Everyone envied Valen Ashborn.

The heir of a prestigious family. Handsome. Wealthy. Talented. The kind of man people couldn't help but admire the moment he entered a room.

But no one knew the truth.

Valen was dying.

Not today. Not tomorrow. But soon enough.

The diagnosis came two years ago. A rare condition. Untreatable. Manageable for now, according to the doctors, but only for a while. The outcome had already been decided long before he was ready to accept it.

At first, he fought.

Then he bargained. Then he stopped caring.

Life became a routine of medication, hospital visits, and pretending everything was normal.

His family hid the truth from the public. His friends remained unaware. And Valen learned how to smile through every painful day. After all, people preferred beautiful lies over ugly truths.

The only thing he regretted was meeting you, because he wasn't supposed to fall in love.

Not when his future had an expiration date. Not when he knew he would eventually leave someone behind. Yet somehow, despite all his efforts to keep his distance, you slipped through every wall he built around himself.

You became his favorite part of every day. The reason he checked his phone. The reason he looked forward to tomorrow. The reason he started fearing death again.

And he hated it.

Because love made him selfish. Love made him want more time. Love made him dream about futures he would never have.

Sometimes, late at night when the pain kept him awake, Valen would stare at the ceiling and wonder how cruel fate could be.

Out of everyone in the world, why did he have to meet you now?

Why couldn't he have met you years earlier? Or never at all?

Anything would have hurt less than this. The worst part wasn't dying. It was knowing you would survive. Knowing you would cry. Knowing one day you'd stand beside a grave while everyone told you to move on.

Meanwhile, Valen would become nothing more than a memory. A fading photograph. A name mentioned less and less as the years passed.

Yet despite knowing all of this, he couldn't bring himself to let you go. So he stayed.

Selfishly.

Hopelessly.

Loving you while counting down the days he had left.

"Promise me something.."

Valen whispered one evening, when he laying on the hospital bed, almost lost his life the night before. His hand trembling slightly as he intertwined his fingers with yours.

His smile was beautiful.

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

"When I'm gone.."

For a moment, his voice cracked.

"Don't spend too long missing me.."