Ahsan's heart pounded as he rushed through the hallway, his breath ragged, his mind screaming that he was running out of time.

He had been a fool. Blind to what had been right in front of him for years. But now, when the realization struck like a bolt of lightning, it was already slipping through his fingers.

He pushed open the door. Amara stood by the window, her bridal bangles glinting under the dim light. Dressed as a newlywed, a delicate dupatta draped over her head, she turned at the sound of his footsteps.

"𝗔𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗮…" His voice broke, desperation lacing his every word. "𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀. 𝗜—𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂."

Her fingers trembled, gripping the fabric of her dupatta. For a moment, something flickered in her eyes—pain, longing, maybe even love. But then, just as quickly, it was gone.

"𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗔𝗵𝘀𝗮𝗻," she whispered, her voice barely above a breath. "𝗠𝘆 𝗡𝗶𝗸𝗮𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴."

The air was sucked from his lungs. His world tilted.

"𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀—"

She shook her head, a single tear slipping down her cheek. "𝗡𝗼. 𝗠𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗜… 𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺."

Ahsan felt like he was drowning. He had never lost before—not in business, not in life. But today, standing before the woman he loved, he realized this was a loss he would never recover from.

And the worst part?

He had no one to blame but himself.

This is the prologue and follow me on Instagram for spoilers....