CHAPTER TEN: The Kindness That Hurts
(Three Months Before the Wedding)
Maya
cancelled the cake tasting the next morning. She called Leo and told him she
was sick.
He came home
two hours later with a bag of groceries and a worried expression. He found her
curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, staring at the television without
seeing it.
"Hey."
He knelt beside her, pressing the back of his hand to her forehead.
"You're not warm. What's going on? Are you okay?"
"Just
tired," she whispered. "I don't feel well. I think I'm just
exhausted. The wedding. The planning. Everything."
"Okay."
He didn't push. He never pushed. Instead, he went to the kitchen and made her a
bowl of soup—her favorite, chicken and rice, with extra ginger, the way her
grandmother used to make it. He brought it to her on a tray with a glass of
water and a small note that said: *"I love you. Rest. I'll handle
everything."*
Maya's heart
cracked.
She wanted
to throw the soup at him. She wanted to scream: *Stop being so kind! Stop
making it harder! Stop pretending everything is fine when you're hiding half
your life from me! Stop being the man I fell in love with when you're also the
man who lies to me!*
But she
didn't.
She ate the
soup. She let him kiss her forehead. She let him tuck her into bed and tell her
to sleep. She let him be kind while she drowned in guilt.
And when he
left the room, she pulled out her phone and texted Rachel: *"Can we meet
tomorrow? I need to talk to you. It's important. Please."*
Rachel
replied within minutes: *"Of course. Same coffee shop. 10 AM. Everything okay?"*
Maya typed
back: *"No. But I'm going to make it okay. I hope."*
She didn't
sleep that night.
PART III:
THE GAME
note "this story is against rules of all religion which encourage the right way of engagement then marriage, not any sex before wed
ding "
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