The hospital room was silent.

Only the sound of the heart monitor remained.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Adrian Lu stood outside the door for almost an hour.

He didn’t enter.

Not because he didn’t care.

But because, for the first time, he didn’t know how to face me.

For years, Adrian believed he understood me better than anyone.

He knew my fears.

My habits.

My weaknesses.

He knew that I hated heights.

He knew that when I was scared, I would pretend to be strong until I couldn’t hold on anymore.

And that was exactly why he thought he could use my fear to teach me a lesson.

But he never considered one thing.

A person can forgive many things.

But being hurt by the person who promised to protect you…

Is something different.

When I woke up the next morning, the first person I saw was not Adrian.

It was my lawyer.

She placed a folder on the table.

“Emma.”

Her voice was gentle.

“You asked me to prepare this before the accident.”

I looked at the documents.

Divorce agreement.

I had started preparing it weeks ago.

Not because of Serena.

Not because of one argument.

But because little by little, I had realized something.

Adrian didn’t stop loving me in one day.

He stopped choosing me countless times.

Every time he defended Serena before asking what happened.

Every time he believed someone else’s tears before my explanation.

Every time he expected me to apologize because I was always the one who loved him more.

The cable car was not the reason I left.

It was the moment I finally stopped lying to myself.

The door opened.

Adrian entered.

For a moment, he looked relieved when he saw me awake.

“Emma.”

I didn’t answer.

He walked closer.

“I know you’re angry.”

Still nothing.

“I shouldn’t have let the cable car stop that long.”

That sentence made me look at him.

Not because I forgave him.

Because I finally understood.

Even now…

He still didn’t say he was wrong.

He only regretted the result.

“You shouldn’t have stopped it at all.”

My voice was quiet.

Adrian froze.

“I was trying to make you understand.”

“No.”

I looked directly at him.

“You were trying to make me suffer.”

His face changed.

“That’s not true.”

“Then tell me something.”

“Did you think about what would happen if the system failed?”

Silence.

“Did you think about what would happen if the wind became stronger?”

Silence.

“Did you think about what would happen if I couldn’t open the emergency line?”

He lowered his eyes.

And that was the answer.

He had not thought about it.

Because he believed I would always be safe.

Because he believed he would always be forgiven.

“Adrian.”

I smiled faintly.

“The most painful thing isn’t that you scared me.”

“It’s that you knew exactly what scared me.”

“And you still chose it.”

Those words destroyed the last defense on his face.

He stepped closer.

“Emma, I was wrong.”

The apology finally came.

But it arrived after something inside me had already died.

“I know.”

He looked surprised.

“You know?”

I nodded.

“I know you regret it.”

“Then why…”

“Because regret doesn’t change what happened.”

The room became quiet.

Then Adrian said something that made my heart colder.

“What about Serena?”

I stared at him.

“What about her?”

“She didn’t mean to hurt you.”

I closed my eyes.

Even now.

Even after everything.

He was still protecting her.

I laughed softly.

A tired laugh.

“Do you know what I thought when I was trapped there?”

Adrian didn’t move.

“I didn’t think about Serena.”

“I didn’t think about the storm.”

“I didn’t even think about dying.”

I looked at him.

“I thought…”

“Why is the person who knows me best the one who decided my fear wasn’t important?”

Adrian’s eyes turned red.

But I no longer felt satisfaction.

Only exhaustion.

Two weeks later, the investigation results came out.

The cable car operator confirmed that the temporary stop was requested by Adrian.

The safety regulations were violated.

The training center suspended the staff involved.

Serena publicly apologized.

She claimed she only wanted to help Adrian teach me a lesson.

But the public no longer saw it as a joke.

Because everyone understood something.

A lesson should never require someone else’s safety.

Adrian’s reputation suffered.

But I didn’t care anymore.

For the first time in ten years, I wasn’t watching his reaction.

I wasn’t waiting for him to choose me.

I wasn’t hoping he would return to the boy who covered my eyes during my first cable car ride.

That boy existed.

I knew he did.

Because I loved him.

But people change.

And sometimes the person you miss…

Is someone who no longer exists.

Three months later, I signed the divorce papers.

Adrian came.

He held the pen for a long time.

“Is there really no chance?”

I looked at him.

There was a time when that question would have broken me.

Now it only made me sad.

“Adrian.”

“Do you remember what you said when we were twelve?”

He looked at me.

“You said that if I was afraid, you would stand beside me.”

His fingers tightened.

“But that day…”

“You were the reason I was afraid.”

He closed his eyes.

The tears finally fell.

“I love you.”

I believed him.

That was the hardest part.

I believed he loved me.

But love was not always enough.

Because love without safety.

Love without trust.

Love without respect.

Could still destroy someone.

I signed my name.

And walked away.

Years later, I returned to that mountain.

The cable car had been repaired.

People laughed inside.

Children looked through the glass excitedly.

I stood there quietly.

Not afraid anymore.

Because the fear I carried was never really the height.

It was the memory of the person who pushed me toward it.

I looked at the sky.

And for the first time, I felt nothing.

No anger.

No sadness.

Only peace.

Because the girl who once needed Adrian Lu to cover her eyes…

Had finally learned how to face the world on her own.