ECLIPSE

✦
"You knew her?" He trembled, his voice a broken whisper as he held up a small, leather-bound book. "You knew Chiara?"

The world collapsed. The name dragged me back to the night buried deep. The frantic screams, the blinding headlights, the crushing silence.

"I'm asking you something." His hands clamped onto my arms, shaking me, a desperate fury in his grip.

"I- I" My lips were locked. My mind spiraled. The memories were a storm of static, loud and empty. I was silent. Broken.

I finally looked at him. His eyes were red, swollen, bleeding with grief. But worse than grief, I saw hatred. Betrayal. Rage.

He hates me now. For killing her. For lying to him. For daring to love him.

"Why did you kill my wife, Elena?" He sank to his knees, the words a raw sob, a dagger in my chest. "Why? You.. you loved me? Right?"

Tears blurred my vision, turning the room into a watercolor of despair.

And then the door burst open.

"We're taking you to the station." Erick's voice thundered. Agents flooded in, two women officers grabbing my arms. Behind them, Clara's voice cracked, calling my name. My mother cried out, broken.

And in the corner, my father stood, a stone-faced smirk playing on his lips.

Dragged into the blinding flash of lights, through the chaos of jeering strangers, I heard only one voice.
Marco's.

"I hate you, Elena. I hate you for ruining me."