Chapter 3

The world shatters.

Elena and Adrian are yanked backward, tumbling through time itself. Fragments of memory swirl around them—glimpses of past lives, stolen kisses, last goodbyes.

And then—

Darkness.

A Forgotten Place

Elena wakes to the feeling of cold stone beneath her fingers. A damp, musty scent fills the air.

She blinks. She's lying on the floor of what looks like an abandoned corridor, flickering lanterns lining the walls. The laughter and music of The Grand Orion Hotel are gone.

Adrian groans beside her, pushing himself upright. "What the hell just happened?"

Elena's mind is racing. They were inside the ballroom, watching their past selves… and then something—someone—intervened.

A shadow. A presence.

"We weren't supposed to see that," she murmurs, remembering the eerie whisper before everything collapsed.

Adrian's jaw clenches. "Which means we were meant to forget."

The Hidden Room

They stand, brushing dust from their clothes, and take in their surroundings.

This isn't the hotel anymore. At least, not the part guests were meant to see.

The walls are lined with forgotten portraits, their faces blurred, as if time itself is erasing them. Old documents and ledgers are stacked haphazardly on a wooden desk.

And at the center of the room—

An ornate mirror, its glass rippling like the surface of disturbed water.

Adrian steps toward it, hesitating. "It feels… wrong."

Elena nods. "Like it's watching us."

The Name That Shouldn't Exist

She turns to the desk, scanning the documents. Some are hotel records, others are personal letters—aged, yellowed, some half-burned.

Then she sees it.

A page torn from an old guest ledger. The ink has faded, but the name is still clear:

"Evelyn Carter – Checked in, 1893."

Elena swallows. This was her past self's signature. Proof that she had been here.

But beneath her name, in a different handwriting, a second name is scrawled—one that makes her blood run cold.

"The Watcher."

Adrian reads over her shoulder. "Who the hell is 'The Watcher'?"

Elena shakes her head. "I don't know. But I think—"

A soft whisper fills the air.

"You were never supposed to come back."

The mirror ripples violently. And then—

A hand reaches out.

The Truth That Was Erased

Elena and Adrian stumble back as the figure emerges from the mirror.

It's not a ghost. Not exactly. It's a man—dressed in 19th-century attire, his features sharp but wrong, as if constantly shifting.

But his eyes—his empty, endless eyes—lock onto them.

"You defied the cycle," the man says, his voice layered with something ancient. "And now, you seek answers that should remain buried."

Elena's heart pounds. "Who are you?"

The figure tilts his head. "I am the one who ensures the echoes remain echoes."

The Watcher.

Adrian steps in front of Elena. "Why did you erase us? Why did you trap us in this cycle?"

The Watcher regards them like a teacher studying disobedient students. "Because some loves are not meant to last."

Elena clenches her fists. "We don't accept that."

The Watcher's eyes darken. "Then you leave me no choice."

The air shifts. The room distorts.

Elena and Adrian barely have time to react before everything turns to shadow.

And this time—

It might not let them go

Darkness swallows them whole.

Elena feels herself falling—not through space, but through time itself. Whispers coil around her, voices from the past, from the future, from lives she has lived and lost.

Somewhere beside her, Adrian shouts her name. She reaches for him, but something pulls them apart.

And then—

Silence.

A Life That Never Was

Elena wakes to the smell of roses and candle wax.

She is no longer in the hidden room, no longer in the abandoned corridors of the Grand Orion Hotel.

She is in a parlor, sunlight streaming through lace curtains. The room is warm, filled with the gentle murmur of a ticking clock and the distant hum of a gramophone playing a waltz.

Elena sits upright. She is wearing an emerald-green dress—the same one she saw on her past self in the ballroom.

A memory—no, a false memory—tries to force its way into her mind. A life she hasn't lived but somehow remembers:

She is Evelyn Carter, a woman of wealth and reputation. She has never heard of Adrian. Never met him. Never fallen in love.

But she knows that isn't true.

Elena grips the arms of her chair, heart pounding. This isn't real.

The Watcher has rewritten her past.

The Man Who Shouldn't Exist

A voice interrupts her thoughts.

"Darling, you're awake."

Elena turns.

A man stands in the doorway—a stranger, tall and handsome, dressed in fine 19th-century attire. But his eyes are empty, filled with shifting darkness.

The Watcher.

But here, in this false life, he is someone else entirely.

He steps forward, smiling. "You've been feeling unwell. The doctor said you need rest."

Elena stiffens. "I know who you are."

The Watcher's smile never falters. "Do you?"

She grips the fabric of her dress. "Where is Adrian?"

A shadow flickers behind his eyes. "There is no Adrian."

The words make her stomach drop.

This is his punishment. This is how The Watcher ensures they never defy fate again.

He hasn't just separated them.

He has erased Adrian entirely.

The Fight for Memory

Elena forces herself to breathe. Think.

The Watcher may control this reality, but he made a mistake.

He left her memories intact.

And if she remembers Adrian, if she still loves him—

Then he must still exist somewhere.

She looks The Watcher in the eye. "You can't make me forget him."

His expression darkens. "You cannot fight what has already been rewritten."

Elena's fingers tighten into fists. "Watch me."

And then—

A crash.

The windows burst inward as a gust of wind tears through the room.

And from the swirling chaos—

A voice calls out.

"Elena!"

Adrian.

He remembers. He fought his way back.

The Watcher whirls toward the sound, his form flickering. "Impossible—"

Elena doesn't wait. She runs.

Through the shattered windows, through the storm of broken time—toward Adrian.

One Last Chance

Adrian reaches for her, his eyes filled with recognition, with love.

Their hands almost meet—

But The Watcher snarls, darkness surging around him. "You cannot escape me."

The world twists. The false reality crumbles.

Elena screams Adrian's name—

And everything goes white.