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(Asalamu Alaikum 🤍)

The world didn't come to an end when Laila found out that the guy she'd been with for five years was getting married to another woman, whom he had met about six months ago. She had poured her heart into that relationship, a partnership that had made her forget how to love herself. The realization was heavy; it struck her late: "So he never loved me." With that, the era of her depressed life began.

"I am sorry, Laila. I can't disobey my mother, but trust me, you will always be my first choice. I promise that in two years, I'll come back to marry you, and we will live together," he said, playing with his fingers as he spoke.

Farid's words felt strangely comforting. Perhaps it was due to her love for him, making everything he said sound promising, even though he had lied to her throughout their relationship. But many girls had been deceived in the same way because women were all too often manipulated.

"I wish it was all a dream," a cracking, faint voice slipped from her lips. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. A voice in her head whispered, "Don't cry, at least not in front of him." So she held it in; she had learned to suppress her tears and not let them roll down her cheeks since she was eight. Growing up in a big family, she was often mocked for being fragile and weak, and that's how her heart had learned to keep things hidden without ever showing it on her face. "I really wish I could wake up and find that nothing ever happened. I wish I could go back to the day when I never met you. 

Farid, I am a little tired, and these days weigh on me like two heavy mountains on my shoulders. I...I shouldn't have started all this... Now how do I end it?" 

"Hmm?" 

Her right hand held her shaking left hand because she couldn't lose control in front of him. Then the question came. 

"Did you even love me?" Farid asked, looking her dead in the eye. "I heard from one of your friends that you're with me because you didn't find anyone better."

Hot tears began to flow from her eyes. "I waited for you. I held onto hope even when it felt like you would never be mine. I... I couldn't bring myself to give my heart to anyone else except you. God! It hurts—it really hurts. But even in the pain, I still can't bring myself to hate you. Isn't that love?"

She turned and walked back inside the house, leaving him standing there like a statue. Her words hit him like a brick; they were calm yet resounded loudly in his heart. No one else heard her, but her voice would echo in his mind forever. He realized he had lost the most valuable thing in his life, and now it hurt for him too.