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The house was alive with the sounds of celebration—laughter, voices, and the clatter of utensils as preparations for the wedding went on. Yet inside the lounge, there was a silence that seemed almost suffocating. On the sofa lay Sara’s phone, vibrating again and again, the caller ID flashing insistently: “One and Only.”
Romi entered, his footsteps heavy. He looked pale, like a man carrying a burden too great for his shoulders. His eyes fell on the phone. He hesitated, staring at the screen as if it were a secret he was never meant to uncover. Slowly, he picked it up. It pulsed in his hand, each ring echoing like a heartbeat. He was about to take it upstairs when the doorbell rang.
He glanced at the screen again. His heart jolted. One and Only.
The words struck him like a blade. Who is this to her? Who holds this name in her life? His mind screamed with questions he dared not voice. His thumb hovered over the green button, trembling, but before he could act, his uncle appeared at the doorway.
“Where are you going, Romi?” His uncle’s tone was sharp, his eyes narrowed.
“This… this is Sara’s phone,” Romi answered softly. “I was going to give it to her.”
The older man’s face darkened. “No. Keep it with you. She does not need it.”
Romi froze. He swallowed his words and nodded, but inside him a storm was rising. The phone rang again. His uncle’s gaze hardened.
“Pick it up,” he ordered coldly.
Before Romi could respond, someone outside called the uncle about wedding arrangements, and he left, leaving Romi alone with the phone. Romi stared at it, his hand shaking. Then, with a deep breath that sounded more like a sob, he answered.
“Hello? Sara?” Mikaal’s voice was urgent, filled with longing. “Thank God you picked up. Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick. You haven’t come to school, your phone was off… Sara, I missed you so much. You know you mean everything to me, dear.”
That last word—dear—hit Romi like a thunderclap. His chest tightened. His breath broke. Tears welled up in his eyes as he held the phone against his ear.
“Hello? Sara? Please, don’t be silent,” Mikaal continued desperately. “You’re scaring me. Tell me, are you okay? Did your uncle scold you again? Or is it that cousin of his… Romi? Is he troubling you? Just speak, Sara. Whatever the problem is, I’ll fix it. I’ll protect you.”
Romi bit his lip until it bled. His whole body trembled as he fought to remain silent. Each word from Mikaal was like a dagger piercing deeper into his heart. She was his one and only. Not mine. Never mine.
“Please, Sara,” Mikaal begged. “You’re my one and only. Don’t hide from me. I’ll come to you if I have to.”
The words crushed Romi’s soul. With a shuddering breath, he ended the call.
Silence filled the room. The phone slipped from his hand onto the sofa. He covered his face with both hands, and the sobs he had held back for days burst out, raw and uncontrollable. His shoulders shook. He wept like a child who had lost the only thing he ever loved.
Then the phone buzzed again. A new message. Romi wiped his eyes and looked.
“I am coming.”
Romi’s face drained of color. His heart raced. He knew what this meant. If Mikaal came here, Sara would not just be in trouble—she would be in danger. His uncle would never forgive such defiance.
He pressed the phone to his chest, his tears falling onto the screen. He rocked back and forth, whispering to himself, “What do I do? How do I protect her?”
Outside, the drums of the wedding grew louder. People laughed and clapped, celebrating what to them was joy. But inside Romi, there was only the sound of breaking—his heart splintering into pieces under the weight of love he could never claim.
The lounge seemed to close in on him. His chest felt like it would burst from the pain. He wanted to scream, to shout, to tell the world the truth. But instead, he sat alone, clutching the phone that carried Sara’s secret love, drowning in tears no one would ever see.
For Romi, the world had never felt heavier. And the words on that glowing screen—“One and Only”—were heavier than any mountain, pressing him down into the abyss of despair.
291Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7B3ZNdCmD
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