Trouble in Paradise (Arianna and Nicholas)

I always thought that life could be full of coincidences. If I hadn't needed to reach out to Beth, or if she hadn't asked me to find Nicholas, I would never have witnessed such a scene.

Beth said she couldn't get into Coral Villa, and no one answered when she knocked. She mentioned that the villa still had my fingerprints saved, so she asked if I could try opening the door. I figured Nicholas had either left or passed out drunk. Beth, with her disability, had trouble moving around. I drove to the pharmacy to buy both hangover medicine and burn ointment, heading straight to Coral Villa. Meanwhile, she would collect the documents I needed.

My plan was simple. I would unlock the door, get what I came for, and leave. But when I opened the door to Coral Villa and let the gentle moonlight spill inside, Nicholas's heartfelt confession to another woman was the greeting I received. The wooden rocking chair by the floor-to-ceiling window creaked under the weight of two people.

The fragmented moonlight sprinkled in through the glass and fell on the woman's pitifully frail back. It was the kind of scene where anyone watching would feel that tearing them apart would be wrong.

This was the first time I had seen Claudia since I returned. She was straddling Nicholas with her arms wrapped around his neck. She was wearing the very same white satin dress with gold trim I had knocked to the ground earlier today. Nicholas's shirt was half unbuttoned, and he was still in the same outfit I had seen him wearing during the day. It turned out that Claudia's dress and his shirt were a matching set.

He never needed to imagine how I would look in the dress because it had always been meant for someone else.

I had overthought everything. Those clothes weren't for me at all. How could I have forgotten? Claudia was also 26 now, a grown woman.

I knew I shouldn't watch the explicit scene any longer, but my limbs felt glued in place. My brain, like a broken clock, wouldn't turn.

Listening to Nicholas's voice brought a strange sense of calm as if I were sinking into an icy river. My limbs grew weak, and my mind turned foggy.

"Don't go. Please don't leave me again."

Nicholas's voice was slurred with drunkenness, yet he managed to express himself clearly. "Just the thought of you leaving again terrifies me. It's like a single thought could drag me back into the abyss

BA-QUMS

His voice buzzed with grievance. "It was so dark. Really, so dark. I was scared of living without hope, afraid I'd never see you again..." "Don't be scared. I'm here, I'm here. I'll stay with you..."

I never knew Nicholas had such a tender, passionate side. Perhaps this drunken version was his truest self.

For someone as proud as him, maybe only when he was drunk could he drop all his defenses and pour his heart out to the woman he loves.

So, that was why Claudia moved out. Had they fought? No wonder something seemed off about him today after he mentioned she had moved out.

I couldn't help but smirk. It turned out that his actions that kept me distracted were just because I was taken as his punching bag, a substitute.

I was glad I came. Otherwise, how would I have had the chance to hear Nicholas's true feelings?

"Coral Villa feels so lonely without

you. How could you be so cruel? Leaving me here alone, struggling with memories of our past. Stay with me treat you well for the rest of my life, okay? Please?"

In the stillness of the night, Nicholas repeatedly sought confirmation from Claudia. She was the torchlight in his dark world. Without her he truly couldn't survive.