The Bet & The Heart.

CHAPTER XII

After Sofia's departure, the house felt eerily quiet. The echo of their earlier confrontation lingered, a heavy weight in the air. Syafiq stood frozen for a moment, staring at the closed door as if it could somehow turn back time. His heart raced, torn between anger and despair. With a deep breath, he finally turned away, his gaze falling on the small table in his room where the scrapbook lay.

He walked over slowly, each step laden with uncertainty. As he picked up the scrapbook, he felt its weight in his hands, a tangible representation of everything he had shared with her. But as he opened it, the warmth of those memories quickly faded. The first page showcased a photograph of them stargazing, their faces illuminated by the soft glow of the night sky. The carefree smiles they wore felt so distant now, overshadowed by the pain of their last encounter.

He flipped through the pages, each one revealing a new memory—the cooking sessions where they had laughed over spilled flour, the fishing trips filled with teasing and playful banter. But with every turn, the bitterness of reality crashed down on him, tainting those precious moments. Were they ever truly ours, or just borrowed happiness?

And then it hit him. Every laugh, every shared secret had been tinged with the shadow of Nadhir. The realization made his stomach churn. Those memories weren't just ours; they were intertwined with someone else's life.

In a surge of frustration, Syafiq slammed the scrapbook shut. His heart raced as anger boiled within him, fueled by betrayal. How could she let me fall for her when she was planning a life with someone else? He felt a wave of nausea wash over him, the scrapbook suddenly feeling like a weight he could no longer bear.

Without thinking, he walked to the bin in the corner of his room and tossed the scrapbook inside, the sound of its thud echoing in the silence. I can't keep pretending that we had something special when it was shared with him, too.

He turned away, trying to shake off the deep-seated hurt and anger that clung to him. Just then, his eyes fell on the stack of letters still resting on the table, untouched. He hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether he should read them or not. Part of him was terrified of what they might reveal—words filled with love and longing, but now, those words felt like they belonged to someone else.

"How could you do this to me, Sofia?" he murmured, his voice barely a whisper as he wrestled with the conflicting emotions churning inside him.

He took a step back, still facing the bin that contained their memories. The weight of loss pressed down on him, suffocating. The anger, the betrayal, the love—everything felt so intertwined, and he realized that he had not just lost Sofia but also a part of himself.

In the car, Sofia stared out the window, the lush greenery of the village passing by in a blur. Her chest felt tight, and tears stung her eyes, though she tried to blink them away. As much as she wanted to stay composed, the heaviness in her heart refused to let up. The village she was leaving behind, the memories she was trying to forget—they all kept replaying in her mind.

She thought of Syafiq and the look on his face before she left. The pain, the anger, the way he wouldn't even say goodbye. It was as if a wall had come crashing down between them, built from everything that had been left unsaid. She pressed a hand against her chest, trying to soothe the ache there.

I'm leaving, just like I said I would, she thought, biting down on her trembling lip. But why did it feel so much like running away? The love she felt for Syafiq hadn't diminished; it was still there, simmering beneath the surface, tangled up with guilt and regret.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, her thumb hovering over his contact name. But what could she say? That she wished things had turned out differently? That she was sorry she hadn't been honest with him from the start? None of it would matter now.