"I envy you." Amora let out a rough sigh. "At least they still expected you to be part of an intact family. Even if it came late, that was still better than my family. My beautiful childhood was ultimately destroyed by a third party entering my parents' marriage."
"You don't have to tell me if it only reopens your wounds."
"Almost every day, I watched Papa and Mama fight. Until eventually, they got divorced. Papa remarried, and Mama chose to have fun with younger men. The happy family I'd dreamed of fell apart in an instant."
"Then you don't need to envy me. We're both wounded." Danish laughed to lighten the mood. "Can I ask you something?"
"Hmm, go ahead."
"After seeing your parents' marriage, did you become afraid of getting married yourself?"
"At first, I was afraid to get involved with a man. Until eventually, I met a man who made me feel comfortable, someone who always made my heart race whenever he was near me. Something called love."
Danish burst out laughing and looked at Amora with amusement. "Just because your heart raced when you were near that man, you called it love? What kind of theory is that?"
Amora turned toward him quickly, at the same moment Danish was looking at her. "Don't tell me you've never been in love!" Amora exclaimed.
"Yep, exactly! I've never been in love."
"You?"
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm straight. I've dated and kissed women, but only played around because I got bored when they kept fighting over me."
"Getting into relationships without love? Never feeling love? Go see a psychiatrist. Maybe you have a disorder."
"Don't be ridiculous! I'm perfectly normal. I just don't believe in love. Love ultimately drags people into forbidden relationships, and then love is what makes them come back even after the pain they've caused. I find that disgusting."
"Okay, just wait until one day you feel that strange flutter called love."
"Never going to happen."
"Wanna bet?" Amora challenged.
"Who's scared? If one day there's a girl who makes me feel that damn flutter called love, I'll give my life to her."
"Take that back, Danish! Don't joke about your life!"
The man laughed. He rolled over until he was lying on his stomach, both elbows supporting his weight. His sharp eyes bore into Amora's weary ones. "Worried about me, huh? Don't tell me you fell in love with me at first sight."
Danish winked, earning a hard pinch on his right arm. "Dream on! I already have a boyfriend, and there's no way I'd fall for a thug like you. My boyfriend is my Prince Charming, and he loves me with all his heart."
"Prince Charming? Some fantasy man who only exists in your novel? I suggest you don't dream too big, Miss. The higher you dream, the harder you'll fall when you come crashing down."
"Just so you know, my boyfriend is real, not just fiction."
"Really? I think I know who you're calling Prince Charming. Dr. Andre, right?"
Amora let out a rough sigh. "I'm not answering that. You're just a stranger who doesn't need to know every detail of my private life."
"Okay, fine." Danish returned to his previous position, gazing at the clouds drifting across the sky and covering part of the moon. "You hate your father's mistress, so you tried to sneak into someone else's marriage to vent your heartbreak."
"Danish, please! Don't add to the wounds in my heart with assumptions like that. Please, I'm already tired of fighting with Mama. Right now, all I want is peace."
"Okay, fine. I'm sorry. Now you can close your eyes and relax. Enjoy every breath, and think about positive things."
"Wake me if I fall asleep." Amora followed Danish's instructions. She closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
"Let go of all your burdens. Think of the painful things that happened to you as nothing more than nightmares. Imagine anything that can make you happy."
Silence. The whisper of the night wind sounded like a soft song. In the distance, the sound of passing vehicle engines gradually faded. The night grew late.
The moon, which had initially hidden behind the clouds, slowly emerged. Danish rose from his spot. He sat beside Amora, studying her beautiful face bathed in moonlight. Slowly, both corners of Amora's thin lips pulled outward into a smile.
A fake smile. A smile Amora had made to hide her pain. Danish lowered his head and gripped it tightly. Why did pain always come to hurt innocent people? Amora was only a victim of her parents' selfishness, and Danish was no different. Adults always used love as an excuse for their own happiness.
Love was nothing but a load of crap. If love truly existed, men and women wouldn't hurt each other so deeply that someone else had to suffer for it. Danish roughly wiped his face. Love was nothing more than a pile of garbage. Disgusting.