FROM ELARA'S SIDE
Elara sat on the edge of their bed, still wearing her emerald green gown. David was changing in the bathroom, humming cheerfully.
"The meeting with the Singapore investors was very successful, Darling!" David called from behind the door. "They're interested in our new property project. This could be a big step for the company's expansion."
Elara forced a thin smile as David emerged, wearing only his pajama bottoms. "That's... that's great, David."
David sat beside her, kissing her forehead. "You were quiet the whole way home. Are you tired?"
"A little," Elara replied, looking down.
"You and Clara seemed to get along," David said, lying down. "I'm glad you're making new friends. She seems like a good woman."
Instantly, a sharp guilt stabbed Elara. Clara, who was good. Clara, who had smiled at her sincerely. Clara, who didn't know that her husband and Elara were in love with each other.
"Yes... she's very kind," Elara whispered, her voice hoarse.
David looked at her lovingly. "I'm happy to see you smiling again lately. For the past few weeks, you seemed... distant."
Elara stared at her husband. David, who always noticed her. David, who gave her everything. David, who never suspected. And how did she repay him? By holding love for another man in her heart.
As David fell asleep with a small smile on his lips, Elara remained sitting upright. She listened to his steady breathing, and tears began to flow.
She remembered Clara's smile. She remembered hugging Alisha earlier that evening. She remembered all of David's kindness.
"Forgive me," she whispered in her heart, to both David and Clara. "I have to end this. I must."
But how? How do you forget someone who has become a part of your soul?
FROM KAEL'S SIDE
Kael still sat in the dark car. He saw the light in their bedroom turn on, then off. Clara hadn't let him in.
Rain began to fall, washing over the car windows. The droplets seemed to mirror the tears he never shed.
He took out his phone. His finger opened the messaging app, hovering over "Elara". Their last messages were still there - the sad conversation about their separation.
"She knows," Kael whispered to himself. "Clara knows."
And the most painful part was that Clara wasn't angry. She was just hurt. Deeply hurt.
Kael typed a message to Elara: I miss you
But he deleted it.
He typed again: Clara knows
He deleted it again.
What was the point? What could he say? That he had ruined two lives? That he was a coward who didn't deserve love?
He threw his phone onto the passenger seat. He rested his head on the steering wheel and, for the first time in years, he cried. A deep, painful cry, full of regret.
He remembered first meeting Clara - the gentle woman who was willing to love him even though she knew his heart was still broken. He remembered how Clara was always there for him, caring for him, trusting him.
And how did he repay her? By betraying that trust.
As the rain grew heavier, Kael realized a bitter truth: he hadn't only lost Elara. He had also lost the right to be loved by Clara.
He had become a man no one wanted - trapped between a past he couldn't have and a future he had destroyed.