Eric, dripping wet and pale with exhaustion, was already shouting orders. “Get him in the car—change his clothes!”
“Yes, sir!”
As Eric turned, he caught sight of Hadley hurrying toward him. She reached up on tiptoe, wrapping a thick towel around his shoulders.
“You should change as well,” she whispered.
He always kept spare clothes in the trunk—he nodded faintly.
“Alright.” Eric managed a weak smile. “I’m freezing. I won’t hug you… but will you sit with me for a bit?”
“Sure.” Hadley nodded, tears shining in her eyes.
She retrieved a change of clothes from the trunk and handed them to him, then quietly raised the partition to give him privacy.
While he changed, Hadley kept her gaze low, refusing to look up.
Eric tried to lighten the moment, sensing her anguish. “What’s the matter? Don’t want to look at me? Have I lost my charm?”
Hadley didn’t respond.
When she finally raised her head, her eyes were swollen, brimming with tears that spilled over in silence.
“Oh, Hadley.” Eric’s chest clenched. He inched forward and gently wrapped his arms around her. Resting his chin softly atop her head, he whispered, “I’m sorry. That joke—it was really inappropriate, and I shouldn’t have said it.”
Hadley’s voice broke as she buried her face in his chest. “It’s my fault. Elissa and Ernest are suffering because of me…”
Once the words began, they poured out like a storm. Tears gushed down her face.
“It’s me! Ayla was after me! I was the one she wanted to hurt! But when she couldn’t get to me… she went after Elissa instead…”
It felt as if her heart were being carved open, one slice at a time. The pain was unbearable.
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“I dragged Elissa into this! I caused Ernest to suffer like this… I ruined everything! No…”
She collapsed into sobs, trembling violently in his embrace—fragile, broken.
Not even in her darkest moments had she known devastation like this. Back then, the pain had been hers to bear alone. At worst, she could have ended it—made it stop.
But this time… Elissa was innocent. And that truth would never stop tormenting Hadley. How could she ever forgive herself?
“That’s not true!” Eric’s face clouded with fierce determination. “Ayla orchestrated this entire catastrophe! You cannot shoulder responsibility for her madness!”
“Ayla…” Hadley lifted her gaze toward the sky, her eyes reflecting nothing but emptiness. “Yet Ayla’s hatred focused entirely on me!”
She shook her head with stubborn conviction. “The blame rests with me!”
“No, you bear no guilt in this!” Eric’s heart plummeted as he witnessed her anguish. Hadley was suffocating beneath the weight of misplaced responsibility.
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