Chapter 14 — A Memory in the Rain
Years later, Mara would sometimes walk alone through quiet streets after a rainfall, the city glistening like it had been washed anew. She would pause at the corner where she and Eli had first met, remembering the way the storm had seemed endless and terrifying, yet had brought something unexpected: love, patient and true.
She smiled at the memory of Eli's hand in hers, the laughter they had shared, the quiet promises whispered in the rain. Even now, those moments felt alive—more vivid than the passing of years.
Life continued to move, bringing its own storms, its own sunshine. But Mara knew this: love, the kind that survives distance, fear, and time, leaves a mark that nothing can erase.
And sometimes, when the rain fell softly, she could feel it all again—Eli's steady presence, the warmth of his hand, the certainty that they had chosen each other, and would continue to, forever.
In the drizzle and quiet of the city, Mara understood the simplest truth: the rain falls, the world changes, and yet, love endures. Always.