“Damien, what the hell are you doing?” Theo snapped the moment he saw Damien forcefully kiss Aurelia. He surged forward, his fists clenched, ready to tear him apart.
But Owen held him back. Most people didn’t understand–but Owen, who had also grown up an orphan, knew exactly what Damien was about to do.
This kiss was his goodbye.
Damien kissed her like it was the last breath he’d ever take–deep, desperate, and searing with all the love and regret he could never put into words. And when it ended, he finally let her go.
བ དན ཕ བ འཚོོ རཾ ཥ ཇ
He gently pushed Aurelia back and smiled through the tears. “Don’t cry for me, Aury. Don’t waste a single tear. I’m not worth it.”
Then, he turned around. Without a second of hesitation, he jumped from the rooftop.
This time, he didn’t need wings to fly.
“Damien!” Aurelia lunged forward, trying to catch him, but her hands closed around nothing but air.
She watched, frozen in horror, as Damien fell—still smiling—until his body hit the ground and shattered.
Once, Sloane had been his whole world. But she betrayed him.
Once, Aurelia could’ve been his salvation. But he betrayed her.
Two betrayals and two chances to belong in this world–both lost forever.
He had no family and no friends. He had no one left to care.
From that point on, the only thing waiting for him was pain. And he knew he wouldn’t survive it.
How could someone be born with so much misfortune? From the moment he entered the world, he had no one. His whole life, he’d searched for someone who would love him, truly and forever. And just when he thought he’d found that person, he lost her too.
A life like that… What was the point?
As Damien fell, one last thought crossed his mind. If only there were a universe without Sloane… If only he had met Aurelia first…
But life didn’t work like that. There were no do–overs and no alternate endings.
Before he jumped, Damien had unstrapped the bomb from his chest. So, when he hit the ground, he was the only one who died. No one else was hurt.
The wedding went on, Aurelia and Theo were officially married,
It was Owen who stepped up to handle Damien’s burial.
Standing in front of the headstone, Owen opened a bottle of liquor.
“Damien, I hated you when you were alive,” he said, pouring half the bottle on the ground and drinking the rest in one long swallow.
“But now, I finally understand how you felt. Spending your whole life chasing after someone who’ll stay… That’s rare. We both had a chance to be with Aurelia, and we both blew it.
“But she’s happy now. That’s what matters. You can rest in peace. Yeah, life’s lonely. People are born alone, after all.
“But I’in not gonna follow you. I’ll bear it. I’ll carry this weight. I’ll protect her–for both of us. For all of us.”
Owen paused, then let out a long breath.
“Honestly, the way you ended up… that’s partly my fault. When I see you again in the afterlife, I’ll make it right.”
He tapped the bottle against Damien’s gravestone in a solemn toast.
“See you in hell, Damien.”
