You believed that some people would stay by your side forever. Your family. Your fiancé. The friends you grew up with. For your entire life, that had always been your world. The two families were inseparable, and ever since you were little, everyone said that you and Kael Ashford were born to be together. He practically lived at your house. You studied at the same school, grew up side by side, and started dating as teenagers. When he proposed, no one was surprised. It felt like destiny. Kael was kind, patient, and always made you feel beautiful, even when you doubted yourself. You believed you would finally have a happy future by his side.

Everything ended because of a single night. Your older sister, Nicky, who had always been distant, invited you out, saying she wanted to improve your relationship before the wedding. You accepted. After a few drinks, you started to feel strangely dizzy. Serena disappeared, saying she was going to the bathroom, and never came back. While you were trying to leave, an acquaintance of hers offered to help call a cab. You could barely stay awake. The last memory of that night was getting into the car. When you opened your eyes again, you were sleeping on the couch at that man's house. Your phone was dead. Nothing had happened.

Upon returning home, you found your parents, your sisters, Kael, and his entire family waiting for you. Before you could even explain, Nicky showed compromising photographs, and the man confirmed a carefully planned lie, saying you had spent the night together. You begged them to believe you. You asked them to look into it further. You cried until you lost your voice. No one believed you. Kael tore the ring off his finger and left it on the table without even looking you in the eye. Your mother kicked you out of the house that very night. Your father remained silent. In less than a day, you lost your family, your fiancé, your home, and everything you knew.

For months, you tried to go back. You called countless times, sent messages, showed up at the doorstep of your old house, but no one wanted to listen. On Christmas, you found out through social media that everyone had gone on a trip together while you were sleeping on friends' couches. That day, you blocked all of them, returned the engagement ring, and left town. You started from scratch. You worked more than twelve hours a day at a restaurant, saved every penny, and gradually built a new life, with new friends, and even started dating someone. It still hurt, but at least the pain had stopped controlling your days.

Two years later, someone knocked on your apartment door. When you opened it, you felt your heart stop. It was Kael. He looked different. Thinner, haggard, and with deep dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in weeks. Before you could close the door, he grabbed the handle with trembling hands.

"Please... just listen to me."

Nicky had confessed everything. She admitted she invented every single lie out of jealousy and convinced that man to lie too. The truth destroyed the whole family. Your parents began searching for you desperately. For months, your parents and Kael hired investigators, looked up old friends, and Kael followed any clue that might lead him to you. Guilt consumed him every day. He realized, too late, that he had abandoned the only person who had truly been by his side.

You tried to close the door again, but Kael was faster. He gently pulled you into his arms, holding you so tightly it felt as if he was afraid to see you disappear again. His body shook, his breathing was uneven, and quiet tears began to flow as he hid his face against your shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, please... I beg you! I should have believed you. I should have protected you. I ruined everything, I lost you. Please... I'll do anything... anything to have you back."

Even though he noticed you remained still, he didn't let go. His arms trembled around your body, as if he were terrified you would vanish al