It was like a long, long nightmare.
Rosalie didn’t know how much time had passed. All she could remember was herself walking in the desert for a long, long time. She felt tired, thirsty, and hot. She saw no end to the desert and she seemed to be looking for something, although she had forgotten who she was.
Just as she fell from tripping over a stone and found herself unable to crawl back up, a man appeared before her.
Rosalie looked up, and tears welled up in her eyes the moment she saw who it was.
She suddenly remembered who she was and she reached out a trembling hand, calling out, “Justin… Justin…!”
Her voice was hoarse.
Justin crouched down. “Rose.
He reached his hand out, as tender as before.
Rosalie felt as though she had found her lifeline. Yet right before their hands touched, a loud gunshot sounded as she saw a bullet pierce mercilessly through Justin’s chest. Blood trickled down the wound.
Justin collapsed to the ground.
“No…no, no!”
Rosalie yelled at the top of her lungs. She hurled herself toward Justin with the final vestiges of her energy, but she could only feel sand below her.
Justin was gone, leaving only a pool of blood. The desert suddenly turned into a place of darkness and she could see nothing.
She heard a man’s laughter.
“Rosalie, all the men who love you end up in terrible plights. All of them are gone.”
“No, stop talking! Stop talking!” Rosalie put her hands over her ears, but that demonic voice continued.
She opened her eyes and shrieked, “Stop talking, stop talking! I’m begging you, stop talking!”
Her hands were still covering her ears.
“Rose, Rose!” Theodore hugged Rosalie tight. “Rose, don’t be scared. I’m here, I’m right here.”
He gently patted her back and whispered comforting words into her ears.
Rosalie saw the familiar sight before her as her vision started focusing.
She was back at home, the home she used to share with Theodore. She was in her own room.
The familiar man before her made her cry out, “Theo?”
“Yes, it’s me.” Theodore cupped her cheeks in his hands and said reassuringly, “Rose, you’re back home. You’re safe. Sebastian and Yerick are both dead. All those bad
guys are dead. No one will hurt you from now on.”
“Dead…all dead…” Rosalie’s voice was trembling.
“Yes, they’re all dead.” Theodore hugged her tight. “No one will ever hurt you again.”
“Justin’s dead too,” Rosalie looked as though she was possessed. “He’s dead, too.”
Theodore didn’t know what to say to comfort her. Anything he said would be in vain and be futile in soothing the pain she felt in her heart.
No one expected Justin to die, and on their wedding day itself to boot. Even his corpse didn’t remain intact. When they rescued Rosalie, they found out from the guards in the villa that Sebastian had burnthis body into ashes and scattered it.
Theodore opened a drawer and pulled out a small bag. There was a pair of rings inside.
“This is your and Justin’s wedding rings, right?”
Rosalie took over the bag and nodded, her voice trembling, “Yes, these…these
are our wedding rings. Sebastian chopped off his finger…”
“Rose, I found these rings on a table in Sebastian’s room. I saw the blood in the bag and was certain that these rings weren’t his, so I brought them back,” Theodore explained.