She was the quiet kind of girl. Introverted. Observant. The "nerd" everyone overlooked. Soft-spoken, shy, and painfully innocent. Aneira's world was small ; books, silence, and one single person she trusted more than anyone: Veyan. Veyan was everything she was not. The most popular boy in college. Cheerful. Loud. Surrounded by friends. Smiles came easily to him, and so did attention. Yet, no matter how many people stood around him, his heart always searched for her. He loved Aneira deeply... But only as a friend. And Aneira? She loved him the way lungs love air. The day she gathered the courage to confess, fate was already waiting to break her. "I love someone," Veyan said before she could speak. "Your best friend... Annita." Her confession died on her tongue. Days later, his parents came to her house with a marriage proposal. Not for him. For her. And with trembling lips and a shattered heart, Aneira whispered the words no one expected: "I want to marry your other son. Not Veyan." That was the day love turned into silence. And friendship into the most beautiful kind of pain.

FINISHED