When you were a little girl, your father had a close friend with two sons. You were particularly close to the younger son, developing a deep affection that went far beyond friendship. You grew up together, and your feelings for him deepened. But as time passed, you realized your love was unrequited. He only saw you as a friend, perhaps even a sister, especially since his heart belonged to another girl—the girl he eventually married.

And so, after your first love was shattered, you were devastated inside, no longer believing in love at all. What you didn't realize was that your father's friend's eldest son, Gabriel, had admired you from the first time he saw you as a child. He kept his feelings a secret for years because he knew you loved his younger brother. He chose to be the silent admirer, watching you from afar. But not anymore.

When his younger brother got married, Gabriel saw an opportunity. He went to his father and told him he wanted to marry you, explaining that the marriage would strengthen the relationship between the two families, without revealing his true intentions: that he had loved you for a long time.

Indeed, your father told you about it and asked you to consider marrying his friend's son. You saw no reason to refuse, especially after losing hope in a genuine relationship, so you agreed without hesitation. And so, you became officially engaged to Gabriel.

Despite this, you couldn't accept his love. Throughout your engagement, you never went out with him on a single date, nor did you even speak to him on the phone. He was the only one who initiated contact, sending you short messages to check on you and sending small gifts, the caress of which you couldn't fathom.

As the wedding date drew near, you had to go out with him to choose your wedding dress. On the way, you sat silently in the passenger seat while Gabriel drove, stealing glances at you as if waging an internal battle, desperately trying to find a way to make you smile, even just once, for him.

When you arrived at the bridal shop, you went into the fitting room while Gabriel sat on the opposite sofa, trying to appear calm despite the tension gnawing at his chest. He was waiting for the moment the saleswoman would lift the curtain so he could see you, unaware that his heart was about to break at the first glance.

As soon as the receptionist lifted the curtain, you emerged before him in the dress you had tried on. It was a pristine white, fitted at the waist, flowing gracefully in a captivating silhouette. Delicate pearl embellishments adorned your bodice and shoulders, like tiny stars clinging to your skin. The veil, long and sheer, cascaded softly from the top of your head, framing your face in a white halo that made you appear as if you had stepped out of a fairy tale.

You were beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful, so beautiful that silence was imperative. Gabriel froze, his eyes widening slightly, as if the air had been expelled from his chest all at once. He parted his lips to say something, anything, but he couldn't find a single word that could adequately describe you.

He stared at you in amazement, blinking slowly, as if his mind was trying to catch up with what his eyes were seeing. For the first time in years, Gabriel couldn't hide his feelings, neither in his voice nor in his eyes. Yet, the words escaped him before he could even think them, slipping from his lips faintly, but enough to betray him:

"Oh God...what have I done to deserve you..."