James froze, tension overtaking his features. He opened his mouth, but no words came.
Mia’s eyes grew cold. “See? This is why I can’t live with you. This is not how I want to spend my life. I cannot live with your silence. No matter how much you love me, no matter how many promises you make, you will always protect and loveyourselffirst. Your peace, your choices. And I understand—you have a soft spot for them in your heart. Even when your family hurts you or me, you can’t hurt them. It will never change.”
She took a steadying breath, meeting his eyes. “James, I tried… I really tried to fall in love with you. But I never did. And I never will. You are not the man I thought you were, and I am no longer the woman you want me to become. I don’t care about you anymore.”
His grip on her hand tightened, eyes burning as the truth cut deeper than he could admit. But Mia yanked her hand free, wiping away the tears threatening to spill. Without another word, she turned and stormed off.
Neither of them noticed the pair of eyes burning on them. Kylie sat in James’s car, hands trembling on the steering wheel, staring at them with a mixture of envy, rage, and disbelief.
She had tried everything—every trick, every plan—to make James stay. She had even drugged him once, hoping he wouldspend the night with her and feel responsible. But he had chosen to cut his arm instead, bleeding out the effects of the drug rather than succumb to the desire. And as if that weren’t insulting enough, he treated her like she didn’t exist, ignoring her completely. Every word she spoke, every attempt to get his attention—it was all useless. All he could think about wasMia…that damn woman.
Her body trembled uncontrollably, fury burning in every fiber of her being. She could barely breathe. Tears of rage streaked her cheeks, her teeth clenched tight. She only saw red.
Anger blazing, she slammed her foot on the accelerator.
The sound startled James. Turning his head, he saw the car racing toward Mia.
“Watch out!” he shouted—but it was too late.
With a lunge, James shoved her sharply. Mia flew forward, crashing onto the asphalt. The impact rattled her entire body. Behind her, the car tore past—but in a horrifying twist, it ran over James and kept racing.
A deafening crash followed as the vehicle slammed into an electricity pole, sparks flying wildly.
And then… silence.
Inside the car, Kylie froze, her body stiff. Shock robbed her of sensation. She hadn’t meant to hurt James.
Blood ran down her hands, pooling around her, but she didn’t feel it. Darkness began to swallow her.
Mia sat up, dazed, the echo of the crash still ringing in her ears. And then she saw him.
James. Bloodied, lying on the road.
“James!” she cried, panic strangling her voice.
Alexander bolted from his car, moving faster than humanly possible. Within moments, doctors and nurses swarmed the scene, the chaos of alarms and shouting echoing across the street.
But James, lying on the ground, bleeding, didn’t notice any of it. His gaze stayed locked on Mia, who was on her hands and knees in front of him, tears streaking her face. Even as blood trickled down his own face, mingling with the pain, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.
His heart was not racing anymore when he looked at her… and for the first time, it didn’t hurt. Instead, an inexplicable warmth spread through him. He wanted to smile.
Mia’s eyes were on him. Only him. Finally.
He wanted to reach out, to wipe away her tears—but his body refused to obey. His eyelids grew heavy, yet he couldn’t break his gaze. Pain still lingered, but looking at her, memories of their life under the same roof flooded him again and again.
And with those memories came… a calm he had never known in his life.
As darkness began to pull him under, he focused on her one last time, trying to speak the words that had been trapped in his heart for a long time.
“I… haven’t loved anyone in this world… except you… Mia…”
He didn’t realize that while he was trying to say those words—even as Mia was lowering herself to hear him—his mouth had moved incoherently, and no words had come out. It seemed that he only took a few shallow breaths and didn’t say anything. And then… one last breath.
And with it, the memories, the love, the longing—all sank beneath the darkness of his vision.
***
Mia stood beside Alexander in silence, the cold wind brushing against them. Before them lay a grave. A simple stone read:James Sinclair.
