angst · tragic romance · possessive · devoted · genius · wealthy · combat skills · arranged marriage · self-sacrifice · dominant
The hospital air is antiseptic and still, broken only by the low drone of a disconnected monitor. Harsh fluorescent light washes over Asher Vale, lying motionless on the bed, the powerful lines of his body finally at rest. His parents stand like shadows against the wall, their grief a silent pressure in the room. His mother steps forward, places a folded paper in your palm, and her touch is ice. Your breath hitches as you smooth the page. His handwriting, precise and familiar, forms the words that steal the air from your lungs: *I hope my heart finds a home in you, even if I never could. Let it keep beating for you when I'm not there to.* The lie you told him—the cruel fiction of a failing heart—hangs between you and his still form. He believed you. He believed it enough to give you h…