[Volume 1] Chapter 4- I am tired...

"Hahaha," Kiera's laughter filled the room, but it was laced with bitterness, carrying the weight of pain and resentment. Her gaze pierced Rihana with accusation and disbelief.

"Do you see, sister? You claim he loves me, yet here he stands," Kiera taunted, her voice slicing through the tense silence.

"He risked his life for you, forgetting about me entirely in that moment, didn't he? He didn't even stop to think about what I might do."

Edward, still shielding Rihana, glanced back at Kiera with a pained expression, silently pleading for her to see reason and end the turmoil.

Rihana, her eyes wide with shock and guilt, absorbed Kiera's words with a heavy heart. She understood the gravity of the situation and the depth of Kiera's pain, the anguish that drove her to this desperate act.

As Kiera spoke, her grip on the gun relaxed slightly, desperation seeping into her voice.

"You've taken everything from me, Rihana. My child, my love, my trust. And now, even his protection," she whispered, a mix of sorrow and anger in her words.

Kiera lowered the gun slowly, her hand trembling with a mix of pain and weariness. Her eyes, once ablaze with anger, now reflected a weary resignation.

"No, actually, his protection was never truly for me," she admitted, her voice carrying a hint of sadness.

"I know you two aren't exhausted, but I am..." With a heavy sigh, Kiera took a few steps back, her shoulders slumping as if a heavy burden had been lifted from them.

The tension in the room eased slightly, yet the emotional turmoil lingered, thick in the air.

Edward's expression mirrored the turmoil of the moment as Kiera lowered the gun and expressed her exhaustion. His eyes filled with a desperate longing for resolution, yearning to bridge the gap that had widened between them, but he felt powerless in the face of her pain.

When Kiera confessed that his protection was never truly for her, Edward's heart sank, realizing the depth of Malia's despair and the extent of the damage caused by their tangled emotions and misunderstandings.

As Kiera took a few steps back, Edward's hands clenched into fists at his sides, a mixture of frustration and helplessness washing over him. He wanted to stop her, to reassure her that things could be different, but he knew that words alone wouldn't suffice.

Kiera's heart clenched as she watched Edward standing there, his expression a mix of shock and confusion.

A pang of regret and longing swept over her, wishing things could be different between them.

"Why, Edward... could you not even reach out this last time..." she whispered to herself, barely audible over the hall's silence.

"Fine," Kiera's voice cut through the tension, resonating in the hall. Edward looked up, his shock evident as he scanned the room, only to land on a girl in a red dress standing next to the balcony, her black hair fluttering in the breeze. A sense of unease washed over him, as if he had missed something important or made a grave mistake.

Instinctively, Edward reached out his hand, a reflex born out of a desperate need to make amends. But before he could utter a word, Kiera's next declaration left him dumbfounded.

"Edward, meeting you is the worst thing of my life. If there is a next life, I wish we should never meet," she declared, her voice carrying finality and a hint of sorrow.

Edward's hand hovered in the air for a moment, his mind swirling with thoughts and emotions he couldn't fully grasp.

He felt like the ground had shifted beneath him, a heavy sense of loss and regret settling in his chest.

Searching Kiera's eyes for understanding or forgiveness, he found only resolve and distance in her gaze.

Kiera stretched her arms open and closed her eyes, an air of resignation surrounding her. Leaning towards the balcony, her black hair danced in the air as if caught in a gentle breeze.

With a final deep breath, she let herself fall backward, disappearing from view as she descended.

Gasps of shock filled the room as onlookers witnessed Kiera seemingly vanish into thin air.

Edward's eyes widened in disbelief, his heart racing with fear and disbelief.

"Kiera!" he shouted, desperation lacing his voice as he rushed towards the balcony, scanning the empty space where she had stood moments ago.

To his astonishment, he saw Kiera suspended in the air, her body frozen as if time had slowed down—an illusion caused due to her steadily falling body.

Her hair cascaded around her like a dark halo, her eyes closed as if she had embraced her fate.

Instinctively, Edward reached out, his hand grasping at the air, but it was futile.

Kiera continued to fall, the distance between her and the ground growing with each passing second.

Below, Edward could see the daunting landscape of the hill covered with trees, awaiting Kiera's descent.

GASP

A collective gasp went through the onlookers as they realized what was happening.

Whispers of shock and concern filled the air, but no one moved, paralyzed by the sudden turn of events.

Edward's heart raced with fear and regret. "KIERA, no!" he cried out again, his voice tinged with desperation.

But it was too late.

Kiera's figure disappeared from view as she plunged towards the earth below, leaving Edward and the others in stunned silence, the echoes of her name lingering in the air like a haunting refrain.

.....

As Kiera plummeted through the air, the world around her seemed to blur into a chaotic whirlwind of emotions and memories.

She opened her eyes just enough to catch a glimpse of Edward's shocked expression, a fleeting moment of connection amidst the freefall.

SWISH

"Ah, so you could still make this expression," Kiera whispered to herself, her voice barely audible over the rushing wind that whipped past her ears.

Her hair streamed behind her like a dark banner, and her body arched slightly as she descended, caught between the pull of gravity and the weight of her regrets.

In that suspended moment, Kiera's mind raced back to the past, to the incident six years ago that had changed everything.

She saw flashes of memories, fragments of conversations and scenes that played out like a haunting montage.

She thought of her mother, frail and bedridden, her eyes clouded with pain and longing for a daughter who had been too afraid to face her own fears.

Kiera's heart clenched with the regret of not being there, of not mustering the courage to be by her mother's side in her final moments.

Her thoughts then turned to her uncle, a kind and caring man who had raised her with love and devotion.

But fate had dealt him a cruel hand, and he had ended up in prison, his warmth and guidance replaced by cold bars and loneliness.

Kiera's eyes stung with unshed tears as she thought of the missed opportunities to save him from that fate.