Without a second thought, Kael rose from his seat and moved to embrace Elara, whose body was shaking with sobs. He pulled her into his arms, tightly, as if to shield her from the whole world and from the storm within her own heart. Elara didn't resist. She surrendered, her face buried in Kael's strong shoulder, her hands clutching his jacket.
"Elara," Kael whispered into her hair, his voice strained. "Say it. Say everything you want to say. Unburden your heart. Don't keep it all locked inside." He took a deep breath. "I... I don't expect you to feel the same way. I just can't stand seeing you bear this burden alone."
He stroked her hair gently, a movement filled with tenderness and nostalgia. In his arms, Elara looked like a frightened child, being sought and comforted.
"I'm confused too," Kael continued, his voice trembling. "Why does the universe keep bringing us together? Is it a punishment? Or... an impossible second chance?"
Slowly, they released the embrace. Their eyes were equally wet, their faces streaked with tears and painful honesty. Elara took a shaky breath, trying to gather her courage.
She finally opened her mouth, her voice hoarse and fragile.
"Forgive me, Kael," she said, her eyes full of deep regret. "Forgive me for everything. For the way I left you, for my immaturity and my fear." She bit her lip. "And it turns out... I couldn't forget our feelings all this time. These feelings... have been torturing me, Kael. Every day."
She looked down at her trembling hands on the table.
"But... we have lives we are responsible for now. I have David and Alisha. You have Clara and Bimo." She tried to smile, but it only made her look more sorrowful. "I... I'm glad you finally found the right person after I left. I'm glad you found happiness."
But Kael shook his head, his face contorted with profound pain.
"No, Elara. Don't say that. It's not true."
He looked at her, his eyes dark with the shadows of the past.
"I was desperate after you left," Kael confessed, his voice breaking. "I was like a walking corpse. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. I couldn't believe you would leave me just like that, without a clear explanation. Without a fight."
Then, he began his story. A story he had never shared with anyone.
"Then, Clara came along. I met her when half my soul was already gone with you. She was the daughter of my mother's friend. My mother... was so worried about my miserable, desperate state. It was as if the world was offering me a solution."
He let out a bitter laugh.
"But I didn't heal, Elara. I only pretended to be okay. So my parents would stop worrying about me. So the world could keep turning. I wore a mask every day."
Then, the heaviest blow came.
"Until one day, I heard about your marriage to David." Tears finally streamed down Kael's cheeks, but he didn't care. "I was shattered. All over again. It felt like you were stabbing me a second time, when the first wound hadn't even healed."
He looked at Elara, his eyes radiating a despair that made her breath catch.
"Then, I thought... I could 'get back at you' too. By making a commitment. A commitment I made not out of feeling, but out of desperation and pain. Clara and I got married. But my heart... remained empty. I no longer knew how to make my heart whole again."
The confession poured out like poison finally draining from an old wound.
"I feel guilty towards Clara," he whispered, full of anguish. "Because all this time, I've only been pretending with her. And... and I've always, always seen Clara as a shadow of you, Elara. Every time I looked at her, I was searching for you. Every time she smiled, I wished it was your smile."
He lowered his head, his shoulders shaking.
"All this time, I've survived only by clinging to your shadow. Only by the memories of us. Without it, I would have shattered into pieces long ago."
He lifted his face, tears flowing freely.
"And now, meeting you again, I realize how broken I am, Elara. How fake the life I've lived for these past ten years has been."
Elara sat in silence, stunned by every word Kael spoke. Her guilt was now multiplied. It wasn't just that she still loved him, but that her actions in the past had shattered this man and poisoned his own marriage. She hadn't only betrayed David; she had, unknowingly, betrayed Clara and the family Kael had built.
They were no longer just facing a forbidden love. They were now facing the ruins they had left behind and created.