By admin A Romance In Passing Chapter 16
The next morning, William packed his bag and drove out to the coastline where he and Emily had once declared their love for each other.
He stood on a boulder, waves crashing violently beneath him. One powerful gust nearly knocked him into the sea.
He took out his phone and turned the camera to his face.
The night before, his closest friends had tried to talk sense to him at the bat. They urged him to go after Emily.
He’d thought about it. He wanted to fly to Fremoria, finding her in person.
But he knew the Caldwell family. They had powerful connections. If her parents caught even a whiff of him near her, they’d likely pull strings and shut down every joint venture they had with the Silverstein family.
That was when Kenny Hart, his closest friend, made a bold suggestion. “If you can’t go to her, make her come to you. Trick her into seeing how serious you are”
It was insane. But William latched on the idea.
Now, standing on the boulder, his face was pale. He held the camera as waves lapped over his shoes.
“Emmy, do you remember this place?” he asked softly. “This is where I told you I loved you.”
He turned the camera toward the endless sea. “I was an idiot. I know that now. But if I jumped right here, right now, would you forgive me?”
And with that, William jumped. The ocean swallowed him.
The waters were rough, and for a terrifying moment he couldn’t breathe. But the tide wasn’t deep there, and he was a strong swimmer. After struggling for a few minutes, he surfaced and made his way back to shore.
By the time he pulled himself onto the rocks, he was soaked and trembling violently.
Emily had blocked him on every platform, so he emailed her the video. Then, he asked their mutual friend to send it to her, hoping she’d at least read the message.
The video was marked “read“, but days passed, and there was no reply.
Haunted by her silence, William spiraled. He wandered the city, revisiting every place they’d made memories together.
The maple trees on their high school campus where they shared their first kiss.
The hilltop trail where he’d once promised her forever.
The rooftop where, at 20, he had surprised her with fireworks that lit up the whole skyline. He lit those same fireworks–alone–and dropped to one knee,
He even recreated the candlelit dinner he had once missed, setting the table in the same restaurant. No one came.
When he heard she had thrown the engagement ring into the drain, he spent hours searching the drains himself, covered in grime.
He filmed it all–every heartbreak, every tribute–and emailed each video to Emily. He hoped she would reply, but nothing happened.
He stopped going to work, stopped caring about his company. He thought that maybe if he suffered enough, she’d come back.
But hurting himself got him nowhere. And one day, while climbing the mountain trail where they’d once left a love padlock–a symbol of forever- he slipped.
His leg snapped with a brutal crunch.
In the ER, groaning through the pain, he clutched the sheets and called her name again and again. But no one answered.
When his friends rushed in and saw the state he was in–gaunt, broken and defeated–they were speechless.
One of them grabbed him by the collar. “Serves you right for what you did to Emily.”
“William, what the hell are you doing to yourself? You think jumping into the ocean or breaking your leg is going to win her back? What is this, a soap opera?”
Another stared at the cast on his leg. “You think she’ll come running because you’re hurt? Man, she’s not even replying to your emails.”
Clenching his teeth, William grabbed his friend’s arm, tears of frustration welling in his eyes. “Please, I’m begging you. Go to Fremoria. Find her. She listens to you
guys. I just want to see her again. I don’t believe she could be this cruel.”
The others hesitated. They were furious. But seeing him like that–wrecked and broken–softened their hearts.
One of them finally snapped. “Now you beg us? Where was this when we told you to stay away from Aria?”
William’s eyes reddened. “I know. I screwed up… I really know that now.”
Seeing him like that, they sighed and agreed to go.
As they walked out of the hospital room, William reached for his phone again and dialed the number he knew by heart. But he also knew the truth. No one on the other end would even answer.