Chapter 10%
But just a few words shattered all his defenses.&
Tm sorry. Mr. Jagger, I said softly%
“You and I we were never a couple “%
don’t remember you at all–not your name, not your face, not the things you say we shared “%
“Maybe you’re still holding on to something, maybe you still feel something but to me, we’re nothing. You’re just a stranger“?
I stepped forward and took my lover’s hand.
As you can see, I already have someone I love. So please, stop coming back.“%
Tristan lay on the ground, barely breathing
He looked like a lost ghost–soulless, wandering aimlessly between the living and the dead.
After that day, he began drowning himself in alcohol
He wandered from bar to bar, night after night.
People only whispered about him now–the disgraced heir of the Jagger family, a mad drunk with a criminal record.
His former glory had long turned to dust/
He went to a tattoo parlor and had my name etched into the palm of his hand.%
He thought that if he held on tight enough, I’d never slip away again.
But night after night, when I appeared in his dreams, his eyes would turn red.%
“Why didn’t you come see me?” he asked, again and again.%
The truth was–I did.%
We met a hundred times.%
Ninety of those times, I stood in silence.%
The ninety–ninth time, he looked at me and asked.%
“This is the last time, isn’t it?“%
I don’t know how he knew.%
But I nodded.%
He smiled faintly, as if relieved.%
He didn’t say anything else.%
When he woke up, he left for a mountain temple.%
He said he would live out the rest of his life there, in quiet repentance.%
I thought that was the end of our story.%
After all, he never died again.%
Until the night before my wedding.%
I was in my bridal clothes, glowing with the promise of a new beginning–when he appeared once more.%
Tristan had aged.%
No, more than that–he was dying.%
Years of reckless self–destruction had ravaged his body.%
He was a shadow of what he had once been./
When he saw me, dressed in white, something flickered in his eyes.%
Nostalgia. Regret. Longing.%
“You were this beautiful the day I married you,” he murmured.”
“We got married by the sea. You said you loved the sound of the waves…“%
His voice was hoarse, unfamiliar–like it belonged to someone else.%
“I remember you cried and said marrying me was your greatest wish. I wiped your tears, afraid you’d mess up your makeup and regret it later.”
He smiled, lost in a memory only he could see.%
I said nothing
Just listened.
Eventually, the story ended.!!
“I’m dying,” he said simply
We both knew it was true.
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Then, slowly, he bowed to me–a full ninety degrees.
“I’m sorry, Winda,” he said.”
“I owed you so many apologies. I never said a single one.“>
“It was me. I was the fool. I didn’t understand my own heart. I was obsessed with Diana and I let her hurt you. I let myself hurt you.”
“Each time you died, I pretended it didn’t matter. And after a while… I started to believe it.”
He smiled bitterly.
“But you’re happy now. That’s good.”
His eyes searched mine.”
“Does he love you?”
There was a quiet pleading behind his question.
I nodded.
At least, for now.
I didn’t look too far ahead. I was content with this moment, with this joy.”
“That’s enough,” he said softly.
“Bless you, Winda. I hope you’re happy for the rest of your life.“}
He hesitated before closing his eyes, as if trying to imprint my face onto his soul.
“Thank you,” I whispered.”
He smiled.
And in that second, his life came to an end.
I stepped forward and noticed a note clutched tightly in his hand.
The paper was crumpled from being held too long.
I knelt down to read it.
On it, written in a trembling hand.
[Winda, I love you. If I meet you in the next life, I will love you properly. I’m sorry.]
There were water stains on the back.”
Maybe they were his tears.}
I didn’t linger.
I simply placed the note back in his hand.
Tristan died.”
And I felt… nothing.
No sorrow. No pain.”
Because I still had my happiness.}
And ahead of me–an entire life waiting to be lived.”
(The End)
10:35 AM
I said nothing.
Just listened.
་་ ཕ་་་ས་ད ་་་་ ་་་ པ་
Eventually, the story ended.
“I’m dying,” he said simply.
We both knew it was true.
