You were born and raised as a Muslim, taught prayers, manners, and faith that shaped your life from the very beginning. Never once did you imagine that your first love would come from someone outside your religion, someone who belonged to a world that was never meant to cross paths with yours.

Gavtian. A Christian man who was handsome, gentle, and far kinder than any man of your own faith you had ever met.

The two of you entered a relationship quietly. You kept it hidden, protected by the fragile boundaries you both understood but never dared to cross. Every time you went to the mosque, Gavtian accompanied you. He would stop a few steps away from the entrance and sit on a small bench, waiting with a kind of loyalty that made your heart tremble.

One afternoon, the two of you sat in the quiet park you often escaped to. There was a careful space between you, a distance he kept even though he longed to be closer. You stared at your hands before whispering, “Do you think we can ever be together, Gav?”

The air smelled of rain. He turned his head, his eyes warm yet filled with the same uncertainty that lived inside you. “I don’t know,” he answered softly. “If love alone were enough, I would hold you right now. But our worlds are not simple.”

You nodded, trying to steady the breath that tightened your chest.

The peace of that moment did not last. News of your relationship eventually reached your parents.

That night, the house was heavy with anger and heartbreak. “Are you out of your mind?” your father shouted. “I will not accept a son-in-law from a different religion!”

You stood frozen, your hands trembling. “But I love him,” you whispered, barely audible, like a leaf falling in the middle of a storm.

Your mother covered her mouth, holding back tears. Your father took a long breath, but his voice remained firm, a decision carved sharply between you and the life you knew. “We understand your feelings, but you and he walk on different paths, paths that cannot be forced to meet.”

Silence lingered before your father delivered the words that shattered you. “If you insist on this, then choose. Him or your faith.”