|| Not Edited ||

Warning: Blood and death.

10 years ago

Adeline stood numbly beside her mother as she heard the police officer recite the news of her father's accident. It was a case of hit and run. The officer suspected it was murder, but right now they had no evidence to back that theory.

Adeline knew her father was a good man he was so good it was a threat to the evils lurking around in the country.

Her father, Ronan Gracia, wasn't an important man, in general. He didn't work for the government, or some police force. He was a blog writer, who loved to write about crime organizations, crime lords, how their minds worked, analysis of their moves, etc. His last project was a man named Alexander Flores. Adelina knew how her father got to know about that man, and while she wished it was not true, she had a deep feeling in her gut, that this man was the reason behind her father's death.

Since her father had released the first article about Alexander Flores, he had been receiving death threats constantly. Both Adelina and her mother had constantly begged Ronan to delete that article, to let it go. But he never listened. And now, he paid the price.

Adeline didn't listen to the rest of the conversation between the officer and her mother.

There really wasn't anything more that could soothe the ache in her heart. Her father was gone, and the dead remained dead.

Nothing could revert that.

____

8 years ago

Adeline had become a shell of a person since her father's death until she met Daniel Miller in her freshmen year of college.

Daniel was in Sophomore year then, a year older than her. Daniel had light brown eyes which were always calm and focused, dragging her into a bottomless pit of serenity. His tan skin glowed under the sun, reminding Adeline of the purest yellow sapphire. His smile would always melt Adeline's heart, and it did not take long for them to be together.

Adeline had so many walls around her, but Daniel took them down one by one until her heart was left open for him to love and cherish.

He made her realise that death is a part of life, and accepting it gives more peace than running from it.

And for the first time, she felt herself accept that whatever happened, had happened. It was time to move on.

____

5 years ago

"Adeline, I remember seeing you for the first time walking inside the class. You looked so small, sad and incredibly precious. All I wanted was to give you a hug and tell you it'll be alright. And you gave me that chance, Li. You let me in. You let me in your heart. You let me hold you. But today, would you do the honours of letting myself call your husband?"

Adeline's eyes had shined with unshed tears as she went down on her knees to be at eye-level with Daniel and repeated the word 'yes' over and over again.

They got married soon after, and it was pure heaven.

____

1 year ago

Two lines appeared on the pregnancy stick.

Happiness bloomed inside Adelina's heart as she understood what this meant.

She was going to be a mother.

A mother.

And that news healed all the broken remnants of her heart.

____

Present

Blood splattered all across the marbled floor, it had been pristine white, but now it was bathed in red. Daniel sat in the middle of the room, clutching the tiny figure of his child, sobbing uncontrollably.

His child.

His daughter.

Dead before she could speak her first words. Dead before she could exclaim the words 'papa' or 'dada'. Dead before she could walk. Dead before she could live.

His shoulders shook as he held his daughter's unmoving body tightly against his chest, wishing in some miraculous way, that his daughter would let out her high-pitched cry and move her arms and small legs the way she always did. It was the most adorable thing Daniel had ever witnessed, but now it would become a haunting memory.

Because his child did not move. He rubbed his palms against her back, desperately trying to feel the movement of her active breathing, but all he felt was the gaping hole of the bullet wound which had taken her life.

The only sounds which resonated throughout the room were gut-wrenching sobs and mumbled words, "Please get up, baby."

"Don't leave papa."

"I love you so much."

The last words were spoken in a broken whisper, and he imagined his child's giddy laughter floating around the room, her eyes sparkling with joy as she took in his father. He imagined it all, but the reality remained unchanged.

His daughter was dead.

And his wife was nowhere to be seen.

Except for a letter with the words, "I am sorry", and a gun laid on top of it.

____

Adeline stood hidden watching her husband crying over the headstone of their child, a lone tear ran down her cheek, dropping to the ground.

A small breath left her lips as she rubbed the centre of her chest, trying to lessen the pain that had been blooming inside her heart.

But no matter what she did, the pain did not lessen, on the contrary, it grew more, until she was forced to grip the tree she was hiding behind.

More tears clouded her vision as she saw her husband stagger and fall into the dirt, crying in a maddening haze.

But Adeline could not move.

She could not comfort her love.

She could not do anything.

How could she?

When she was the one who killed her own daughter.