moved. He pulled a check from his pocket and handed it to me, his face completely blank.

“This covers the bottles you broke,” he said, then paused like he didn’t even care if I reacted. “Use the rest to buy a plane ticket and leave. Go somewhere far and don’t come back. Don’t tell me where you’re going, and don’t let me ever see you again.”

My fingers were already dug into my palms, nails cutting into skin, but I still took the check. What else was I supposed to do, refuse? Beg him to stay? I almost laughed at myself.

“Okay,” I said.

We both looked up at the same time, and for a second everything felt stuck between us. Then we spoke together, like it was the last thing we had left.

“Dahlia… goodbye.”

“Arkin… goodbye.”

He looked away first, then turned and walked off without hesitation. I stood there watching his back disappear until there was nothing left, then I turned in the opposite direction and left too.

...

Three days before the wedding, I paid off my sea burial. Everything was settled, clean, no loose ends. At the same time, news about Arkin and Trixie’s wedding was everywhere. People couldn’t stop talking about it because it was a billionaire wedding by the sea, and the whole city treated it like some kind of spectacle.

Two days before the wedding, I booked a flight. I didn’t care where it was going as long as it was far enough.

That same night, Arkin spent millions on fireworks. The sky lit up, bright and loud, and people were cheering, posting, celebrating like it was the perfect love story. I stood far away and watched, wondering if this was what happiness looked like when it no longer had anything to do with me.

Good, I thought. Let it stay with them.

The day before the wedding, I packed everything I had into a box and burned it. I didn’t rush, just sat there watching the flames eat through everything. The gifts he gave me, the memories we built, even the things I kept from prison because they were the only things that kept me going back then. None of it meant anything now. I was leaving, and I was dying, so there was no reason to keep any of it.

I stared at the fire and thought about him walking down the aisle with Trixie. Maybe he’d smile, maybe they’d have kids, maybe he’d forget me completely. Isn’t that better? Isn’t that what I wanted?

That same night, Arkin sat across from Trixie at dinner, and she kept watching him like she was trying to read something off his face.

“Arkin,” she said softly, “why do you look so distracted? Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about my sister. That would be disappointing.”

Arkin snapped out of it and took her hand,

“No. I’ve already let her go,” he said. “There’s nothing left between us, so you don’t need to worry about her anymore.”

“Really? Because it doesn’t feel like she’s gone,” her voice softer but sharper underneath. “And I don’t like sharing, you know that. If there’s even a part of you still thinking about her, you should fix it.”

Arkin’s expression hardened slightly.

“She doesn’t matter anymore,” he said. “You’re the one I chose. From now on, you’re the most important person in my life.”

That satisfied her. She smiled, leaning closer.

“Good. Don’t make me regret this.”

After dinner, they walked out together, but before they could leave, the chandelier above them suddenly broke loose and crashed down, hitting Trixie directly.

She dropped instantly.

Blood spread fast, and Arkin’s face changed completely.

“Trixie!” he shouted, catching her. “Stay awake. Look at me. Don’t close your eyes, you hear me?”

He rushed her to the hospital, and everything moved fast until the doctor said she needed a transfusion immediately, but her blood type was rare and the hospital didn’t have enough.

“Find a match,” Arkin said without hesitation. “I don’t care how, just find one.”

The assistant searched and came back with one name.

“Sir… it’s—”

Arkin didn’t even pause.

“Bring the person here,” he said coldly. “If that's person blood can save Trixie, then take it.”

The assistant hesitated. “Even if it kills—”

“I said fucking do it!”

At that moment, I was already on my way out, holding my ticket, thinking everything was finally over. Then they stopped me and dragged me to the hospital before I could even understand what was happening.

I struggled at first.

“What are you doing? Let go of me!”

No one answered properly until the assistant name Mara walked in and looked at me.

“It’s Arkin’s order,” she said. “Trixie is dying. Only your blood matches hers.”

I stared at him. “And if I refuse?”

“You don’t get to refuse,” she replied calmly. “You owe him a life, don’t you?”

That stopped me.

Yeah.

I did. And it didn’t matter anymore anyway. I was going to die sooner or later.

So I let go.

“Fine,” I said quietly.

They pushed me down and inserted the needle. I watched as my blood slowly drained out, and the numbers kept rising while my body grew weaker.

Four hundred.

Six hundred.

Eight hundred.

The machine started beeping, and my vision blurred. Everything felt distant, like I was already fading out.

So this is it...

I closed my eyes slowly.

'Arkin… this time, it’s really goodbye.'

The sound stretched into a flat line, and somewhere nearby, someone started shouting in panic.

“She’s gone! Stop it! Stop taking her blood! She’s not breathing, she’s dead.”