hapter 30
“A dream?” Nina repeated, blinking. And then, like lightning cracking through her mind, everything came rushing back.
Three years ago, on that hospital bed, when the clock struck ten, her body shut down–and she vanished from Julian’s world. But her soul hadn’t disappeared. No one could see her anymore, but
she was still there.
She followed him in silence, watched him spiral after waking up to an empty room. His bandaged wrists split open, blood seeping through the gauze and pooling on the floor. Samantha clung to him, sobbing and screaming for him to come back to himself.
Doctors gave him sedatives. Psychiatrists came and went. But nothing worked.
Whenever he had a moment of clarity, Julian tried to die. Over and over again. Murmuring brokenly, “If I’m dying, why can’t I see her?”
His body was pale and worn. Samantha’s tears dried on hospital sheets as she finally agreed to have him locked inside the psychiatric wing.
No sharp objects. No hard corners. Padded walls. Controlled lighting.
He went still after that, like a ghost of himself. Everyone thought the worst had passed.
Then, one night, he asked to go home.
He’d never had a real home growing up. His only version of home was Nina’s home.
Samantha took him back to the house. He acted fine. Quiet. Cooperative.
Until midnight, when he locked himself in the bedroom.
The tub was filled with warm water. A razor blade in his hand. He slit his wrists and slipped into the water, letting the red bloom quietly.
Nina’s soul screamed for him, but he couldn’t hear her. Outside, Samantha was pounding on the door, calling 911. He still didn’t move.
up then?”
He stared into the distance and whispered, “If I really die, will you show up
Maybe it was real despair. Maybe it was a miracle.
But somehow, he heard her.
His gaze lifted. Dazed. Wet,
Chapter 30
“Nina,” he murmured, like it was the first time he’d said her narne in years,
It pierced her like a blade. Her soul trembled.
So she lied.
“Julian, I’m not dead. Not yet. The doctors got it wrong. I’m just… stuck. I’ll come back, I promise. They just haven’t found the right body yet. But I’m trying.”
A beautiful lie, crafted from desperation.
“Just wait for me, okay? Please don’t die. Not yet. Not before I get back.”
And somehow, Julian believed her.
His bloody hands pressed over his wounds. “I’ll wait. I’ll wait…”
Paramedics burst through the door minutes later.
Samantha looked at the pool of blood, sobbing. Later that night, she opened the drawer, pulled out old stationery, and copied Nina’s handwriting line by line.
The first sentence of that fake suicide note:
“Julian, you have to keep living…
”
Nina watched it all unfold, tears she couldn’t shed burning behind her ghostly eyes.
And as her soul began to fade, she whispered, “Just let me see him one last time.”
When she opened her eyes again, the sunlight was blinding.
The jewelry exhibit still stood before her.
She looked down at her hands–Hayden’s hands. Healthy, whole. That flash of memory was real. Her deepest wish wasn’t revenge or rebirth.
It was to see Julian one more time.
She let out a soft laugh.
Behind her, Lysander’s voice came quietly. “You remembered something?”
“My wish,” Nina whispered, “was simply to see him again.”
He looked at her, steady and solemn. “Then… what will you do? Go back inside, see him one last time, and disappear forever? Or walk away and live your new life–without looking back?”
Chanter 30
“Nina, have you made up your mind?”
