Fire in The Veins

What Remains Of The Soul


A couple of days later, Elena was sitting in the main living room of the Rhodes mansion, with the afternoon sun barely filtering through the windows, yet failing to breathe any life into her figure. It was astonishing how, in just forty-eight hours, the illness seemed to have stolen another piece of her strength. Ethan felt his chest tighten: his mother was thinner, paler, and now connected to an oxygen tank that rested on a small cart beside her. Each breath seemed like a measured effort, a loan the body urgently begged for.

When he saw her, he stopped halfway. The impact was brutal.

“Mom…” he murmured, his voice catching. “I don’t understand why you refuse to undergo inpatient treatment. Are you really still staying in the cabin with Ainara?”

Elena looked at him with a tenderness that, far from calming him, opened a deeper crack in his heart.

“Yes, my love. And I’ve decided that I’ll spend my last days with my daughter. I hope you’ll respect my decision.”

Ethan clenched his jaw. He wanted to answer immediately, to shout no—that she couldn’t stay there, that Ainara was the worst thing she could have nearby—but the trembling of Elena’s hands, her labored breathing, drained him of strength.

“I don’t want you to stay with her, Mom. You need to come home… with me.” His voice broke, and that break sounded almost like a desperate plea.

Elena sighed, stroking his cheek with her cold fingers.

“Son, what I just said. I’ve already made a decision.”

She tried to keep her composure, but Ethan felt frustration rising in his throat. And just as he was about to reply, Elena looked away.

“By the way, where is Amber?”

“She should be walking through the door any moment. She was at her little siblings’ place,” he answered, trying to regain his calm.

“Those children…” Elena said with a faint smile. “They stole my heart. Before she arrives, I want to tell you something. In my will, I left them a house. The one in the suburbs. I had it renovated. It has two floors, and it’s perfect so that when they grow up, each of them will have their own space.”

Ethan swallowed hard, trying to hold on to the smile that formed on his lips. He leaned in and caressed her face.

“You’re inheriting things far too soon. You’re not going to die, Mommy.”

She only looked at him, with a resignation he refused to interpret.

Ethan was on the verge of breaking when the mansion door opened.

“Elena!” Amber’s excited voice filled the room, and the young woman went to her without a second thought.

Elena opened her arms with a joy that contrasted sharply with her fragility.

“Dear… my daughter. How are you? It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.”

“I’m fine… and you?” Amber asked, even though the answer was written in the woman’s pain.

Elena simply smiled with empathy, like someone who does not wish to burden others with her suffering.

“Very well, my love. I was waiting for you so we could talk. I don’t have much time available; I must return home with Ainara.”

“Mother! You don’t have to go with her,” Ethan blurted from behind, unable to contain himself any longer.

Elena turned with a cutting look.

“Son, be quiet and leave. I want to speak alone with your wife.”

Ethan opened his mouth to protest, but Amber looked at him. And that look alone was enough for him to understand that he needed to give her that space. He exhaled deeply, nodded, and went upstairs.

“When you leave, I want to talk to you, Elena,” he warned before disappearing down the hallway.

“Okay! Okay!” she replied, brushing off his words.

Amber waited until Ethan vanished among the steps before sitting beside Elena. She took her hand delicately, almost afraid of hurting her.

“Elena… don’t strain yourself to talk. I just wanted to tell you that… I’m going to give you back the contract money. I don’t need it anymore. I’ll find a job, I’ll look for another way to support my siblings. I’m with Ethan for love, not for money.”

Elena watched her with a light in her eyes that blended pride, sadness, and admiration.

“Be quiet and listen to me,” she asked, bringing a hand to her chest as if she needed to steady herself to keep from breaking. “I wanted to thank you for what you did for my son. Amber… in his thirty years, I’ve never seen him smile the way he does with you. That frown that was always etched on his forehead… it disappeared the moment you came into his life.”

Amber lowered her gaze, moved.

“I didn’t do anything special. He… he saved me, Elena.”

The woman slowly shook her head and squeezed her hand tighter.

“You did more than you ever imagined. You did more than anyone could have imagined with Ethan.”

Amber pulled out her phone, scrolling through her messages.

“I’ve spent some of the money, but I’ll return it. All of it. I still have almost the entire remainder of the contract.”

Elena pressed her lips together, shaking her head firmly.

“That money is yours, Amber. It’s your payment. You fulfilled the contract perfectly. I won’t accept it back.” Her voice trembled slightly. “Besides… I left an inheritance for you. Small, but enough for you to start your business, or to pay for your entire education. Whatever you want.”

Amber opened her mouth in surprise, but Elena raised a hand.

“Don’t speak yet. I want you to answer something, and I want you to be honest. Do you want to have a child… someday?”

The question struck her like a blow to the chest. Amber felt the air escape her lungs. The memory of her baby—the one who would never come—pierced her mercilessly. A tear rolled down her cheek.

Elena grew alarmed.

“What’s wrong, my girl? Are you in pain?”

Amber shook her head, but her voice came out broken.

“It’s just that… talking about children makes me feel nostalgic. And afraid. But it’s nothing important, dear Elena.”

Elena closed her eyes in pain, enclosing Amber’s hand with both of hers.

“Amber… I’m going to die. I don’t have much time left. And I want to ask you something—not as a mother-in-law, but as someone who loves her son more than life has ever allowed her to express. You’re the only family he has left. I want you to swear to me… that you will never leave him. That you’ll be by his side under any circumstance.”

Amber’s tears began to fall uncontrollably. She leaned toward Elena, hugging her carefully, as if she were made of glass.

“You don’t have to ask me that,” she whispered against her shoulder. “I already swore it at the altar. I will never leave Ethan. But please… don’t die. Not yet. Don’t leave us.”

Elena trembled. She felt a knot form in her throat. She returned the embrace, holding on with all the strength she had left.

“I wish I could stay, my love. I truly wish I could…”

Their sobbing filled the room. It was a sound so deep it had shape, weight, memory. And though neither of them said anything more, what was breaking in their arms was something greater than themselves.

On the second floor, Ethan was standing on the balcony. He was not supposed to hear. It was meant to be a private conversation between his mother and his wife—but there he was, listening to every word that stabbed him like a knife. And though he had always refused to be expressive, falling apart was not an option; it was inevitable.

He covered his mouth with one hand, as if that could contain the pain rising from his stomach to his throat. The image of the two women he loved most… crying for him, for what was coming, for everything he was losing… shattered him.

Ethan Rhodes cried. And with every tear that fell, it was as if a piece of his armor cracked, exposing the man who had been hidden beneath so much pride, so much hardness, and so much responsibility.

He didn’t even know if he was ready to face the loss of his mother.