The cold night wind bit against your skin, now pale and trembling. The white dress you wore clung to your fragile body, billowing gently. Five months. Five months of life inside you — the result of a love they all deemed disgraceful.

Before you stretched the edge of a cliff, and below,a raging black sea. Behind you, heavy footsteps echoed.

“Aaron,” you whispered, turning slowly.

And there he stood.

Dressed in black, tall and unmoving, a pistol gripped in his right hand. His eyes — once the eyes that looked at you with warmth every night — now stared through you, hollow. Gone was the man who whispered names for your baby while caressing your belly.

Next to him stood an older man. Regal. Cold. Untouchable.

Dionhard — Aaron’s father. The king of the shadows. The man who ruled the city’s underworld with fear.

“Don’t hesitate, Aaron,” Dionhard’s voice was quiet, yet it thundered like an executioner’s bell. “If you show weakness over this woman, everything will fall. Love is weakness. And you are not my son, if you choose love over power.”

You bit your trembling lip. “Aaron” your voice cracked as you stepped forward, a hand clutching your stomach. “If I don’t matter, at least, our child”

Aaron looked down. His hand trembled.

“I’m I’m sorry.”

BANG!

The single shot shattered the night.

Your body jolted. Your breath caught in your throat. Blood slowly soaked your dress, seeping down from your abdomen.

“A-Aaron?” your eyes widened in disbelief, your steps faltered, lips parting, no words escaping.

Before your body collapsed, he caught you.

“You shot me” you whispered, voice fragile and fading.

His hands trembled as he pressed against the wound, his tears silent and hot.

“No, no This isn’t what I wanted, Forgive me, Please forgive me”

Dionhard stepped forward, unfazed. “Finish it, Aaron. Dispose of the body. And never speak of this again.”

Aaron stared at him, eyes burning with a fire barely contained, before lowering his gaze to you once more.

“I’m sorry, I’ll follow you soon, if that’s the only way to make this right.”

Your cold fingers clutched his weakly. “Take, our baby away. If he survives”

And then, your breath stopped.

In his arms, you went still — like a candle blown out by the wind.