Just then, Emma's phone suddenly started ringing.
She quickly wiped away her tears and reached for her phone. As soon as she looked at the screen, she saw Rai's name flashing across it.
The moment she saw his name, her eyes filled with tears again.
She wiped them away with the back of her hand and answered the call. She took a deep breath and tried her best to keep her voice steady, even though she was barely able to control her
emotions.
"Hello…?"
There was a brief silence from the other side.
Then Rai spoke.
"I know what you must be going through right now, but I want to ask you something."
Emma remained silent, listening to him.
"Dark will at least get to meet Zoya one last time," Rai continued, his voice heavy with emotion. "But what about us? We still haven't been able to forget all those memories… all those moments we spent with her."
His voice began to tremble.
"And you know, right? I was the one
who spent the most time with Zoya.
Please… just let me meet her once.
Just once. Let me say goodbye to her."
Rai took a shaky breath.
"Emma, I'm completely broken from the inside. Please… let me see her smile one last time."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"Haiku told me that even at the end, there was happiness and peace on her face. I just want to see that smile one last time, Emma. Please."
On the other side, Emma became completely silent.
She didn't know what to say.
Every word Rai spoke was making the pain inside her heavier.
Finally, Emma spoke in a quiet voice.
"Don't force me."
Rai said nothing.
"I don't want to believe that I have already lost Zoya," Emma continued.
"Don't expect anything from me right now. I don't even know what I'm going to do next."
Her voice began to shake.
"I'm scared of myself right now."
There was another moment of silence.
Then Emma ended the call.
On the other side, Rai threw his phone away in frustration.
His eyes were filled with anger and tears.
"I wish I had been there at that time," he said bitterly. "I wouldn't have let him get away with it."
His hands trembled as he clenched them.
"He killed my friend. I'll never forgive him. I swear, I'll never let him escape what he did."
He lowered his head.
"I wish I had never made that stupid promise to her…"
Meanwhile, Emma began walking toward the hospital rooftop.
She slowly climbed the stairs, her mind completely overwhelmed by everything that had happened.
When she finally reached the top, she noticed someone sitting on the hospital boundary.
It was Zoya's fiancé.
Emma stopped for a moment.
He was sitting there quietly, crying. In his hands was a photograph of Zoya.
Emma slowly walked toward him.
She sat down beside him.
For a few seconds, neither of them said anything.
Then Emma finally whispered,
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I never knew that so much would happen."
Zoya's fiancé wiped his tears and looked at her.
"I will never forgive you."
Emma lowered her eyes.
"You know how happy she was about our wedding?" he continued. "She used to talk about her dreams all the time. She had so many things planned.
So many little plans for our future.
His voice broke.
"Emma… you destroyed all of it. You shattered everything."
He looked down at Zoya's photograph.
"Do you know who she loved more than anyone else?"
Emma slowly looked at him.
"You."
Emma's eyes widened slightly.
"Whenever she talked to me, she talked about you. 'Emma is like this… Emma is like that… Emma spends the whole day helping everyone.' I heard about you so many times that sometimes I felt like I knew you without even meeting you properly."
He gave a sad smile through his tears.
"Do you know she still remembered the day you first came to school?"
Emma remained silent.
"She told me that you used to sit separately from everyone. At first, she thought you had a huge ego."
He paused.
"But later, she told me she had been completely wrong."
He looked at Emma.
"She said you were actually a very kind person."
Emma's eyes began filling with tears again.
"She even told me about the first time someone bullied her. You were the one who helped her."
His voice became quieter.
"Emma… you want me to forgive you, don't you?"
Emma couldn't answer.
"Then bring her back to me."
His words left Emma speechless.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to live without her. I don't know how I'm supposed to wake up every day and accept that she's not going to be there anymore."
He looked at the photograph in his hands.
"These memories are everywhere. Everything reminds me of her."
He took a slow breath.
"Sometimes I wish she had never entered my life, because then I wouldn't have to feel this pain."
He looked away.
"But then I remember everything we had, and I realize I could never truly wish that."
His voice became softer.
"I loved her so much."
He looked at Zoya's picture again.
"I never even got the chance to tell her how much I loved her. I never got to properly show her what she meant to me."
A long silence followed.
"Now I'm asking you for just one thing."
Emma looked at him.
