Episode 6:IFoundYou
408 Words
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[CLIFFORD’S POV]
I chose.
Heir.
The word still tastes like blood.
The night they took her, I didn’t sleep. I didn’t eat. I sat in my father’s mansion and stared at the wall.
“Proud of you,” he said.
I nodded.
Inside, I was screaming.
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*[FLASHBACK]*
Year 1.
I played the part. Suits. Meetings. Blood on my hands that wasn’t mine.
My father watched me. Always.
“Where were you last night?” he’d ask.
“Business,” I’d say.
He didn’t believe me.
So I stopped leaving.
For a year, I didn’t look for her.
Because if I did, he’d kill her.
I learned to breathe without her.
I lied.
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Year 2.
I had power now. Money. Men who feared me, not my father.
I started small.
A name here. A passport record there.
Lisbon.
Portugal.
Eve.
She was alive.
She was alone.
My father never knew.
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*[PRESENT]*
Lisbon. Business appointment.
A front.
I was supposed to meet a dealer at 5 PM.
At 4:30 PM, I saw her.
Across the street.
Hair shorter. Thinner. Eyes down.
Eve.
She was carrying a bag. Walking fast. Like she was lost.
Like she was running from something.
My heart stopped.
It was her.
It was really her.
I followed.
Not close. Never close.
She turned into an alley. Then out to the river.
She sat on the bench.
She cried.
No sound. Just her shoulders shaking.
Three years.
Three years I imagined this moment.
What I’d say. How I’d touch her.
“Eve,” I whispered.
I said it out loud.
Her head lifted.
She looked at me.
For one second, her eyes met mine.
She didn’t recognize me.
Or maybe she did, and she didn’t want to.
I stepped back. Into the shadows.
I hid.
Because if she saw me, my father would know.
And he’d finish what he started.
I watched her from the dark.
She wiped her face. Stood up. Walked away.
I didn’t follow.
Not yet.
Because the man at the market was watching her too.
Miguel.
And he wasn’t smiling like a friend.
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That night, I didn’t go to my hotel.
I stood by the river until dawn.
She was gone.
But I was here.
And I wasn’t leaving Lisbon.
Not again.
My father wanted an heir without a heart.
He got one.
But my heart was never gone.
It was with her.
Always.
*[END EPISODE 6] //
- Writer
