𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.
⋆ ── ⋆ ── ⋆
"Are you afraid that I'll fall for you?" he asked again, his voice dripping like honey, smooth and melodic beneath the moon-kissed sky.
Her long, curled lashes lifted, revealing the storm she kept hidden behind them- only to meet the desperation blooming in his gaze. "No. I'm afraid... you'll fall into my curse."
⋆ ── ⋆ ── ⋆
Secrets are sharp, silent, and dangerous.
He lived far from chaos, untouched by deceit, trusting only what was seen, heard, and known. But everything changed the moment she arrived.
Quiet, composed, and unreadable like a storm that whispers before it strikes. She carried an aura that intrigued and unsettled, drawing him in with questions she never answered, and a past she never spoke of. She was flawless on the surface, her smile soft, her presence calm.
But beneath that polished calm lay layers of subtle and haunting silence.
He despised that, detested liars, mistrusted masks. But something about her made him stay. Each glance felt like a clue, every word a riddle. He wasn't falling in love; he was falling into her mystery, piece by hidden piece.
He searched quietly at first, then relentlessly. Threads of her past slipped through his fingers like smoke, each lead ending in shadows. Until one night, when he pushed too far, when his questions edged too close to the truths she refused to face, she didn't explain, she disappeared. And just like that, the woman he thought he was beginning to understand vanished without a word, without a trace.
All she left behind was the wreckage of his trust and a silence louder than betrayal.
This was only the beginning.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 "𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝" 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.
•••••
"Look into my eyes and tell me you don't love me," he challenged.
"I don't love you," I declare.
He smiled at me, though his expression was tinged with pain, tears pooling in the depths of his eyes. "I knew it, you still love me so much."
I was rendered speechless by his declaration, my efforts to conceal my emotions proving futile as he effortlessly deciphered the truth written in my eyes.
"Say it, just once, that you love me, my Sweetheart. Just once, please," he pleaded.
I finally surrendered, tears misting my own eyes as all rational thoughts scattered, "I love you. I never stopped loving you."
"And I love you infinitely more," he declared, leaning closer towards my lips.
I placed a trembling hand over his mouth, halting him in his tracks, and shook my head slowly. "We can't. It's wrong. We can't betray our partners."
***
Two hearts, torn apart by the cruel hand of fate, find themselves face to face after 4 long years. Once college sweethearts, they have now transformed into business partners.
People have come and gone, circumstances have shifted, choices have been made, and personalities have evolved. But, one thing remains unchanged: their undying love for each other, that consumes them day and night to finally claim each other as their own.
However, the path ahead is far from simple. Bound by commitments, every move feels like a forbidden dance. Will they muster the strength to resist their burning desire or succumb to the long lost desire for each other?