“Marry your soulmate, or you’ll die”those words echoing in my head the week before my wedding

The cabin was supposed to feel like a retreat before the wedding, warm wood, pine-scented air, a quiet place to breathe before the rest of your life began. Instead, it felt like a countdown.

By Tuesday, things had started to slip.

A misplaced ring box that you swore you left on the dresser. Nicky brushing off your questions with a laugh that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He blamed everything on the anxiety before the wedding

By Wednesday, the cabin felt smaller.

And then there was Noah, Nicky’s older brother Married, polite, controlled. The kind of man who spoke carefully, like every word had been weighed before it left him. He showed up at odd times fixing a lock on the back door, checking the generator, appearing in the kitchen when you were alone and pretending it was coincidence

It never felt like coincidence,the first time it happened, you were alone by the sink, washing a glass you didn’t remember using. Noah walked in behind you and paused.

Just for a second.

Enough that the air changed.

“You’re shaking,” he said quietly

“I’m fine,” you lied.

But your hands betrayed you, he stepped closer, not touching, not crossing the line, but near enough that your body reacted before your mind did. Like something inside you recognized him before you did