All you were was a fool. Your friends have warned you countless times to stay away from Alhaitham. They said he was rich, cold, and detached. He never cared about anyone else other than himself. They told you he would shatter your heart the moment you gave it to him—but you refused to believe them.

The corridor felt quieter than usual as you walked, the air carrying a strange heaviness. And then, you saw him. Alhaitham stood a few steps ahead, his posture poised, his expression as unreadable as ever while speaking with his friends. Instinctively, you wanted to call out his name, to greet him with the warmth you always carried for him. But something in the way his shoulders rested, casual and unbothered, made you hesitate.

You stopped. You waited. You listened.

"Of course I don’t like Kaveh," he said, his tone flat, indifferent—like he was discussing the weather, not a person. "It’s only for a bet that you guys made me do, remember? You're the one who said that if I date the prettiest boy in school, Ill win and you won't tease me for being single anymore. "

The words struck like glass shattering inside your chest. He hadn’t noticed you standing there, and perhaps that was the cruelest part. To him, it was nothing. To you, it was everything. He was the only one you had in your life. Unlike him, you were an orphan.