Chapter 4 4

Darla took a step back. It felt like she was stepping out of her own body-like the ground beneath her was ready to swallow her whole, and she was the only one who noticed.

Her mind was filled with several thoughts, moving too fast in the blink of an eye. It happened to quickly, Too much. Too fast. She couldn't think.

Did Ethan really just say that?

The words echoed in her head. She stared at him, her eyes wide, her breath stuck.

And his eyes...

The way those deep green eyes never left hers, felt as though he was staring into her soul.

Her lips parted, but no sound exited. No words. Just silence.

Behind Ethan, stood Roy, his face twisted in fury. He watched as his best friend proposed to his ex-girlfriend at his wedding. He felt betrayed.

He had never expected that.

"Darla," Ethan's voice brought her back, it was softer this time

She forced her gaze back to his, meeting the steady will in his expression.

But she couldn't do this.

Her throat tightened as she swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

The words barely made it past her lips, but she knew he heard them. Knew, because his grip faltered-because something flickered in his eyes.

She pulled away from him and turned back, there was no room for hesitation, she knew that if she waited a minute longer then she might change her mind.

She put distance between them, because if she didn't, she might shatter completely.

Darla never wanted to reject him but she had to.

But before her mind could catch up, before she could process the whirlwind of emotions strangling her, her body moved on instinct.

Her heels turned.

Her legs pushed forward.

And suddenly-she was running.

"Darla!"

Ethan's voice chased after her. She heard it. She felt it. But she didn't stop.

She couldn't.

The moment she burst through the grand hall doors, she raised her arm, hailing for a cab.

"Taxi!"

A cab was already there-whether by fate or sheer luck, she didn't know. Didn't care.

She yanked the door open and threw herself inside. "Go. Just go."

The driver hesitated for only a second before pulling away.

And as the car sped off, Darla's eyes flickered back to the entrance-just in time to see Ethan.

He was there, he had chased her too.

If she had been even a second slower, if she had hesitated, he would have caught her. And then what?

What could she have possibly said?

There were no words to make sense of this. No explanation that would fix the mess she was drowning in.

So she did the only thing she could.

She ran.

The city blurred past as the taxi weaved through the streets. Darla sank into the seat, pressing a hand to her chest, willing her heart to slow yet it didn't.

It kept pounding. Kept aching.

Thirty minutes passed in a haze before the cab pulled up to a run-down motel.

She barely looked at the driver as she shoved cash into his hands and stepped out.

She had no home. No family.

For the past three days, this motel had been her shelter.

But now, she needed a new one.

Her pulse still racing, she hurried inside, moving like a woman being hunted. Even though Ethan wasn't here. Even though no one was watching, she still felt the need to hurry.

The moment she reached her room, she dropped to her knees, shoving her hands beneath the bed. Her fingers curled around the handle of her suitcase, yanking it out with a harsh tug.

She threw it onto the mattress, unzipped it, and started shoving her clothes inside.

Despite her hands trembling and her breath uneven.

She didn't know where she was going.

She didn't know what she was doing.

All she knew was that she couldn't stay.

After stuffing the last of her things inside, she zipped the bag.

For a moment, she just stared at the suitcase.

At the single bag that contained everything she had left.

It wasn't much.

It didn't feel like enough.

But it was all she had, most of her things were gone in the fire that burnt her home. All she had was what she could salvage from Roy's place.

Her fingers wrapped around the handle, she pulled it behind her as she stepped out.

Down the hallway.

Through the lobby.

She avoided the curious glance of the receptionist as she checked out, barely muttering a word.

She hailed Another taxi, The ride to the airport was silent.

Darla sat in the backseat, her hands clenched together in her lap, staring out at the world beyond the window.

The fading sunlight stretched across the sky like a final goodbye.

By the time Darla arrived at the airport, the sky had already begun its descent into darkness. It was 6 PM-early evening-but time felt irrelevant.

People rushed past her, each moving toward a destination they had carefully planned. Unlike her.

She wasn't running toward something.

She was running away.

The ticket had been a last-minute decision-an emergency booking, a desperate escape. The details didn't matter. All that mattered was getting on that plane. Leaving everything behind.

She moved through, checking in, dragging her luggage past the last security checkpoint when she heard her name.

"Darla." She froze.

It was his voice.

She didn't have to turn around to know who it belonged to.

A part of her wanted to look. Wanted to see his face, to hear what he had to say.

But what then?

What words could possibly undo the damage? What could he say that wouldn't break her even more?

She kept moving.

She forced herself forward, even as her legs felt heavier.

"Please don't leave."

His voice cracked-pleading, raw in a way she had never heard before.

From behind her, she could hear him struggling against security, trying to get past them. His protests rang out, quite urgent.

He just wanted to talk to her.

But no ticket meant no entry. That was the rule.

How did he even know she was there?

Had he been tracking her?

It didn't matter, She couldn't stop now.

Even as something inside her screamed to turn around. Even as every step forward felt like rejection all over again.

She didn't look back as she boarded the plane.

There was nothing left for her here.

Her family was gone, Her fiancé had married someone else.

Tears burned at the back of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

Instead, she sat down, buckled her seatbelt, and stared straight ahead as the plane prepared for takeoff.

By the time the wheels touched the ground, Darla had lost track of time.

She must have fallen asleep somewhere along the way, because when she opened her eyes, the plane had already landed.

For a moment, she didn't move. Registering the fact that she was in another country.

She just sat there, staring at the seat in front of her.

She had always thought of visiting New York City but who knew it would be under these circumstances.

Her fingers clenched around the strap of her bag as she pushed herself to stand.

She grabbed her suitcase and stepped off the plane-into the cold, unfamiliar air of a city that had once been her home.

The drive from the airport stretched into an hour.

An hour of staring out the window, watching as the city blurred past.

Everything still looked the same. The towering buildings. The crowded streets. The restless energy pulsing through the veins of New York.

But she wasn't the same.

By the time the car pulled up to the house, her hands were trembling.

The building stood there, just as she remembered it-tall, familiar, but somehow... smaller.

Her breath hitched as she stepped inside, memories flooded her mind, They were everywhere.

A twelve-year-old girl running down the halls, laughing without a care in the world. The sound of her parents calling her for dinner.

Darla let her suitcase fall by the door,

Her fingers fumbled as she reached into her bag, pulling out the small, fragile frame she had carried all this way.

The family portrait.

The cool glass pressed against her palm as she stared down at the faces frozen in time.

A sob broke past her lips before she could stop it.

Her legs buckled beneath her, and she collapsed onto the floor, clutching the frame to her chest as the tears finally spilled over.

She didn't wipe them away, She couldn't, Because she never even got to say goodbye and now they were gone.