Ella stumbled through the smoke-filled ruins, her breath hitching with every sharp inhale of dust and ash. Her hands scraped against the jagged remains of marble columns as she pressed forward, eyes burning and raw. Her legs shook with every step, but she refused to stop—couldn't stop.
Her son's terrified cries echoed faintly somewhere ahead.
And Leon…
His voice was there too. Low. Ragged. Closer than she wanted, farther than she could bear.
Panic clawed at her chest, squeezing tighter with every second she couldn't see them. The air felt thick like wet cotton stuffed down her throat, choking every breath.
This wasn't just a rescue—it was a reckoning.
She had walked away too many times. Run from him. Run from this. And now…
Now, she was terrified she might never get another chance to make things right—or end them for good.
Her heartbeat was a frantic drumbeat, loud enough she could swear it echoed against the crumbling walls. Every shadow seemed like a hand reaching out to drag her back into the past she tried so hard to forget.
And then—through the smoke—she saw him.
Leon stood there, one arm cradling their son, the other holding up a collapsing beam like a man possessed. His white shirt was torn open, blood mixing with rain and dirt, but his eyes…
They were locked on her.
Wild. Desperate.
Like a drowning man reaching for the only thing keeping him alive.
"Take him!" Leon shouted, voice raw and cracking.
Before she could move, the ceiling above groaned dangerously.
Leon's lips curved into a faint, broken smile—the kind she hadn't seen in years.
"Run, Ella…"
And then the beam gave way.
The last thing she saw before the dust swallowed them whole was Leon's body shielding their child—
And his eyes, locked onto hers until the end.