He took a deep breath, his features hardening into a mask of ice-cold contempt. “I would choose death beside her over a lifetime trapped in a relationship with you any day of the week!”
With violent determination, Eric wrenched himself free from Megan’s grasp and hauled himself up the staircase, one agonizing step at a time.
Megan remained rooted to the spot, her furious glare following his labored ascent. Tears burned behind her eyes as the words tore from her throat. “Eric… you’re heartless beyond measure! Do you believe you’re the only one drowning in desperate love? My heart breaks for you every single day!”
With those broken words hanging in the air, she buried her face in her hands and dissolved into heartbroken sobs.
At the hospital, Elissa’s eyelids fluttered open, a frown creasing her brow as consciousness gradually returned. Ernest occupied the chair beside her bed, and the moment he noticed her stirring, he leaned forward with urgent concern.
“You’re awake?”
Elissa’s gaze remained unfocused, her mind struggling to piece together the fragments of reality. Recognition dawned in her eyes, and a soft, bitter laugh escaped her lips. “Of course it’s you… So I suppose I failed to escape this life after all?”
Her words struck Ernest like a physical blow—he had never anticipated such darkness from her lips. Every nerve in his body coiled with tension. “Hadley told me you nearly drowned… Tell me you didn’t do this deliberately.”
Elissa offered no response, simply closing her eyes and turning her face toward the wall, shutting him out completely. Her silence spoke louder than any confession could have—Ernest understood her answer with devastating clarity.
In fact, on the way to the hospital, Ernest had already suspected as much. Now, witnessing her deliberate avoidance, he knew with crushing certainty that she had chosen this path.
The revelation shattered something deep within Ernest, leaving him reeling in disbelief.
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His voice cracked with incredulity. “Do you truly despise this child so much that you’d risk everything to be free of it?”
Elissa shifted away from him, her posture rigid, creating an impenetrable wall between them that words could never breach.
The finality of her rejection left Ernest speechless. His mouth opened and closed without sound.
Rage burned through him, but it was no match for the sadness that gripped his chest. He found himself unable to unleash his anger on someone so clearly broken.
She looked utterly defeated, consumed by her own pain. He knew that harsh words would only make things worse, deepening wounds that already seemed too deep to heal. And, with painful clarity, he understood that his fury would do nothing but push her further into the darkness.
What terrified him the most was a simple, horrifying thought—if Elissa had been desperate enough to try and end her life once, what would stop her from doing it again when the opportunity arose?
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