Chapter 18 — RAIN DROPS AND REGRETS
The rain did not stop that night. It poured down the silver roofs of Elaris City, ran through the narrow streets, and filled the air with a quiet ache. In her small apartment, Cathy sat by the window with her knees pulled close, her sketchbook open on her lap.
She had not drawn anything since leaving the studio. The pencil rested between her fingers, unmoving. Outside, the city lights blurred through the curtain of rain, and the sound of it felt almost like a heartbeat — steady, aching, endless.
She turned the page and tried to draw, but her hand trembled. The image that began to take form was his face — Adrian’s face — the curve of his smile, the gentleness in his eyes, and the sadness that always lingered behind them.
When the pencil line broke, she stopped. Her throat tightened. She closed her eyes and remembered the first time he had held the umbrella for her, the quiet way he had listened, how his silence had felt like safety.
Now that silence only hurt.
Across the city, Adrian stood on his apartment balcony, soaked in rain. The city stretched before him — shining, endless, but suddenly empty. He had tried to call her, to text, but each message he typed felt hollow. Words seemed too small for what he wanted to say.
He looked down at his phone, her name glowing softly on the screen, and wished he could go back to the beginning — to the moment he first saw her by the bridge. If only he could have told her then who he really was.
Inside, his apartment was neat and cold. On the table lay a folder from his father’s office, one he had thrown there hours ago. The papers inside spoke of wealth, inheritance, business — all the things that had never brought him peace. He brushed them aside and sank into the couch, his thoughts circling like the rain.
He remembered her words: Truth doesn’t hurt. Silence does.
And for the first time, he understood that her silence wasn’t emptiness. It was full — full of trust, patience, love. A silence she had given freely, believing he had been honest within it. And now, he had broken that.
Back in her room, Cathy reached for her phone. There were unread messages, one from Luna.
Luna: He looked awful today, Cathy. Please talk to him.
Cathy stared at the words, her heart torn. She knew Luna meant well, but her mind was filled with too many thoughts, too many emotions that had no voice.
She opened her sketchbook again and began to draw, slow and deliberate. She drew two figures standing on opposite sides of the glass bridge — the same bridge where they had first met. Rain fell between them, but this time, she added something new.
A single light shining between them.
When she finished, she touched the drawing lightly, her fingers tracing the space between their hands. Then she closed the book, holding it close to her chest.
Adrian, meanwhile, finally went back inside. He set his phone down, walked to his piano in the corner, and sat before it. He hadn’t played in years, but tonight, the music found him.
He let his fingers move, and a soft melody filled the room — hesitant at first, then steady and sad. It was the sound of rain, of longing, of love that had forgotten how to reach across distance.
Outside, the storm began to quiet. The city lights softened, and somewhere across that same skyline, Cathy sat listening. The faint sound of a piano drifted through the open window, just barely, carried by the night air.
She closed her eyes, tears slipping silently down her cheeks.
Because even though she couldn’t hear the notes, she could feel them.
And in that quiet connection between two hearts separated by truth, Elaris City seemed to breathe — a reminder that love, once found, never truly fades.
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