Don't you ever let go

The rain fell softly against the glass roof of the greenhouse. Usually, the sound helped Lina relax, but tonight, she couldn’t find any peace.

She sat at a small table, with an old poetry book beside her and a cup of tea that had gone cold.

In two weeks, the final papers would be signed. In two weeks, she would marry Louis Morel, her fiancé of two years.

The thought didn’t excite her, but it made her feel safe. It was the right thing to do. At least, that was what she had always believed.

Louis was a good man. He was kind, respectful, and came from a good family. He never raised his voice at her, and whenever he returned from his travels, he brought her little gifts.

He was reliable. Being with him meant having a comfortable future.

For two years, Lina had tried to grow closer to him. She had hoped that, with time, her feelings would become stronger. It wasn’t the kind of love she read about in her books, but she had believed it was enough.

She didn’t need a grand romance , she only wanted a good husband and a peaceful life.

The sound of the glass door opening made her look up.

Louis stood at the entrance, his broad shoulders slightly wet from the rain. Something was wrong. She could see it in his face.

“Louis,” Lina greeted him with a small smile gesturing toward the chair across from her. “I didn’t know you were coming,it’s late. Is everything all right?”

He didn’t sit down.

Instead, he stood with his hands clenched at his sides, looking at the rain outside rather than at his fiancée.

Lina waited.

The silence grew uncomfortable. The only sound was the rain falling against the glass.

“Lina,” he finally said. His voice sounded strained. “There’s something I need to tell you before things go any further.”

A strange feeling settled in her stomach.“You can tell me,” she replied.

Her voice was calm, perhaps too calm. She had always been good at keeping her feelings to herself, even when something bothered her.

Louis finally turned to face her.

There was no affection in his eyes. He looked worried, almost desperate, as if he had spent hours trying to find the right words.“Our engagement...” He stopped and took a breath. “It’s a good match. You are everything a man could ask for in a wife. You’re kind, intelligent, and respectable.”

Lina listened without interrupting.

“But I can’t do this.“His voice broke slightly.“I can’t keep lying to you or to myself. I’ve tried, Lina. For two years, I’ve tried to feel the way a man should feel about the woman he’s going to marry.“He swallowed.“I respect you. I admire you. But I don’t love you. Not the way I should.”

Lina stared at him.For a moment, she couldn’t understand what he was saying. The greenhouse around her seemed strangely quiet, and she found herself staring at his lips as he continued speaking.

“My heart doesn’t belong to you,” Louis whispered. “It never did.”

He took a step forward, then stopped.

Lina’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table.“It never... belonged to me?”

Louis lowered his eyes.

Lina swallowed before asking the question she was already afraid to know the answer to.“Then... is there someone else?”

He didn’t answer.

“Louis, is there… someone else?”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not answering my question.”

Louis closed his eyes. His shoulders were tense, and he seemed to be struggling to calm himself.

Lina waited, her heart beating faster with every passing second.

Who was she? Who was the woman her fiancé had fallen in love with?

Finally, Louis spoke.“S….S.. Sophi.”

The name seemed to hang between them.

Sophi?

HER Sophi?

Her little sister, with her bright smile and cheerful laugh. The girl Lina had spent her whole life protecting, the one she had always wanted to see happy.

For a moment, Lina could only stare at him.

Louis looked away.“Every time I came to see you, I found myself thinking about her,” he admitted. “Her smile, her voice... I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Being around her felt different. It felt like coming home.“He finally looked at Lina again.“I tried to ignore my feelings. I tried to be the man you deserved, but I can’t keep doing this. If I marry you knowing how I feel, it will be a lie. It wouldn’t be fair to you, or to either of our families.”

Lina didn’t move, She sat perfectly still, looking at the man she had expected to marry in two weeks.

Her heart was breaking, but she refused to let him see it.

The rain continued to fall outside.

For a few moments, neither of them spoke.

Lina’s first thought was of Sophi.

