Chased by my Ex Husband

Tristin

By the time I step onto the rooftop, it starts raining. Luca is closely behind, asking me to stay in and not get myself wet but I can not stop to listen.

Cold air sways my jacket before I feel the rain drenching me. My eyes scan the dimly lit area, searching for her.

"Where is she?" I mumble.

Maybe, she wanted to get some fresh air and came here. She was not suicidal and all that.

I walk around the front, and onto the back, sighing in relief. She was not here.

"Did someone-"

The words die on my tongue. I have been watching the area, wanting to find her but I was expecting to find her on the tall wall.

Her thin T-shirt moves with the breeze, as she walks along the line, her eyes downcast and her arms wrapped around herself.

The color drains from my face as memories flash across my mind, causing me to freeze after a long time.

"She only wants my money. "My brother's voice is carried by the wind, emotionless and determined. "It's my fault that I didn't understand this before."

"Yes, it was your fucking fault. How could you tell her something like that? It was not your secret to share!" Now, it was my voice, reminding me of the words spoken before, harsh and unforgiving. "It has always been my fault. Everything."

Silence had ensued after that, and it had continued for a long time. I turned away from him, not wanting to speak to him anymore.

And then he decided he would respect my wishes. He would never speak again. He would be silenced for the rest of my life.

He had done what I didn't think he ever will. A loud thud and it was over.

How could he run from his problems instead of facing them? I thought for a long time and resented him for making me witness something I couldn't forget.

Then, I remembered. He had been tired since he was born, always wanting to leave and stay hidden.

He was just born with this weight of being the eldest, the one who bore all the horrors and was supposed to protect us-me, my sister, Mom.

But he didn't.

The exhaustion got to him. The betrayal from the one woman he loved became his last stroke.

He chose to disappear at last and decided he didn't want to shoulder the weight anymore.

"Ms. Whitlock. What are you doing? Come down from there. "I hear Luca shout over the sound of the rain.

I blink and watch her turn towards us. She looks otherworldly standing there. The lights from the other towers shine over her drenched figure. Her hair clings to her face, as she lifts her finger towards me. "What are you doing here now?" Her eyes narrow on me.

I can not move. There are only a few moments in my life when I felt like it, like I am not inside my body but floating somewhere in the air, or maybe it's the ground. I can not feel it beneath my feet. "Ms, Whitlock, get down now! " Luca's voice rises, sounding less muffled but stern.

But I still don't move.

I keep my eyes on her, oddly scared that she will disappear too if I look away.

Finally, it clicks...the reason why I felt drawn to her in the first in place...NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.

It was never about her beauty, or the talent, or the brave act.

It was all ever about the burden, the weight she seemed to carry everywhere with her. It felt like if I ever took my eyes off her, I would never grasp her again.

It made me anxious.

It made my heart beat in a strange rhythm.

It made me want to be soft, to care for her.

"You said you don't want to see me." She huffs, staggering a step back on the wide edge.

Suddenly, I am in the present, leaping towards her desperately. My heart jumps to my throat and the energy leaves my body.

I don't want her to disappear.

"Stay there, Tristin!" She lifts her finger in my direction and I stop a few steps away.

I open my mouth to say something but no words come out. How do you tell someone that you are scared without crumbling?

If I had known, I could have saved my brother.

I am so scared, brother.

I am scared our family will be in ruins again, brother.

I am just scared that the past will someday claim me and I won't ever rise, brother.

If I had said all those words instead of blaming him for loving a woman, for wanting to have a family with

her, for wanting to leave the past in the past so he could move on...

He would still be alive.

He wouldn't pay for something he didn't do.

It was not Lily who killed him. It was me.

"Don't die. " I whisper. " don't die because of me."

SUMS

"Die?" Grace's voice sounds soft under the rain which makes everything appear blurry. "I thought about it but—"

"Don't think about it. "I shake my head, desperation leaking from every pore of my body.

I want to jump ahead and grab ahold of her before she vanishes from my sight but I am still so scared.

Her arms wrap around herself, and she glares at me." You are so confusing! What the hell do you want now?!"

I don't know what I want.

"Get down, Grace. I will tell you. Get down first. "I blurt, lifting my hand towards her.

She cocks her head to the side. " why should I listen to you? We have no deal anymore. You can go your way and I can go mine."

"No!" I snap. " this is not your way! You can not stand there and fucking spew nonsense. Get down from there!"

A frown etches between her brows. "I will get down when I want to."

The rain feels harsher against my skin. My chest heaves up and down as I fixate her with a look.

I know I need to go now. If I watch her standing there, on the verge of disappearing, I might lose my mind.

So, I push ahead blindly and grasp

her forearm before she can gasp

tug her towards me, and she falls down, into my arms before knees hit the ground.

จา

"Tristin!" She screams in my ear, but I can not care anymore.

I hold her down and pull her closer."

If this is what you choose as your

way, then I am going to keep you

like

this for the rest of our lives, Grace. I

will not let you disappear.

She picks her head to protest and looks at me with those angry eyes. The fear becomes a noose around my neck before I lean in and capture her lips.

She no longer belongs to that stupid Calder. Now, I will make her mine.