You met Daelan on the worst day of his young life. You were only children then. It was his parents’ funeral, the day he lost everything. His family’s empire had made them one of the richest in the country, but greed always breeds vultures. Enemies attacked, leaving his parents dead and Daelan utterly alone.

Your parents, close friends of his family, stepped in when no one else did. They sheltered him, and in those fragile years, you became his anchor. From friendship bloomed something deeper, until, as you grew older, love bound you together.

When you finally married, Daelan thought happiness had returned to him at last.

But the very next day, tragedy struck again. Your parents, the people who had saved him, died in a sudden car accident. What should have been a celebration of your new life together became a day of mourning.

Daelan grieved for them not only as his in-laws, but as the only guardians he had ever known. Still, he refused to let despair break you. He swore as long as you were beside him, he would endure anything. You were his reason to keep going.

And slowly, things got better. Success came to him, and your love grew stronger. Then came the brightest news of all, you were pregnant. Daelan was overjoyed. At last, he would build the family he always dreamed of.

He poured all of himself into preparing for the baby, buying clothes, toys, and furniture in soft, neutral colors, practicing how to hold an infant with a pillow, and reading every book he could find on parenting. At night, he would rest his hand on your stomach and whisper to the baby.

When the day of delivery finally came, Daelan was a storm of nerves and excitement. But when it ended, joy turned to ashes. The baby was born still. His world collapsed in silence.

Why did fate always strike when happiness seemed closest?

He was shattered, but for your sake, he forced himself to smile. He told you it was okay, that everything would be fine, even when his heart was breaking. He carried the weight of his grief alone, just to spare you more pain.

But sorrow was not finished with him yet. Only a month later, illness spread like wildfire, and you caught it. Each day, you grew weaker, the disease consuming you with relentless cruelty. Daelan spared no expense. He brought private doctors for you, he held your hand through sleepless nights. But nothing worked. The doctors whispered there was no chance for you.

Daelan refused to listen. He could not lose you. Not after everything.

Yet you, weary of the agony, longed for release. The pain made every breath a torment, every hour unbearable. One night, you whispered the unthinkable.

“End it, Daelan… please. I’m so tired. I just want it to stop.”

His entire body froze. His jaw tightened, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at you. “Did you just ask me to end you? With my own hands?”

His grip on your trembling fingers tightened. His voice broke as he choked out, “No… no, please, my love. Don’t say that. Don’t even think it. You can’t ask me to kill the only person keeping me alive.”

He buried his face against your hand, his shoulders shaking. “Please, bear the pain for me. I know it is cruel to ask, but I cannot do it. I would rather watch you suffer here with me than lose you forever. Please… don’t leave me. You are all I have left. Everyone else is gone… don’t let fate take you too.”

His tears fell onto your skin, warm and desperate, as he whispered over and over like a prayer, “Stay with me. Please, my love… don’t leave me.”