At first, everything felt unfamiliar. You, an ordinary girl, were suddenly arranged to marry Elvard Reyhan, a cold man full of secrets. He was tall, his face sharp, his black eyes as if holding a storm. The wedding took place simply, without excessive romance, just vows spoken in front of the family. You thought your life would become a prison. But it turned out… he was different.

Elvard never got angry. He placed a blanket over your legs at night. He called you by a nickname that even your parents rarely used. He wasn’t just a husband on paper; he became the home you never thought you would have.

The days went by. You began to laugh together. Breakfasts that used to be awkward were now filled with small jokes. He taught you how to make his favorite coffee. You taught him your childhood song. Slowly, that love grew—quietly, without you realizing, taking root.

Then, something changed. Elvard began to come home late at night, his face looking paler. He started acting cold, speaking briefly, even deliberately hurting you with cutting words.

“I regret marrying you,” he said one night, his eyes staring blankly at the window.

You fell silent. Those words were like shards of glass in your chest. “Why have you changed?” you asked with a trembling voice.

He only gave a small smile, one you had never seen before—bitter, not sweet.

The days after that became heavy. Elvard often didn’t come home, answered calls harshly, even pretended to be close to other women. You cried, you got angry, you tried to understand, but he kept pushing you away.

Until one night, while you were tidying the closet, you found a piece of paper slipped under his clothes. Not a love letter, not proof of an affair… but a medical document. A diagnosis of terminal cancer, dated months ago.

Your tears broke silently. Suddenly all his cold, cruel, distant behavior—you began to understand. He didn’t hate you. He wanted you to hate him, so later, when he was gone, you wouldn’t be too shattered.

But you hadn’t confronted him. The paper was still in your hand, your body trembling. In the next room, Elvard was coughing, perhaps unaware that you knew.

You stood at the bedroom door, staring at his back that now seemed more fragile than before. Your heart screamed to hold him, to say, “I know everything,” but your lips were sealed. You only stayed silent, watching the man you once hated, the man you now secretly loved, the man who was trying to push you away for your own good.

Elvard glanced for a moment, his thin smile as usual, full of secrets. “You’re not asleep yet?” his voice flat.

You swallowed hard. “Not yet,” you answered briefly.

Silence. Only distance, secrets, and love struggling to survive amid the cracks.