The sun in Santorini was blindingly brilliant.

I lay on a lounge chair, letting the light soak into my skin. It was the first time in ten years I had basked in the sun without a care in the world.

"Another mojito," Chloe told the waiter before turning to me. "You've got your color back. You don't look like a ghost anymore."

"That's what happens when you're not a walking blood bag," I said with a small smile.

My blood had a natural, potent allure for vampires, which was likely the real reason Damon kept me around for a decade. He fed from me weekly, and after ten years of it, my health had suffered.

"Look at this," Chloe said, handing me her phone.

It was an entertainment alert: [Royal Night in Paris! Damon & Serena on the Seine, Proposal Rumored!]

The photo showed them on a river cruise, looking very close.

I glanced at it and felt that familiar ache in my chest, but the good news was, it was duller than before. I handed the phone back. "You don't have to show me this stuff anymore."

"You're really over him?" Chloe asked, skeptical.

"Yeah," I said, sitting up. "You know, for the last two months, I've felt the obsession just… fading. Like a tide going out, washing it all away."

Maybe it was the distance. Maybe it was a side effect of having the bond mark removed.

Whatever it was, I felt free.

I took a picture of the Santorini sea and posted it with a simple caption: New beginnings.

Then I closed the app.

Ten minutes later, my phone rang. Another unknown number.

I answered, and Damon's deep voice came through. "When are you coming back?"

I wasn't surprised he'd found a way to call. "I haven't decided."

"School starts in a month," he said, his voice tight with frustration. "I got you a welcome gift. Come home and get it."

"Don't worry about it. I can handle my own registration."

"Elena," Damon’s voice hardened. "Stop being childish."

"I'm not being childish," I said, looking out at the turquoise water. "I'm just living the life I want."

"The life you want?" he sneered. "Running off to a beach to get a tan?"

"Yes. This life," I said peacefully. "A life with sunlight and freedom, where I don't have to worry about who I might be upsetting."

There was a long silence.

"How long are you going to keep this up?" Damon's tone became threatening. "Keep this up, and I'll take the offer of the Embrace off the table."

I laughed. "Good."

"What?"

"I said, good," I repeated, each word precise. "I don't want your Embrace, Damon. I don't want to be a vampire."

Click.

He hung up.

Chloe looked at me. "He's pissed?"

"Yep." I leaned back in my chair. "But I don't care anymore."

I was actually already planning my trip back, but I had no intention of telling him.

That evening, my parents called.

"Elena, we just got a tuition bill from Oxford," my mother said, confused. "Aren't you going to New Orleans?"

I gripped the phone. "Mom, I changed my mind. I want to go to England, to follow my own dream."

"But Damon…"

"Please don't tell him," I interrupted. "I'm begging you."

There was a long pause on the other end before my father sighed. "Alright, honey. We promise."

"I don't want to see him before I leave," I added softly.

After hanging up, I walked out onto the balcony. The sea breeze was salty and cool. In the distance, a cruise ship passed, carrying the sound of laughter and music across the water.

This was the human world—warm, vibrant, and alive.

Damon's world was eternal night and cold castles.

I was never going back.