"Whoever did this to her… they must face the consequences. I don't care what happens. I just want justice for Zoya."
Just then, Haiku arrived.
He looked at both of them and said,
"Zoya's aunt is here. You have to come downstairs."
Emma slowly stood up.
"I'm coming."
She began walking toward the stairs.
After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped and looked back at Zoya's fiancé.
"Aren't you coming?"
He shook his head.
"Don't worry about me. I'm not going anywhere. I just don't want to go downstairs."
Emma looked at him for a moment.
"Okay."
She then turned around and went downstairs.
As soon as Emma reached the lower floor, she saw Zoya's aunt.
The moment she saw her, Emma rushed toward her and fell at her feet.
"Please…"
Her voice broke.
"Please give me my Zoya back."
Zoya's aunt looked at her through her tears.
"She had no one," Emma continued desperately. "She had neither her mother nor her father. I raised her.
Please… please give her back to me."
Her voice became weaker.
"Please…"
She could barely speak through her tears.
"I don't know how to live without her."
Seeing this, Emma finally understood how enormous her mistake had become.
All the things she had been trying to avoid thinking about suddenly came crashing down on her.
She could no longer hold herself together.
She collapsed, and everything around her began to spin.
It felt as though she was falling through a dark, endless place.
Memories flashed through her mind one after another.
Faces.
Voices.
Moments with Zoya.
Everything seemed to be moving around her, and she couldn't find a way out of it.
Her head began to ache badly.
"No…"
Her voice trembled.
"This can't be happening…"
She tried to make sense of everything, but her mind felt completely overwhelmed.
Her vision became blurred, and she struggled to remain conscious.
Then, for a moment, everything around her seemed to disappear.
Emma looked down at her hands, confused by what she was seeing.
Her eyes slowly began to close.
And then she saw Zoya standing in front of her.
Zoya smiled gently.
"Don't worry," she seemed to say.
"Even after I'm gone, I'm still with you, my dear."
Emma stared at her.
Her eyes widened.
"Zoya…"
But when she looked ahead again, Zoya was no longer standing there.
Instead, Emma saw Zoya's photograph placed in front of her.
In the photograph, Zoya was smiling.
That familiar smile.
The same smile Emma had seen so many times before.
Suddenly, another memory came rushing back into Emma's mind.
Then another.
And another.
The memories of Zoya became clearer and clearer.
Emma's eyes slowly closed as everything around her faded away.
For the first time, she could no longer run from the memories.
They were all there.
Every moment.
Every word.
Every smile.
And every regret.
_____(Author note)_____
Honestly… after finishing this chapter, I just sat quietly for a while.
Some scenes are not easy to write because while you're writing them, it doesn't feel like you're simply moving the story forward. You start thinking about what the characters are feeling too. 🥺
Zoya may no longer be here in the story, but her presence can still be felt everywhere—in someone's words, in someone's memories, in someone's tears… and perhaps most of all, inside Emma. 💔
Rai wanting to see her one last time, her fiancé sitting there with her photograph, and then telling Emma everything he had been keeping inside… it felt like every character had something left to say to Zoya, but time never gave them the chance to say it properly.
And maybe that is the saddest part of this chapter.
Sometimes a person leaves, but all the memories, unfinished conversations, and words left unsaid stay behind. 🥀
Even Emma's situation feels heartbreaking in its own way. She doesn't fully understand what is happening inside her anymore, but the pain of the people around her is slowly forcing her to realize just how much everything has changed.
While writing this chapter, I honestly wished for a moment that I wasn't the writer. I wanted to walk into the story and tell all of them, "Enough… just take a breath and rest for a while." 😭❤️
But stories don't always give their characters what they need.
And yes… you already know me. I don't exactly let my characters live peacefully for very long. 😂💀
Still, I genuinely hope you felt more than just sadness while reading this chapter. I hope you felt their love, their regret, their memories, and all those feelings they never got the chance to express.
And if, even for a moment, you found yourself thinking about Zoya while reading this chapter…
Then honestly, that means a lot to me. 🥺🥀
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, supporting, and staying with this story. ❤️
I'll stop here before I become even more emotional and start crying over my own characters. 😭😂
See you in the next chapter.
And yes… maybe come a little mentally prepared this time. 👀🖤
— Your slightly crazy, slightly emotional, but very serious-about-her-story author ✍️🥀
_____ NIGHT