Chapter 10
“Ezra, don’t go!”
Maya’s sudden, desperate scream shattered the noise of the banquet hall like shards of glass cutting through the air.
She staggered and threw herself against the carved table’s corner just to stop him, slamming her head so hard that blood gushed down her forehead. Shattered porcelain embedded itself into her palms, but she stubbornly reached toward Ezra’s retreating figure as her trembling fingers stretched desperately in his direction.
The crowd instinctively pulled back, leaving only the sounds of blood dripping onto the polished floor to be heard.
Ezra turned around and met Maya’s gaze. Those doc eyes that always held a trace of a smile were now filled with tears.
Blood clung to her eyelashes, and her pale lips trembled as she murmured in a broken voice, “Ezra, don’t leave me… You’re all I have left. I’ll do anything if you just come back… Please…”
Seeing Maya acting like this, Gabriel’s eyes welled up as he clutched his bag. “Her medication is still with me… The doctor said if she gets too agitated again-”
“I’m sorry.” Ezra hesitated for a split second.
Then, he turned away and walked out of the banquet hall without another word.
A suffocating sense of unease churned in his chest, growing stronger by the second. He couldn’t think about anything else right now. He just needed to find Gianna. He needed to see her, talk to her, and explain everything.
“Gianna, where are you?”
He burst into the attic, shoving the wooden door open. The faint scent of perfume mixed with lingering body warmth rushed toward him, but the room was empty. Sunlight slanted in through the window, illuminating a small gift box on the desk. Underneath it, a sheet of paper lay pressed flat, with the ink still slightly damp.
“From now on, you walk your path, and I will walk mine. Ezra Griffith, we will never see each other again.”
A deafening roar filled Ezra’s mind. The world around him tilted, spun, and nearly sent him collapsing to the floor. His breath hitched. His hands shook as he clenched the letter, and his voice was barely above a whisper.
“No… No, this isn’t real. You’re just trying to scare me… Right?”
Where could Gianna have gone? She had nowhere else to go.
Ever since losing her mother as a child, she had been a girl without love and without a home. It was Ezra who laughed with her, cried with her, and planted a garden full of trees by her side.
Every beautiful memory she had ever known was intertwined with him. How could she be so cruel as to vanish from his world forever?
As if struck by a sudden thought, Ezra stumbled toward the courtyard, stopping beneath a tree. He remembered it vividly. After planting these blossoms together, he and Gianna had buried a time capsule beneath this very tree.
Inside was a letter Gianna had written to her future self. She had written that Ezra was the boy she would cherish for a lifetime.
That when she grew up, she would be his bride. And that she would take care of him forever, never leaving his side.
She had plucked a tree branch, twisted it into a ring, and promised to wait until the day Ezra would place it on her finger himself.
Tears streamed down Ezra’s face as he clawed at the soil with his bare hands. His nails cracked, and blood seeped from his fingertips, but he didn’t stop. That was not until the small tin box, caked in dirt, finally saw the light of day once more.
A relieved smile broke across his lips. But the moment he opened the capsule, the smile on his face froze.
The inside had nothing but ashes that were still warm to the touch. Among the charred remains of paper, he could barely make out the imprint of a seal –“Together for Eternity.” His hands trembled as he lifted a handful of ashes, watching as a half–burnt ring made of tree branches slipped from between his fingers. The once–delicate branch, entwined with golden thread, was now scarred with the blackened traces of fire.
Ezra clutched his chest, gasping for breath, but the heavy, suffocating air refused to fill his lungs. At that moment, the truth crashed over him with devastating clarity- Gianna was really gone. He had lost her forever.
