When Charlie found Elara's body, young man cried like a child.
He kept mumbling, "Orion, I'm sorry."
"Really, I'm sorry, I didn't take good care of Elara…"
When he first joined the unit, it was Orion who took care of him and promoted him.
So he genuinely regarded Orion as his own brother.
Naturally, he also considered Elara his sister-in-law.
He always knew how well Orion and Elara got along.
Childhood sweethearts, and each other's first love.
Every time Elara visited the police station, Orion's eyes were glued to her, as if he couldn't get enough of looking at her.
His colleagues teased him, saying he was definitely doomed.
Orion smiled without confirming or denying it, raising his eyebrows proudly:
"That's my future wife, how can I not be resigned to it?"
During that arrest operation, Charlie didn't want to call Orion. He knew that Orion had taken a honeymoon leave and was traveling with Elara.
But the criminals were too cunning.
After nearly three months of surveillance, they had lost two undercover colleagues, and the plan was on the verge of failure. He really had no other option but to call Orion.
Seeing Orion rush back to the police station in a hurry, Charlie's eyes welled up:
"Bro, I'm just too useless."
"At this time, you should be with Elara…"
Orion patted his shoulder and said:
"Do you know the mission of the police force?"
"The mission always comes before life."
"As long as the country needs us, we can sacrifice everything."
As it turned out, his words proved prophetic.
During that raid, Orion was hit by two bullets and forced into the forest by the criminals.
He clutched his wounded abdomen, gasping in pain, his vision blurring.
He closed his eyes, took out his phone, and made the last call to Elara.
The fleeing criminals were probably closing in.
They fired their guns, screaming and cursing in a strange manner, provoking the police.
The call connected, and Elara's voice was almost breaking into tears.
But she was still trying to hold back.
Orion looked up, gazing at the fire exploding not far from the horizon, and asked her gently
Are this year's fireworks beautiful?
Elara said, they were beautiful, but not as much as the ones he had given her years ago.
Orion smiled silently.
He repeated to her, Merry Christmas.
The words unspoken were —
Elara, you must be happy.
In every year that I am not here.
Just before the criminals found him, he hung up the call neatly.
His Elara was timid.
The bloody scene that was about to unfold, he didn't want her to hear.
After several fierce fights, both sides were severely injured.
Those drug dealers were killed by Orion, but he was also shot in the chest.
When Charlie and his team found Orion, his blood had already pooled on the ground, almost staining the barren earth red.
Orion trembled as he reached into his pocket to pull out a ring, saying laboriously:
"I wanted to survive and marry her."
"But it seems that's not possible now."
"Throw the ring away, and never tell her about it."
"My little Elara, she still has to marry someone else in the future."
Charlie took the ring, his fingertips turning white from gripping it tightly.
He kept wiping away his tears.
Orion lay on the ground, looking at the shadow of the tree that seemed within reach, and slowly closed his eyes.
Blood flowed from his chest.
Like a fish drowning in the depths of the sea, suffocation engulfed his entire body.
In his last moments of consciousness.
He struggled to open his lips and said:
"Elara, I'm sorry."
"I still couldn't marry you."
"In our next life, we must be deeply in love, and I'll give you a wedding."
...
Orion died in mission at the age of twenty-six during the winter.
Elara died for love at the age of twenty-six during the Christmas.
