The door opened slowly.
What Adriana saw inside made her heart shatter into pieces.
Calvin was in the room.... With another girl.
They were standing far too close to each other, their bodies almost touching. The way his hand rested on her waist, the way she leaned into him, said everything words never could.
Adriana's breath hitched.
Her world went silent, so this was the truth.
The man she had loved since childhood.
The man she trusted more than anyone.
Had betrayed her.
For a moment, she could not move. Her legs felt weak, her chest tight, as if the air had been ripped from her lungs.
Then Calvin noticed her.
His face drained of color.
"Adriana," he said hurriedly, pulling away from the girl. Panic flashed in his eyes as he rushed toward her. "This is not what it looks like. Please, listen to me."
He reached out and grabbed her hand.
Adriana flinched.
Before he could say another word, she shoved his hand away with all the strength she had left.
"Do not touch me," she whispered, her voice trembling.
Her eyes burned, but she refused to cry in front of him.
Without looking back, Adriana turned around and ran.
Her feet barely touched the floor as she ran.
The sound of her heels echoed through the empty corridor, uneven and desperate. Tears blurred her vision, and she kept wiping her face with trembling hands, as if she could erase what she had just seen.
But nothing disappeared.
Her chest hurt with every breath.
She pushed open the terrace door and stumbled outside. Cold night air hit her skin, sharp and unforgiving.
Adriana walked to the edge of the terrace and sat down slowly, her legs hanging over the side. The city lights below shimmered uselessly, unable to warm the ache crushing her heart.
She broke.
Tears poured freely now, her shoulders shaking as sobs escaped her lips.
"Why…" she whispered to herself, her voice cracking.
"Why would you do this to me, Calvin?"
Her hands clenched into fists.
"I loved you," she cried softly. "I trusted you. I gave you everything I had."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Was I not enough?"
The night offered no answer.
Only silence.
She wiped her face angrily, as if frustrated with her own weakness. That was when her eyes fell on a table near the railing.
A bottle of wine sat there, half-hidden in the shadows.
She stared at it for a long moment.
Then she stood up.
Adriana grabbed the bottle, her fingers tight around the glass. She did not hesitate. She lifted it to her lips and drank.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
The liquid burned her throat, bitter and unfamiliar, but she welcomed the pain. It drowned her thoughts, softened the sharp edges of her heartbreak.
She had never drunk wine before.
She did not know when to stop.
The world began to sway.
The lights below blurred into streaks of gold and silver. Her head felt light, her body heavy, like it no longer belonged to her.
She laughed suddenly, a broken sound.
"So this is how it feels," she murmured. "To forget."
Her legs trembled as she took a step back.
Then another.
Her heel slipped.
Time slowed.
Adriana felt the ground disappear beneath her feet.
Her heart leapt into her throat as panic tore through her drunken haze.
"No—!"
She screamed as her body tipped forward, arms flailing, the night rushing up to meet her.
The world spun wildly.
Wind roared in her ears.
And then
Everything went dark.
Then suddenly....
She felt someone grab her.
A strong hand wrapped around her back, firm and steady. Another hand closed around her shoulder, pulling her close.
The terrifying speed of her fall slowed.
Slowly and unnaturally.
Adriana's heart slammed violently against her ribs, each beat louder than the last. Fear rushed through her veins as she gasped for air.
Someone was holding her.
Someone was carrying her.
The wind no longer screamed past her ears. Instead, it softened, brushing against her skin like a whisper. The ground below drifted farther away.
Her body trembled.
"W-Who…" she tried to speak, but her voice failed her.
She was too dizzy.
Too drunk.
Too overwhelmed.
Her head felt heavy as she forced her eyes open.
The world was blurred, spinning, unreal.
Lights stretched into long streaks. Shadows blended into the night sky.
But then she tired to open her eyes.
She saw him.
A man...flying.....!!!!
Her breath hitched.
She was in his arms, resting against him, her body cradled securely in his lap as if she weighed nothing at all. Dark shapes moved behind him, wide and powerful, cutting through the air.
Wings.
Or something like them.
She could not tell.
His arms tightened slightly around her, protective, unshaken by the height or the fall.
Her vision cleared just enough for one brief moment.
She saw the sharp line of his jaw. Broad shoulders.
Dark hair moving in the wind.
And his eyes
Glowing faintly in the darkness.
Not cruel.
Not cold.
Watching her.
Focused only on her.
Her heart skipped.
Before she could speak, before she could understand what was happening, exhaustion claimed her.
Her eyes fluttered shut.
The last thing Adriana felt was warmth.
And the terrifying certainty that the night had not let her fall...