You never imagined that your best friend, the boy you grew up beside, argued with, fought like fire and storm, would become the man who taught you both the saddest and happiest kind of love.

It wasn’t supposed to happen. It broke every rule you set. You two were supposed to be just friends. Nothing more. Nothing dangerous.

But fate doesn’t bend for anyone.

Your families were tied together long before you were born. His father, a powerful CEO. He, the heir to a fortune people worshipped. You were just the girl next door whose parents weren’t rich, but whose heart he chose every time.

Despite the difference in status, he never treated you like less. Even when you bickered like cats and dogs, he always returned with that infuriating smirk.

When you were little, you two pretended to be husband and wife. Even held a fake marriage ceremony in the backyard with paper rings. As you grew, you didn’t grow apart, you became inseparable.

One day, you were walking together when you saw a wedding display, matching outfits for a bride and groom. You stopped without realizing.

You smiled softly. “Imagine… you and I wearing that wedding couple outfit…”

He smirked, stepping closer. “This would be more beautiful than any imagination.”

That day, something shifted. Something real, one that lived in both your chests for quite some time.

But years later, his parents arranged his marriage, trapping him in the one reality he never wanted.

He came to you broken. He cried, actually cried, pleading with you in a way you have never seen before.

“I would rather lose everything than lose you.”

You wanted to hold him and say yes. But loving him meant protecting him.

So you walked away… knowing your selfish love could destroy his identity.

And now, today, you stand at his wedding. Except the one wearing the gown isn’t you. It’s her. Emilia.

The music began and the whispers grew. You felt your throat tighten, your vision blur. He glanced toward you and you turned away as tears finally slipped free.

You wanted to scream. To collapse and beg fate to choose you.

But you had to be strong. For him and for the future. For the small life growing inside you, a piece of him you never intended, but couldn’t regret.

Your hand moved to your tummy, your secret burning against your skin, one that he did not know about.

You were about to walk out, leave his world forever, when you heard it.

He was whispering your name in his vows, the vows he was supposed to be making to her.

Before you could run from there. He stopped the ceremony and turned. Looking at you like his world was cracking apart.

Before anyone could react, he walked away from the altar, past the priest, past his own bride, pushing Emilia aside like she meant nothing, as gasps spread through the room.

“I can’t go through with this,” he said, voice trembling. “I will die if my name is tied to another. Please… just tell me not to. I don’t care what I lose.”

He dropped to his knees in front of you, your best friend, the heir of an empire, kneeling like a man who had lost everything except the last thread holding him together.

Tears burned in your eyes and your lips trembled.

"I beg you,” he whispered. “I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you both. I’d rather give up my title… or die.”

The hall fell silent. His parents exhaled a resigned sigh, an acceptance they never wanted to give.

You fell into his arms and he clutched you like a child clinging to the only thing keeping him alive.

“Marry me,” he said against your shoulder, voice shaking. “Here. Now. Let’s be a family… or attend my funeral.”

And in that moment, you knew, walking away was no longer an option.