Lina's body hit the cold marble floor just outside the hall.
The sound of laughter and celebration still echoed faintly behind the closed doors, as if nothing had happened. As if her entire world had not just collapsed inside that room.
Her vision was blurry.
Her breathing was shallow.
But she could feel it—someone standing near her.
A shadow.
A presence.
"Call an ambulance!" someone shouted in the distance, but the voice felt far away, like it belonged in another world.
Lina's fingers trembled against the ground as she tried to move. Her heart was pounding weakly, broken by betrayal and exhaustion.
Then she saw him.
A tall man stepped out of the crowd slowly.
He didn't rush like the others. He didn't panic.
He simply walked toward her like he already knew this moment would happen.
Dark suit. Cold expression. Sharp eyes.
He crouched beside her.
For a moment, Lina thought he was just another guest.
But then she saw his gaze.
It wasn't pity.
It wasn't concern.
It was recognition.
Like he had been waiting for her.
"Lina…" he said quietly.
Hearing her name from his lips made her freeze.
How did he know her?
Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
The man gently removed his jacket and placed it over her trembling body.
"Don't move," he said calmly. "You're safe now."
Safe?
The word felt strange.
Nothing had felt safe for a long time.
Inside the hall, Daniel was still laughing with Vanessa, unaware—or uncaring—that Lina had collapsed outside like she meant nothing.
Tears slid down Lina's face.
Not from pain.
But from realization.
She really had been replaced… so easily.
The stranger leaned closer, his voice lower now.
"You shouldn't have stayed for him this long," he said.
Lina's eyes widened slightly.
"What… do you know about me?" she whispered weakly.
A faint, unreadable smile appeared on his lips.
"More than you think," he replied.
A siren sounded in the distance.
But Lina's attention never left him.
Because deep inside, she could feel it.
This man was not just a stranger.
He was the beginning of something she could not yet understand.
And maybe… the end of who she used to be.