PROLOGUE
PROLOGUE
Some hearts aren't blessed to beat together...
The night was quiet.
Moonlight slipped through the curtains, painting the room in soft silver. Outside, the world seemed peaceful, as though nothing could possibly disturb the moment unfolding inside.
Atlas Lan Martin sat beside the girl he loved.
Aurora Fin.
His sunshine.
His comfort.
His home.
She was wrapped in his arms, her head resting against him as they quietly enjoyed each other's presence.
Atlas looked down at her.
There was something about Aurora that always made the hardest days feel easier.
He gently pulled her closer.
"Sunshine..."
Aurora lifted her head.
"Hmm?"
Atlas looked into her eyes for a long moment before speaking.
"I don't know what I'd do if you ever left me."
Aurora's expression softened.
"Why are you saying that?"
"Because I mean it."
His voice was unusually serious.
"I wouldn't be as sane as I am right now if you ever walked out of my life."
Aurora smiled faintly and wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Atlas rested his forehead against hers.
"Promise?"
"I promise."
He smiled.
Then his expression suddenly became playful.
"Even if I tell you to go away someday..."
Aurora raised an eyebrow.
"Which you probably will."
He chuckled.
"Even then, don't you dare actually leave me."
Aurora laughed softly.
"You're impossible."
"But you love me."
She looked at him.
"Unfortunately."
Atlas smiled.
"Good."
He held her closer.
For him, Aurora wasn't simply someone he loved.
She was the person who made him feel understood.
The person he could be himself around.
The person he called sunshine because she had a way of bringing light into even his darkest days.
Aurora gently ran her fingers through his hair.
"I love you, Lan."
Atlas's eyes softened.
"I love you too, sunshine."
Neither of them knew that one day, those words would become memories.
Memories that would hurt more than anything else.
BUT THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED.
Graduation Day
The university grounds were filled with celebration.
Graduation caps flew through the air.
Cameras flashed.
Friends laughed and hugged each other while families gathered around their graduates.
Everyone seemed to be celebrating the beginning of a new chapter.
Aurora stood quietly among them.
She looked around the crowd.
Then she saw him.
Atlas.
Her eyes stopped on him instinctively.
But he wasn't alone.
A girl stood beside him.
Isadora White.
Aurora knew who she was.
They weren't friends.
They had never been close.
Aurora simply watched from a distance.
She had no reason to walk toward them.
So she stayed where she was.
Then Atlas spoke.
"Isa..."
Aurora's expression changed slightly.
She couldn't hear every word at first.
But then his voice became clear.
"You're the reason for my smile."
Aurora froze.
Her fingers slowly tightened around her graduation cap.
Atlas continued speaking.
"Without you, I don't know how I would live."
Aurora stared at him.
She didn't understand why she was still listening.
Perhaps some part of her already knew she shouldn't.
But she couldn't make herself walk away.
"I'm afraid I'll lose you if I don't confess my feelings today."
Aurora's heart sank.
She looked at Atlas.
The same eyes.
The same voice.
The same person.
And yet...
something about this moment felt unbearably unfamiliar.
"I love you, Isa."
The words reached her clearly.
Aurora stopped breathing for a moment.
She looked at Isadora.
Then back at Atlas.
Isadora's eyes filled with tears.
"I love you too, Lan."
Aurora lowered her gaze.
She didn't know what hurt more—
the words...
or the way Atlas looked at Isadora when he said them.
There was so much warmth in his eyes.
So much certainty.
Aurora quietly looked away.
She didn't want to see anymore.
But before she left, she heard Isadora whisper,
"Please never break my heart."
Atlas answered softly,
"I swear I never will."
Aurora closed her eyes.
That was enough.
She turned around and walked away.
No one noticed.
No one called her name.
And she didn't want anyone to.
She walked until the sounds of the celebration disappeared behind her.
Eventually, Aurora stopped beneath a quiet tree.
She placed her graduation cap beside her and sat down.
For a while, she simply stared at the ground.
She didn't cry.
Not yet.
Instead, she smiled.
A small, painful smile.
"How ridiculous..."
She whispered.
She had always known that hearts were strange things.
They didn't listen to reason.
They didn't understand timing.
They didn't care about what was right or wrong.
Sometimes, they simply chose.
And hers had chosen him.
Atlas.
Aurora looked up at the night sky.
The moon was shining brightly.
She watched it silently.
Then she whispered,
"I knew I shouldn't..."
Her voice trembled.
"But what can I do?"
She wiped away the tear that escaped her eye.
"I tried."
A quiet laugh escaped her lips.
"I really tried."
She looked down at her hands.
"But somehow..."
Her voice became softer.
"My eyes look away from him..."
She placed a hand over her heart.
"...but my heart always chooses him."
Silence.
Aurora closed her eyes.
She didn't blame anyone.
She didn't blame Atlas.
She didn't blame Isadora.
She didn't even blame fate.
Perhaps some things simply weren't meant to be understood.
Perhaps some feelings were meant to remain unanswered.
And perhaps some hearts were destined to love...
without ever being allowed to belong.
Aurora took a shaky breath.
Then she finally asked the question that had been living inside her heart for so long.
"Dear heart..."
She paused.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Why him?"
The night remained silent.
No answer came.
Only the moon watched from above.
And somewhere between love, fate, and heartbreak...
Aurora's story began.
Some hearts aren't blessed to beat together.
