"Tell me one thing..."
"...when did I stop looking like someone worth saving?"
---
The room smelled of antiseptic.
The heart monitor beeped steadily.
Outside, rain crashed against the hospital windows with enough force to drown every sound...
Except her voice.
"I'm sorry..."
A whisper.
Barely audible.
Yet it echoed through the room like a confession.
She wasn't awake.
She was apologizing in her sleep.
Again.
"...I'm sorry."
"...Please don't hit me..."
"...I'll do better..."
"...Please don't stop believing me..."
The man standing beside her forgot how to breathe.
His fingers tightened around the bedrail until his knuckles turned white.
"No..."
The word escaped him before he realized he had spoken.
"No..."
He looked at the woman lying on the hospital bed.
The same woman who, years ago, had laughed loud enough to silence entire cafés.
The same woman who had once argued with strangers because a child was crying alone.
The same woman who had looked him straight in the eye and said—
«"If you ever stop trusting me..."
"...ask me why before you leave."»
He had promised.
God...
He had promised.
Then he never asked.
---
The doctor entered quietly.
He looked at the chart.
Then at the man standing beside the bed.
His expression changed.
"...Are you her family?"
The man couldn't answer.
The doctor continued anyway.
"Whoever did this..."
"...didn't only hurt her body."
"They taught her that apologizing was safer than speaking."
Silence.
The doctor closed the file.
"Do you know something else?"
He paused.
"She wakes up frightened every time someone raises a hand..."
"...even to adjust her pillow."
The room tilted beneath him.
His heartbeat became painfully loud.
"No..."
He whispered.
"That's impossible."
The doctor looked directly into his eyes.
"Is it?"
---
The woman stirred.
Her eyelashes fluttered.
Very slowly...
she opened her eyes.
For one brief second...
she looked at him.
Recognition filled her gaze.
Then terror replaced it.
She immediately folded her hands.
Tears rolled silently down her cheeks.
"I swear..."
"I didn't do anything wrong."
"Please..."
"Believe me this time."
She wasn't asking for love.
She wasn't asking to be held.
She wasn't even asking to be forgiven.
She was begging...
to be believed.
The man took one step toward her.
She flinched.
Not because he had touched her.
Because she thought he was about to.
His entire world shattered.
Very carefully...
with a voice that no longer sounded like his own...
he asked,
"...May I?"
She stared at him.
Confused.
Broken.
Almost frightened by the question itself.
"...You're..."
"...asking my permission?"
A tear slipped down his face.
Because the girl who once stole his hoodie without asking...
...now believed she no longer deserved to decide who touched her.
He closed his eyes.
One thought echoed louder than the storm outside.
Who destroyed you...
...while I was busy believing you had destroyed me?
---
Somewhere...
someone had buried the truth.
Someone had built five years of lies.
Someone had turned a fearless girl into a woman who apologized for breathing.
And before this story ends...
someone is going to answer for it.
Because love wasn't what destroyed them.
Belief did.
Dear future readers, I'm a new writer on Wattpad, and maybe today my stories are strangers to you. But I have a promise. I'm not here to write characters you'll forget after the last chapter. I'm here to create the kind of people who will stay in your mind long after you close the book. You'll celebrate with them. You'll get angry because of them. You'll cry for them. You'll miss them when the story ends. Some chapters will make you smile. Some will leave you staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m., wondering why fictional characters can feel so real. If you decide to give my stories a chance, don't expect perfect people. Expect unforgettable ones. One day, I hope you'll recommend my novels not because I asked you to… …but because you couldn't stop thinking about the characters. Welcome to the beginning of an obsession. I hope you're ready. 🖤
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