She imagined her sister’s bright face, her innocent smile, and the way she laughed at the smallest things.

Then came the anger.

Two years.

She had spent two years preparing for a future with this man, believing that they were building something together.

Had all those conversations, all those gifts, and all those visits meant nothing to him?

Had she simply been someone he had to spend time with to get closer to her sister?

Lina slowly lifted her eyes to meet his ; When she spoke, her voice was calm.

“So, for two years, you gave me gifts, visited me, and spoke to me about our future while you were in love with my sister?”

Louis flinched.“That’s not how it was, Lina.”

“Then how was it?”

He opened his mouth, but she continued before he could answer.

“You allowed this engagement to continue for two years. You let me believe we had a future together. You let my family believe it too.”

She stood up.“What honor is there in that, Morel Louis?”

He lowered his head.For the first time since he had arrived, he seemed to have nothing to say.

Lina wanted him to feel ashamed. She wanted him to understand how much he had hurt her.

But beneath her anger, another feeling was beginning to grow.

A quieter, more painful one.

He never loved you.

The thought came before she could stop it.

Of course he didn’t.

She remembered all the times she had compared herself to Sophi without meaning to.

Sophi was cheerful and easy to talk to. People were naturally drawn to her. Lina, on the other hand, was quieter. She preferred books and her garden to crowded rooms, and she often found it difficult to express what she felt.

Perhaps Louis had only seen her as a respectable woman he could marry.

Perhaps he had never looked at her and wished to be with her.

Lina’s anger slowly faded, leaving a heavy feeling in her chest.

It wasn’t only that Louis loved Sophi ; It was that he had never loved Lina at all.

She had tried to be a good fiancée. She had been patient, caring, and loyal. She had done her best to build a future with him.

And still, it hadn’t been enough.

For a moment, Lina wondered if there was something wrong with her.

She had never thought much about her appearance before, but now she found herself questioning everything. Was she not beautiful enough? Not charming enough? Was there something about her that made it so difficult for someone to love her?

She hated herself for thinking that way, but she couldn’t help it.

She turned toward the rain-covered glass, not wanting Louis to see the pain in her eyes.

When she spoke again, her voice was softer.“You’re right about one thing. A marriage built on a lie would make us both miserable.“She paused.“And it would hurt Sophi too. I won’t allow that.”

Lina turned back to him.“The engagement is over. You will speak to my father tomorrow and arrange the formalities. Is that clear?”

Louis looked at her with guilt written across his face.“Lina, I’m sorry. You deserve—”

“Please don’t.“Her voice was sharper this time.“Don’t tell me what I deserve…. Just leave.”

He stood there for another moment, as if he wanted to say something else.

Then he took a breath “I want you to know that I never cheated on you. I was faithful to you until this moment, and Sophi had nothing to do with my decision. She was hurting too"

He hesitated.“I promise you, Lina. She never encouraged me to do this.”

Lina couldn’t look at him. She didn’t know what to say, and she didn’t want to hear anything more.

She remained still until she heard the glass door slide shut behind him. His footsteps slowly faded, leaving her alone with the sound of the rain.

Only then did her shoulders drop.

She reached for the back of the chair, holding it tightly as she tried to steady herself.

It was over.

Her engagement was over.

In two weeks, she was supposed to become Louis Morel’s wife. She had spent two years believing that she was building a future with him, and now she had nothing to look forward to.

But the worst part wasn’t losing her fiancé.It was what his confession had made her believe about herself.

She knew she was a good person. She tried to be kind, even when people didn’t understand her. She cared about her family, worked hard, and had always done her best to do what was right.

She knew she wasn’t perfect.

But she had never thought that being herself would make her so difficult to love.

Lina looked at the empty chair across from her.

She was a good woman.

She was even a beautiful one.

But tonight, for the first time, she wondered if she would ever be the woman someone truly wanted.

And that thought hurt more than she could bear.