Dil Ki Yeh Thi Dua?

Book 2 of "THE HEART Series"

ˏ⸉ˋ‿̩͙‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙Prayer Of The Heart‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ˊ⸊ˎ

She sat perfectly still in front of the mirror, dressed in a heavy red bridal lehenga that felt like it was weighing down her entire chest.
Her reflection looked like every bride a family dreams of. But none of it felt like hers.
The silence broke with the soft click of the door.
Her best friend walked in. She looked beautiful but her usual spark was missing, and her smile looked forced. "Everyone's calling you downstairs. The baraat has arrived," she said gently.
The bride turned her face slightly but didn't get up. She blinked back the sting behind her eyes. "I'm sorry, isho... You should've been the one standing here, not me."
"Stop. Don't say that," her friend whispered. "Nothing is your fault. Life just... turned wrong somewhere."
There was a pause. "Did he... he pick up? Did he answer?" she asked with hope in her voice.
"No." Her friend paused and then replied with a low voice.
A rush of emotions rose inside her, she tried to name it anger, tried to name it resentment but the truth stung sharper, she could never really hate him. She whispered, "Let's go before I lose whatever courage I have left."

»»--⍟--««
She never believed in love, not when her own family turned into strangers wearing the mask of blood. Surrounded by betrayal, the only thing she learned was suspicion. And when her brother's best friend walked into her life, she was certain he was just another shadow waiting to hurt her.
But he wasn't. He was steady where others were cruel, silent where others lied. Still, her heart refused to trust him, until the day the walls she built began to crack.
In a world where loyalty cuts deeper than knives and love feels like the most dangerous risk of all, can two broken souls find something worth holding onto? Or will their story remain nothing more than a prayer whisper?