From fury… to shock… to something far worse.
Pain.
Deep, piercing pain.
Because what was on the wall… wasn’t random scribbles.
It was a portrait.
A woman’s face—drawn with charcoal and faint chalk lines—so lifelike it felt like she might breathe. Every shadow, every detail had been placed with care. The eyes held emotion… warmth… exhaustion… love.
And just above her left eyebrow—
A small, delicate scar.
Adrian’s lips trembled.
“No… that’s not possible…” he whispered, his voice barely there.
It was Elena.
The only woman he had ever truly loved.
The one he had lost.
The one he had destroyed.
His knees gave out.
He collapsed onto the pavement in front of the wall, as if his entire world had just been ripped apart. Tears he hadn’t allowed himself to feel for over a decade finally broke free.
“Elena…” he whispered, his voice shattered.
The boy watched him silently, confused, still pressed against the wall.
The monster… was gone.
“H-how did you draw this?” Adrian asked, struggling to breathe.
The boy wiped his cheeks, leaving streaks of black.
“I… I saw her…” he whispered.
Adrian slowly turned, his heart pounding.
“You saw her? Where?”
“She used to come to me… when I slept near the old church,” the boy said softly. “She brought me bread sometimes… and covered me with her coat… she told me I had to stay strong…”
Adrian felt something break inside his chest.
Elena had died eleven years ago.
Or at least… that’s what he had believed.
“What’s your name?” Adrian asked quietly.
“Caleb.”
The world tilted.
Caleb.
That was the name Elena had chosen years ago… for the baby she had been carrying.
The baby Adrian had refused to accept.
Memories crashed into him.
Back then, he wasn’t powerful. Just ambitious. Desperate. When Elena told him she was pregnant, fear took over.
“I can’t do this! A child will ruin everything!” he had said.
She had cried.
He had left.
Months later, someone told him she had died during childbirth—and that the baby hadn’t survived.
He never questioned it.
It was easier that way.
But now—
The truth stood right in front of him.
“Caleb…” Adrian said, his voice shaking. “Do you know who your father is?”
The boy shook his head.
“No… my mom said he was an important man… but that I should never look for him… because he didn’t love us.”
Adrian covered his face, trembling.
“And… your mom… was her name Elena?”
Caleb’s eyes widened.
“Yes… you knew her?”
Silence filled the street.