VILLA OF THORNS

FORGIVENESS

It started with a light.

Soft and golden behind her eyelids. Then came the beeping. Steady. Familiar. Faint voices in the hallway. A scent she didn't recognize—sterile and cold.

Katie's eyelashes fluttered.

Her head was heavy, her throat dry, her body sore in a way that didn't feel physical—but deep, like her soul had been wrung out.

She blinked.

White ceiling. Dim lights. The quiet hum of machines.

A hospital.

Panic prickled up her spine until her gaze drifted slightly—landing on a familiar shape curled up beside her bed.

Milly.

Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, her arms folded on the edge of the mattress, cheek resting against them. She looked like she hadn't slept. There were dried tears on her face.

Katie's heart cracked open.

"Milly?" she rasped.

Milly's head shot up, eyes wide. For a moment, she looked like she didn't believe what she was seeing.

Then she reached for her—tentatively. Like she was afraid Katie might disappear again.

"You're awake..." Milly whispered, her voice trembling. "Katie, you're okay."

Katie's eyes filled instantly. Her lips trembled. "What... what happened?"

Milly took her hand—lightly, carefully, like it might break.

"You scared all of us."

Katie frowned, confusion washing over her in slow waves. "I... I don't remember much. Just—pain. And... noise. Then nothing."

Milly nodded, lips pressed into a thin line. She swallowed hard. "You took half a bottle of sleeping pills Katie, what is wrong with you?. If Yiannis hadn't found you....".

Katie blinked. "Yannis..."

She closed her eyes, tears slipping free. It all came rushing back in jagged flashes. The villa. The party. The bed. Milly screaming. The look on Yannis's face. The rejection. The silence after. The cold.

"I didn't mean to cause so much trouble for all of you," Katie whispered. "I just... I didn't know how to breathe anymore."

Milly let out a soft cry and leaned forward, resting her forehead against Katie's hand.

"I was so angry," she choked. "So hurt. But I should've seen how lost you were. I should've known."

"I didn't want to hurt you," Katie said, her voice barely audible. "I swear to God, Milly. It just... happened. And I hate myself for it."

Silence stretched between them.

Then, slowly—achingly—Milly looked up. Her eyes glistened.

"I miss you," she said.

Katie's chest tightened. "I miss you too."

"I don't know how to forgive you," Milly admitted, voice raw. "But I know I don't want to lose you."

Katie couldn't stop the tears.

"I'll wait," she whispered. "As long as it takes. I'll wait."

Milly squeezed her hand. Her own eyes overflowed.

And in that hospital room, surrounded by the weight of betrayal and love and years of memories that neither of them could erase—they just sat there, tears slipping down their faces.

The night air outside the hospital was crisp. Too crisp. Adrian sat on the edge of a low concrete bench near the emergency wing, his elbows braced against his knees, a cigarette burning slowly between his fingers though he hadn't taken a single drag. He didn't smoke. Not really.

But tonight, he needed the motion. The distraction. Something to hold on to. Something to burn.

Inside, Katie was alive. Breathing. Awake.

He should've been relieved.

But instead, all he felt was that heavy, hollow ache in the center of his chest. The kind that didn't scream—it lingered. Whispered. Gnawed.

He'd stayed with her all night. Whispered truths she might never hear. Told her she wasn't alone. That he saw her. That she mattered. And then, right before she stirred... she had said his name.

Yannis.

Not a flinch. Not a dream-wrought slip of confusion. But a tender, broken murmur like someone calling for home.

Adrian had stood there, hand still warm from hers, and realized something that both crushed and clarified him: He loved her. But her heart didn't belong to him. He could've fought it. Could've stayed at her side and waited for his chance. But that wasn't who Adrian was.

So he left the room.

He walked until the buzz of hospital machines faded and all that remained was the silence of the early morning. His phone vibrated in his pocket. A few missed calls from Yannis. One from Milly and a text from Louisa asking if he was okay.

He didn't respond.

Instead, he finally brought the cigarette to his lips—but never lit it. Just held it there, a ritual without a purpose, then flicked it away and buried his face in his hands. Adrian didn't cry. But if he had, no one would have seen.

Because love, in its purest form, wasn't always about being chosen.

Sometimes it was about walking away—quietly, completely—so the person you loved could find their way back to what they needed.

Even if that meant it wasn't you.

⸻

Yiannis stood in front of her hospital door for too long.

Long enough for a nurse to glance his way twice. Long enough for his palms to sweat and his throat to close and reopen, like his body couldn't decide whether to breathe or break.

He had faced investors, enemies, courtroom threats and billion-dollar risks.

But nothing—nothing—felt as terrifying as the woman on the other side of that door.

Katie.

Her name alone unraveled him.

He remembered the last time he saw her—her body limp in his arms, her pulse fluttering weakly beneath his fingers, that almost empty bottle of pills beside her on the floor. Her skin had been cold. Her lips pale.

And now she was awake. Conscious. Breathing.

He clenched his jaw and leaned against the wall outside her room, running a hand down his face. He didn't even know what he was going to say. What could he say?

I'm sorry I took advantage of your heart when I belonged to someone else?

I'm sorry I let you carry all the guilt when I was the one who crossed the line first?

I'm sorry I didn't realize what you meant to me until I saw you almost slip away?

He let out a shaky breath.

He loved her. There was no denying that but he had gone about things the wrong way. His hand hovered over the door handle.

One push, and he'd see her face again.

One second, and she might turn away forever.

But he needed to see her. If not for himself, then for her. To let her know that she hadn't imagined any of it. That the night they shared had changed him. That she wasn't disposable. That she was never second choice.

His grip tightened.

And finally, Yannis opened the door.