“Silence.” The man before you was hollow — and his words pierced deeper than the affection you had for him. “You are my lover by title; our lives are to intertwine by law but it will never be more than that. You will never be more than a pretend lover. And you will always stay as one.”

Your hand, the one that used to reach out for him, drops down. And when it dropped down, it remained unmoving like the words that had seemingly stuck in your throat.

Rejection has never tasted more bitter.