Chapter 2: A Complete Stranger

Emma wasn't sure how long she cried.

A few minutes.

An hour.

Maybe somewhere in between.

All she knew was that when the tears finally stopped, her head hurt and her eyes felt swollen.

How embarrassing.

She had completely broken down in front of a man whose name she didn't even know.

Slowly, Emma stepped away and wiped her face.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

The stranger looked at her.

"For what?"

She let out a weak laugh.

"For... this."

She gestured toward herself.

The tears.

The mess.

The complete disaster she had become.

His gaze remained calm.

"You don't need to apologize."

The simple response caught her off guard.

Most people would have been uncomfortable by now.

Most people would have left.

But he was still standing there.

The cold wind blew between them.

Emma wrapped her arms around herself.

Only then did she realize how cold she was.

The stranger immediately noticed.

Without saying a word, he removed his suit jacket and held it out to her.

Emma blinked.

"No, it's okay."

"Take it."

His tone left no room for argument.

Reluctantly, she accepted it.

The jacket was warm.

It smelled faintly of cedarwood and something expensive she couldn't identify.

Oddly enough, it made her feel a little safer.

A silence settled between them.

Normally, silence made Emma uncomfortable.

Tonight, it didn't.

Maybe because she was too exhausted to care.

Or maybe because he wasn't expecting anything from her.

After a while, the stranger glanced toward the cliff.

"Bad place for thinking."

Emma followed his gaze.

A bitter smile appeared on her lips.

"You figured out why I came here."

"It wasn't exactly difficult."

Fair enough.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then he sighed.

"Do you have somewhere to go?"

The question made Emma freeze.

Home?

The apartment wasn't home anymore.

Not after what she had seen.

Not after hearing her sister laugh while her fiancé stood there making excuses.

Just remembering it made her stomach twist.

"No," she admitted quietly.

Something flickered across the stranger's face.

Concern, maybe.

Though he quickly hid it.

"You shouldn't be alone tonight."

Emma almost laughed.

An hour ago, she would have agreed.

Now she wasn't sure.

"I'll figure something out."

"You nearly jumped off a cliff."

She looked away.

He wasn't wrong.

Still, trusting a stranger felt reckless.

The man studied her for a moment before speaking again.

"My name is Ethan."

Emma looked back at him.

"Ethan?"

He nodded.

"Ethan Black."

The name sounded familiar.

Like something she had heard before.

But her exhausted mind couldn't place it.

"I'm Emma."

A small smile touched his lips.

"Nice to meet you, Emma."

Under different circumstances, that sentence would have sounded ridiculous.

Meeting someone at the edge of a cliff wasn't exactly normal.

Yet somehow, she found herself smiling.

Just a little.

Ethan glanced at his watch.

"It's late."

Emma followed his gaze.

He was right.

The city lights sparkled in the distance below.

Most people were probably at home right now.

With family.

With people who cared about them.

The thought hurt more than she expected.

Ethan seemed to notice the sadness in her eyes.

Without asking questions, he simply pointed toward a black car parked nearby.

"Come on."

Emma frowned.

"Come on where?"

"I know a place where you can stay tonight."

Every warning she'd ever heard about strangers immediately flashed through her mind.

Ethan must have seen her hesitation because he folded his arms.

"You can say no."

Emma stared at him.

For someone offering help, he looked surprisingly unconcerned whether she accepted it or not.

And strangely, that made her trust him a little more.

Taking a deep breath, she glanced one last time at the cliff behind her.

Then she turned away.

Maybe tomorrow would still hurt.

Maybe everything would still be broken.

But for tonight...

She wasn't ready to give up.

"Okay," she said softly.

For the first time that evening, Ethan smiled.

And together, they walked toward the car.

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