As our love will live on and never leave.
Philip Kiriakis stood between the road pavement and the gates of the cemetery. He paused for a brief moment before stepping his foot inside the graveyard. Finally, when he heard the sounds of thunder rumbling, he decided to seek refuge under the weeping willows where all his loved ones stood with their tear-stained faces.
He attempted to make his arrival as discreet as possible, but his attempts have been unnecessary, as none of his family and friends present in that burial ceremony have noticed his presence nor recognized his face. With the exception of Brady Black.
Brady's bloodshot eyes glanced at Philip for a fraction of a second. He then focused his gaze back to the wooden coffin that was about to be buried underneath the freshly dug earth.
"Oh, Chloe..." Philip uttered.
He didn't believe a word his father had said when he announced her the news. Seven long years have passed since he left Salem to join the Marines, yet it only seemed like yesterday when Chloe and he had shared that bittersweet goodbye.
The last time he had seen her, despite the tears she shed for Philip, she was happy. Those eyes, those sapphire blue eyes in which Philip had found himself lost countless times, glimmered with hope and radiated with the utmost life.
Despite certain moments of weakness, Chloe was a true fighter. For Philip, it was difficult to imagine that Chloe would even allow her leukemia to win her battle for life. Chloe wouldn't even shudder upon the face of death. Instead, she'd spit at it with defiance.
Yet there she was. Her lifeless body in that casket, which, in a few years, will be reduced to ashes. How he longed to brush his hand against her cheek, gaze into her eyes and hold her again one last time...
His relationship with Chloe had been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Mostly downs because of his over possessiveness, which he believes up to this day, drove her in the arms of Brady.
Everyone thought that their relationship was merely superficial. Everyone assumed that the turning point of their love/hate relationship was the Last Blast where Chloe stole the spotlight as she unveiled herself wearing that stunning red dress.
No one knew, however, that Chloe Lane had already caught Philip Kiriakis' eye long before she got rid of the black clothes and the thick-rimmed glasses.
He really did love her, even to the point of madness. Chloe became an obsession and soon thereafter, his own motor to breathe. Perhaps, this is what eventually ruined their relationship, yet those same mistakes are what made it human. What they had together was nowhere near perfect, but for Philip, it wove a beautiful love story nonetheless.
Brady's story was a bit sweeter. After all, he was the Prince Charming of Chloe's saga. The one who swept her off her feet. The one who ultimately won her heart. The one who possessed all the things that Philip ever craved and yearned for during his lifetime.
But did it matter who won Chloe, when both of them ended up losing her anyways? When her death was all it came down to in the end?
He was the son and heir of Victor Kiriakis, one of the richest, most influential men in the country. Throughout his whole life, his father had taught him that one could only find happiness and fulfillment with money and power, yet his perception changed upon Chloe's death.
He came upon the realization that all the money in the world could never bring back Chloe Lane, and for the first time in his life, he felt helpless. There was nothing he could do to change or twist the hands of fate, except mourning and then eventually accepting her death, although he knew that it will never bring him the closure he needed.
The mourners began to cast dirt on Chloe's cask as they slowly began to lower it. Philip's eyes started to water and cringed as his chest began to ache. He clenched both of his fists, and when he could no longer fight back, he burst into uncontrollable tears. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It was a reminder of one's mortality and the presence of a higher power controlling the path of our destiny.
Her burial would be the last image he'll have of Chloe, and soon it will be reduced to a simple memory. But a bittersweet one that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
He placed his hand in his left pocket and clutched on the gold-plated tree pendant. He took it out, and then placed it gently on the casket. It was the necklace that Chloe had requested for him to keep until his return to Salem.
"Until we meet again, Chloe Lane. Until we meet again." Philip whispered.