The dappled sunlight filtering through the trees seemed to cast shadows
of the past onto Elara's face. Lying with her head in Silas's lap, she let
herself sink into the memory, her voice soft and distant.
"After my parents died, I had this tiny, foolish hope that things might
get better," she began, her gaze fixed on the blades of grass. "That Bianca
would stop looking for reasons to hate me. That Claire and Uncle Robert would
stop their constant fighting. That the house would stop feeling like a cage
where I didn't belong."
Silas's hand, which had been gently stroking her hair, stilled. A dark,
protective anger simmered in his chest at the thought of the Hayes family.
"But that party taught me the final lesson: never hope. Those who
despise you will only ever despise you more. They don't want you to be happy;
they want you to disappear."
She took a shaky breath. "It started so nicely. We were all laughing.
Then, right as Bianca was about to cut her birthday cake, she turned to me. Her
voice was sweet, but her eyes were pure ice. She said, 'Elara, darling, fetch
my grandmother's diamond necklace. I want to wear it for the pictures. It's in
the bag you've been holding for me.'"
Elara's eyes closed, the humiliation as fresh as if it were yesterday.
"My mind went blank. What necklace? She'd handed me her purse earlier when we
were playing games, and I'd taken it without a second thought. I fumbled
through it, my hands trembling. There was nothing. No necklace."
"Her smile vanished. 'Where is it?' she demanded, her voice sharp. 'You
were the last one with my bag. Did you take it?' Suddenly, all her friends were
circling me, their faces turning from friendly to accusing. Their voices
overlapped, a chorus of 'thief' and 'just give it back.'"
Elara's voice dropped to a whisper. "I tried to explain, to tell them I
didn't have it, but they wouldn't listen. They started shoving me, their hands
grabbing at my clothes, insisting on searching me. I was trapped. I remember
the fabric of my coat tearing as I finally wrenched myself free and just… ran."
A single tear escaped, tracing a path down her temple and into her hair.
"The rain was pouring. I didn't know where I was going. I just had to get away.
I found a small cave on the back of the resort property and crawled inside. I
hid there for hours, shivering, my clothes soaked. I developed a fever. I was
so cold, and so hungry… I honestly thought I might die in there, and that no
one would ever find me."
She paused, gathering the strength for the final part of the memory.
"And then… Julian found me. He carried me out."
At the mention of that name, Silas's brow furrowed. A distant memory,
hazy and long-forgotten, flickered to life.
His voice was low, cutting gently through her recollection. "Elara… was
the resort called Four Seasons Spring?"
Her eyes flew open, meeting his intense, dark gaze. Shock rendered her
speechless for a moment. "How… how could you know that?"
A slow, knowing smile touched his lips as he brushed the tear from her
cheek. His words were quiet, deliberate, and earth-shattering. "So, it was nine
years ago that I first saw you."
Elara's breath hitched. Her mind, still tangled in the pain of the past,
scrambled to catch up. "You were there?"
"Yes." Silas helped her sit up, his movements tender as he smoothed her
hair. He held her gaze, his expression unreadable. "And if I told you that
Julian only went into that cave to find you because I sent him… would you
believe me?"
The confession hung in the air between them, potent and unbelievable.
Hearing her credit Julian had jarred the memory loose. Nine years ago,
he'd been at Four Seasons Spring with Julian and Nathaniel. He'd seen the whole
ugly scene—the group of teenagers ganging up on one fragile, defiant girl. He'd
seen her run, a heartbroken sprite vanishing into the storm. A pang of pity,
unusual for him, had struck. He'd ordered Julian to follow her, a test of his
subordinate's loyalty and competence as much as an act of rescue.
"What do you mean?" Elara whispered, her world tilting on its axis.
"Elly," he said, his voice thick with a regret he hadn't known he
carried. "I saw it all. I saw them cornering you. I saw the look on your face
before you ran. I'm sorry I didn't step in sooner."
He had been a twenty-eight-year-old titan of industry; it was just
children's squabble, beneath his notice. But her tears in the rain… they had
gotten to him.
Elara stared at him, her mind reeling. Fragments of a half-remembered
dream from months ago surfaced—a man's voice, deep and authoritative, praising
Julian. You handled that well.
That voice had been his.
A tangled knot of emotions tightened in her chest—shock, disbelief, and
a profound, bewildering sense of destiny. All these years, she had carried the
memory of Julian's rescue as a singular act of kindness, a beacon of light in a
dark childhood. And now she learned the hand that had held that beacon belonged
to Silas all along.
She let out a long, slow breath, a shaky smile finally breaking through.
"I should be thanking you. How could I possibly blame you? You were a stranger.
You had no obligation to get involved in a bunch of kids fighting."
"I'm still sorry," he murmured, pulling her into the sanctuary of his
embrace. He buried his face in her hair, marvelling at the twist of fate that
had brought the girl from the cave into his arms forever.
After a moment of comfortable silence, he asked, "What happened with the
necklace?"
Elara nestled closer, drawing strength from his steady heartbeat. "After
Julian brought me back, I found out the truth. They'd planted it in the pocket
of my coat. The whole point was to frame me. But because I ran, their plan was
ruined. Bianca still tried to accuse me the next day. I told Uncle Robert
everything, that she had set me up."
She gave a bitter, hollow laugh. "And he… he said he believed me. He
told me not to worry, that he would handle it. I was so happy. For a moment, I
thought I finally had an ally in that house."
Her voice hardened. "That night, I heard him in Bianca's room. He was
comforting her. He said, 'Don't be angry with her, darling. The poor thing just
lost it and forgot. It wasn't on purpose. You must be the bigger person and
forgive your cousin.'"
She looked up at Silas, her eyes clear and sharp with old pain. "That's
when I knew. There were no allies. There was only me."