🌙 Chapter 3: Echoes Between Them
656 Words
The terrace doors clicked shut behind her, sealing Lyra in a world of cool night air and strained breaths. She leaned against the marble balustrade, eyes closed, willing the trembling in her hands to stop.
She hadn’t expected to see him.
Not tonight. Not ever.
The breeze kissed her bare shoulders, the fabric of her gown rustling gently around her legs. She drew in a breath and opened her eyes, letting the distant city lights ground her.
“You always did run when things got complicated.”
Her spine stiffened at the sound of his voice. It was lower now—deeper—but unmistakably his.
She turned slowly, bracing herself. Riven stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable beneath the golden glow from the ballroom.
“I’m not running,” she said, her voice steadier than she felt. “Just breathing.”
A small smile touched the corner of his mouth. “Still quick with words.”
Lyra folded her arms, not to block him out, but to hold herself together. “Why are you here, Riven?”
He stepped closer, not enough to touch, but enough for her heart to race.
“I was invited.”
She raised a brow. “Convenient.”
“I didn’t know you’d be here,” he said. “Not until I saw you across the room. And then... everything else stopped.”
She hated how true that felt. How seeing him had unraveled everything she thought she’d buried.
“You could’ve said something sooner,” she murmured.
“I didn’t know if I should,” he admitted. “You looked… untouchable. Like someone who didn’t want to be remembered.”
Her breath hitched. “And yet here you are.”
Riven studied her for a long, quiet moment. “You disappeared, Lyra. After that night. No calls. No explanations.”
“That night…” she began, then faltered. “It wasn’t what you think.”
“Then tell me,” he said gently.
She looked away, eyes drifting to the garden below. Shadows played along the edges of the fountain where roses bloomed even in the cool air.
“I was married," Riven. And you were supposed to be a memory. A chapter closed a long time ago.”
“But it wasn’t closed, was it?”
She didn’t answer.
Couldn’t.
The silence between them stretched—not uncomfortable, but heavy. Like an old door creaking open after years of being locked.
“I remember the look on your face the last time I saw you,” he said. “You were terrified.”
She turned to him then, eyes burning. “Because everything was falling apart. My marriage. My sanity. My ability to tell the truth without losing everything.”
He stepped forward—closer now. “You could’ve trusted me.”
“I didn’t even trust myself.”
Their eyes locked, and for a moment, it felt like time bent between them. Like all the years they’d spent apart were nothing more than a pause in the middle of something that never really ended.
Riven broke the moment first. He glanced down, then back up. “I’m not here to make things harder. I just needed to know you were real. That I hadn’t imagined you.”
Lyra’s voice softened. “I’m very real. And so are the consequences of that night.”
He nodded slowly. “Is there a part of you that ever wished we had more time?”
She hesitated. “Sometimes.”
He gave her a sad smile. “That’s enough.”
Without another word, he turned and walked back toward the ballroom, disappearing into the golden light and music.
Lyra stayed rooted to the spot, her heart thudding in her chest, hands cold despite the warmth of the night.
Because she had wished for more time too.
And now, time had come back to find her.
- Writer
