Bound By Fate, Loved By Choice

Episode 1: The Unexpected Meeting The rain had been falling for almost an hour when Aria rushed out of the bakery, holding a small umbrella above her head. She was already late. “Why today of all days?” she muttered, hurrying down the street while trying not to step into the puddles covering the sidewalk. Aria had always believed that some days were simply meant to go wrong. But she never imagined that one of those days would change her life forever. As she reached the corner, a black car suddenly stopped in front of her. Aria froze. The passenger door opened, and a tall man stepped out. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, and his expression was cold enough to make her forget about the rain. “Are you blind?” he asked. Aria stared at him in disbelief. “Excuse me?” “You almost walked straight into my car.” “I did not!” she replied, annoyed. “Your driver stopped right in front of me.” The man's eyes narrowed. “You should watch where you're going.” “And you should learn how to speak to people,” Aria shot back. For a moment, they simply stared at each other. Neither of them knew the other's name. Neither knew that their paths would cross again and again. The man finally turned away. “Unbelievable,” he muttered before getting back into the car. Aria watched the car disappear into the rain. “Rude,” she whispered. Inside the car, Zayn Alexander glanced through the window at the woman standing in the rain. For reasons he couldn't understand, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He had spent years building walls around his heart. Love was something he had stopped believing in long ago. Yet somehow, a complete stranger had managed to irritate him—and capture his attention—in less than five minutes. Neither Aria nor Zayn knew it yet, but that rainy evening was the beginning of a love story neither of them had chosen. Or perhaps fate had chosen it for them.