Wounded Heart ✔

~ Prologue ~

She stood hidden in the corner, her eyes fixed on him.
He was smiling—radiant, alive—as he stood beside someone else. The light in his gaze was undeniable, shimmering with love that was never meant for her.

"Will you ever move on from him?" her friend whispered, searching her face with a mix of pity and frustration.

She exhaled softly, a fragile smile curving her lips.
"He lives in my breath. The day my breath ceases, only then will I forget him."

Her friend's eyes darkened, her voice sharper now.
"Today, he gave his heart to another. You saw it yourself. He is no longer yours—he never was. How can you still love him?"

But the girl only smiled again, a smile carved from pain and acceptance.
"My love for him is not bound by possession. What we shared—the stolen glances, the unspoken words, the fleeting moments—those are mine. They may be fragile, but they are mine alone. He belongs to someone else, yes... but the love I carry, the memories etched into my soul, belong only to me. And that is enough to carry me through this life."

Her friend shook her head, helpless against the quiet madness she could not name, the devotion she could not understand. To her it was folly. To the girl, it was love—pure, merciless, and eternal.

*****

The room smelled faintly of medicines and fading flowers, a cruel reminder of how fragile her world had become. Aashi lay against the pillows, her breaths shallow, her voice weak, yet her eyes held the same unwavering love he had always known.

"Will you promise me something?" she whispered, her words trembling with both desperation and finality.

He immediately leaned closer, clasping her frail hand in his strong ones as though he could anchor her to life itself. His voice was low, breaking.
"I will give you whatever you ask, Aashi. That is my promise, my love."

Her lips curved into the faintest smile, but the words she spoke next shattered the air.
"Marry her."

For a moment, silence crashed down around them. His head jerked up, his eyes wide with disbelief, and a ripple of shock spread across the faces of the family gathered at her bedside.

"You... do you even realize what you're asking of me?" he said hoarsely, staring at her as though she had struck him.

"I do," she replied, her voice fragile but firm, as though she had rehearsed this moment in the quiet of her pain. "Think of it as my last wish. Before I leave this world, I want to see you both married."

"No," he cut in sharply, shaking his head, his grip on her hand tightening. "Don't speak like that. You will recover. And what you're asking—it's impossible. I cannot marry her. I cannot let her step back into our lives."

Her lashes fluttered, and a tear slipped free, but her gaze never wavered. "Please. I need to know, when I close my eyes for the last time, that someone will be there to care for you. That you won't drown in grief when I'm gone. And she... she is the one who can do it."

He pulled back slightly, his face shadowed, his voice raw. "Aashi... I don't even know what to say. You're asking me to betray everything—my love, my vows, my family. What you want... I cannot give."

Her fingers tightened weakly around his, but her words cut sharper than any blade.
"Then I won't agree to treatment."

His eyes snapped to hers in horror. "Aashi—"

She gave a faint, bitter smile, her weakness making her words all the more haunting. "If you deny me this, then I will deny myself more time with you. Choose, love. My wish—or the little time we have left together."