EIRA'S POV
I didn't know where I was going.
I just needed to get away.
Away from the medical room. Away from Adrian. Away from the horrifying sight I couldn't seem to erase from my mind.
The moment I stepped out, my legs carried me forward, almost instinctively. I didn't know where I was heading. I didn't care.
My thoughts were a tangled mess, each one crashing into the next.
I could still hear her screams.
Claira's trembling voice. Her tear-filled eyes. The desperation in her pleas.
And Adrian...
I squeezed my eyes shut, but it made no difference. The scene kept replaying in my head, as vivid as if I were still standing there.
I couldn't understand what I'd witnessed.
I couldn't understand him.
My chest felt painfully tight, as though something was pressing down on it. I tried taking a deep breath, but my breathing came out uneven and shallow. My throat burned, and my eyes stung with tears I desperately tried to hold back.
Why?
Why had he done that?
I had so many questions, but every time I tried to make sense of what I'd seen, my thoughts circled back to the same unbearable truth.
He had hurt her.
And he hadn't even looked remorseful.
I quickened my pace, almost stumbling as I made my way down the corridor. People passed by, some talking, others laughing, but their voices sounded distant, muffled beneath the chaos inside my head.
I barely noticed them.
I just kept walking, wiping hurriedly at my cheeks whenever another tear escaped.
I couldn't stay there. Not for another second.
The moment I stepped outside the building, I broke into a run.
I didn't look back.
I ran past the entrance, across the college grounds, and towards the main gate. My breathing grew heavier with every step, but I couldn't bring myself to slow down.
I just wanted to get away from everything that reminded me of him.
By the time I reached the main road, my mind was so consumed by everything that had happened that I barely registered where I was.
A loud honk suddenly pierced through my thoughts.
I looked up.
A bus was speeding straight towards me.
For a moment, I froze.
I couldn't move. Couldn't even scream.
And then—
An arm wrapped tightly around my waist, yanking me backwards.
A deafening screech of brakes followed.
But the bus didn't stop.
Something stopped it.
A hand.
One hand was pressed against the front of the bus, holding it back with impossible strength, while the other arm kept me securely against a chest.
My heart pounded wildly.
I slowly lifted my head.
And froze.
Adrian.
It was him.
Again.
The same man who had caught me before I could fall. The same man who had stood beside me when I was frightened. The same man who had just saved my life.
How?
How could someone who kept saving me be so cruel?
How could the same hands that held me so carefully hurt someone else so terribly?
Claira's face flashed through my mind.
Her trembling lips. Her tear-filled eyes. Her desperate pleas.
Please, Adrian. Don't do this.
I pushed against his chest, trying to free myself from his hold.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD?"
The bus driver's furious voice rang out.
Adrian slowly turned his head.
One cold glare was enough to silence the man.
The driver swallowed whatever he had been about to say, climbed back into his seat and drove away.
I barely noticed.
Adrian's arm was still wrapped around my waist, his fingers resting firmly against my side.
Then I remembered.
The bus.
He had stopped it.
With one hand.
My eyes widened as I looked at him.
"How… how did you stop it?"
He glanced at me, his expression unchanged.
"You're in shock. The bus stopped on its own."
I stared at him.
Did he seriously expect me to believe that?
I wanted to question him. There were so many things I wanted to ask.
What had happened with Claira? Why had he done that to her? Why had he admitted to being the father of her child?
But then I remembered his silence.
His indifference.
The way he'd stood there while everyone condemned him.
I didn't have the strength to fight with him anymore.
"Please, let me go, Adrian."
My voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Just leave me alone."
"No."
His answer was immediate.
"You're coming with me."
I looked at him in disbelief.
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
"Why does it matter to you where I go? Why can't you just leave me alone?"
I tried pulling myself free, but his grip only tightened.
"I said leave me!"
"Stop struggling."
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
Of course.
Why would he listen to me?
"How could you do that to Claira? How could you hurt her like that?"
His eyes narrowed.
Oh, right. I almost forgot.
"You're the great Adrian, aren't you? The one who's never wrong. The one who never has to answer to anyone."
My voice trembled, but I couldn't stop myself anymore.
"You want everyone to leave you alone, don't you? No one questioning you. No one interfering in your life. No one daring to ask you anything."
My throat tightened.
"Why would my questions matter to you? Why would anything I say matter?"
"Don't worry. I'll stay away from you."
For the first time, something shifted in his expression.
But I was too hurt to care.
"I won't bother you anymore. I won't question you. I won't interfere in your life."
My voice broke.
Suddenly, he pulled me closer.
The abrupt movement left me breathless. My hands instinctively pressed against his chest as I looked up at him, startled by the sudden proximity.
His black eyes were fixed on mine.
"That's what I want, Eira."
His voice was dangerously low.
"I want everyone to stay away from me. Especially you."
I stared at him.
"Then stay away from me, Eira."
His arm tightened around my waist.
"Stay so far away that even your shadow never falls near me."
His gaze hardened.
"Stay away before I destroy you, Eira."
For a moment, I could only stare at him.
He was the one holding me close.
Yet he was telling me to stay away.
Why?
Why was he saying these things while refusing to let me go?
His black eyes bore into mine, and I couldn't bring myself to look away.
Then—
A tear slipped down my cheek.
I hadn't even realised I was crying.
I lowered my eyes, but another tear followed, tracing its way down my face.
Everything came rushing back.
The times he'd caught me when I was about to fall. The moments he'd appeared whenever I was in trouble. The way he'd held me when I was frightened, protected me when I was helpless, and somehow always managed to find me when I needed help.
And then Claira.
Her screams.
Her trembling hands.
Her desperate attempts to get away from him.
How could both versions of him exist?
How could the man who had saved me so many times be the same man who had caused someone else so much pain?
I couldn't understand him anymore.
I couldn't understand anything.
My tears kept falling, and I no longer had the strength to wipe them away.
Adrian's grip slowly loosened.
I felt his fingers relax against my waist, but he didn't step away.
I didn't look up.
I couldn't.
I was too tired to question him, too hurt to argue, and too confused to know what I wanted from him.
So I stopped fighting.
I let my arms fall to my sides.
And when he began leading me away, I followed without another word.
I didn't know where he was taking me.
I didn't know what he wanted.
All I knew was that I no longer had the strength to resist him.