10
1095 Words
Sim’s POV
The canvas was wet with stormy grays, streaked with jagged strokes of white. Sim pressed harder with her brush, letting her hand do what her heart couldn’t say.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Ethan—his smile, his warmth, his promises. “You’re the one I choose.” But the memory was poisoned now. He hadn’t chosen her. He had chosen silence. He had chosen his family.
And worst of all—he had chosen Aira.
Her best friend.
Sim swallowed hard, her eyes burning. The studio was silent except for the scraping of her brush. She hated that her heart still ached for him, even after he’d left her in ruins.
“Storms again?” a voice interrupted.
She looked up. Adrian leaned in the doorway, his usual half-smile softening when he saw her face. Unlike Ethan, Adrian never looked at her like she was fragile glass. He looked at her like she was worth holding steady.
“You paint storms,” Adrian said, walking closer, “but you don’t realize—you survived them.”
Sim lowered her brush, blinking back tears. He always knew what to say.
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Ethan’s POV
She was with him again. Ethan watched from across the street, fists clenched, as Adrian bent to carry Sim’s paint supplies. She laughed faintly at something he said. That laugh used to belong to him.
He wanted to run to her, to tell her the truth—that the engagement with Aira was a prison he never chose. That every silence, every absence, had been him trying to protect her.
But all he could see now was her smile aimed at someone else.
His father’s voice echoed in his mind: “Stay away from her, or we’ll destroy her reputation. We’ll make sure no gallery ever takes her work.”
Ethan gritted his teeth. If he pushed too hard, they could ruin her life. But if he stayed back, he was losing her anyway.
And maybe, he thought bitterly, Adrian was already winning.
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Adrian’s POV
He wasn’t blind. He saw the shadows Ethan left behind, the tears Sim tried to hide when she thought no one was watching.
Adrian never planned to fall for her. At first, he only wanted to help, to give her comfort when the world seemed cruel. But the more time he spent by her side, the more he realized—Sim wasn’t just someone to protect. She was someone to love.
Every smile he coaxed from her felt like victory. Every time she leaned on him, even a little, he swore he’d never let her down like Ethan had.
But Adrian also knew the truth: her heart was still tangled with Ethan’s. He could see it in her eyes, the way they clouded when Ethan’s name came up.
So Adrian made himself a promise. I’ll wait. Even if she never looks at me the way she looked at him, I’ll wait.
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Aira’s POV
The ring on her finger felt like a shackle. Aira stared at it, her stomach twisting.
She had never wanted this. Never wanted Ethan. He was her best friend’s love, not hers. But her parents and his parents had decided long ago that it was “suitable.” A neat alliance between families.
And now Sim looked at her like she was a traitor.
The guilt ate at her. She had tried to tell Sim she didn’t want it, tried to refuse, but her voice had never been strong enough. She was trapped too.
Still, watching Sim’s heart break—it was unbearable. And watching Ethan look at Sim while standing beside her? That was worse.
Aira clenched her fists. If only I had been braver. If only I had said no sooner.
Now it was too late. And she feared she would lose Sim forever.
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Sim’s POV
She tried to convince herself she was moving on. Adrian made her laugh when she thought she’d forgotten how. He listened when her voice cracked, and he never turned away from her storms.
One evening, when rain pounded on the roof, Adrian sat beside her with a cup of tea. “Sim,” he said softly, “you don’t have to be strong for me. Let yourself rest. Let me take care of you.”
Her chest tightened. The kindness in his eyes was steady, unwavering. A different kind of love than Ethan’s fire—this was warmth, safety, shelter.
For a dangerous second, she wanted to believe she could fall into it.
But then Ethan’s voice echoed in her mind, fierce and desperate: “You’re my everything. I’d rather lose the world than lose you.”
Her heart split down the middle. She hated Ethan for breaking her, but she couldn’t hate the love that still clung to her bones.
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Ethan’s POV
Jealousy burned through him like acid. When he saw Adrian’s hand brush Sim’s arm, when he saw her lean toward him, Ethan snapped.
He confronted Adrian outside the community center, rain soaking them both. “Stay away from her.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Why? Because you left her bleeding and now you can’t stand that someone else is helping her heal?”
Ethan’s fists clenched. “You don’t understand. I never stopped loving her.”
“Then why,” Adrian shot back, eyes blazing, “does she cry herself to sleep every night believing you abandoned her?”
The words struck like a blade. Ethan staggered, speechless. Adrian walked past him, shoulders squared, leaving Ethan in the rain with nothing but his regret.
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Sim’s POV
When she learned of the confrontation, she felt anger rise like a tide.
“How dare you,” she whispered at Ethan when he tried to explain. “How dare you fight him when you didn’t fight for me?”
His eyes pleaded. “Sim, everything I did—it was to protect you. They threatened your name, your career. I couldn’t risk—”
“Protect me?” Her laugh was sharp, bitter. “By letting me believe you chose her? By letting me drown in silence?”
Tears blurred her vision. “You broke me, Ethan. And now you want to blame Adrian for picking up the pieces?”
She turned away, and when she stumbled, Adrian was there to catch her. Steady. Present. Safe.
And in that moment, Sim realized she was no longer just mourning Ethan. She was beginning to wonder if Adrian was the shelter she had been searching for all along.
- Writer
