My husband

Immediately after she leaves, I turn my attention to Leon, who’s still floating beside me like a ghost.

“What happened to Oli—well, me?” I ask, my voice trembling slightly.

He lets out a heavy sigh, his expression a mix of concern and resignation. “You cut your wrist and bled out in the bathtub.”

Wow! That is disturbing to hear. The words sink in like stones in my stomach.

“What the hell did he go through to want to die so painfully—and quickly?” I ask, grappling with the weight of my actions.

Leon shrugs, his gaze distant. “You have to find that out yourself; it’s part of the program.”

I pull the sleeves of the hospital gown I’m wearing up, revealing bandages wrapped tightly around my wrist. It must have really been bad.

I turn to ask Leon something else, but before I can speak, the door flings open. A blonde figure rushes into the room, his eyes wide with panic.

“Oh my sweet, sweet brother!” he cries out as he runs to me and sits down beside me, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

“Eniz?” I manage to say, surprised.

He pulls back slightly, his hands gripping my shoulders as if he’s afraid I’ll disappear again. “You’re okay? You’re okay?” His voice quivers with emotion as tears well up in his eyes. “You shouldn’t have done that.” He places his head on my shoulder, and I can feel the warmth of his tears soaking into my gown.

“Oliver’s brother—well, your little brother Eniz is the one who found you in the bathtub,” Leon says quietly from behind us. My heart sinks at the realization; it must have been terrible for him.

“You should have thought of me! Mum and Dad are no more—did you even think of me?” Eniz sobs into my shoulder. His grief feels like a weight pressing down on me.

“I’m sorry; I’m really sorry,” I whisper back, hugging him tightly as if I could somehow absorb his pain.

I was the only child in my other life, so this...this felt kind of new to me. Having a little brother to cling to me.

He pulls back again, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m not mad; you’re okay now, right?”

I nod slowly in reply. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t—don’t ever do that again!” He stutters through tears, wiping them away aggressively but they keep coming. “Please don’t do it again!”

I sigh deeply and ruffle his hair gently. “I won’t; now please stop crying. It’s not nice seeing you cry; come on, stop crying.”

He nods and manages a small smile through his tears. “Are you hungry? I can get the maids to prepare you something and we can eat together.”

“Sure, I’d like that,” I say softly.

He beams at me before standing up and leaving the room. As soon as he disappears down the hall, I turn back to Leon with a frown.

“He said something about Mum and Dad being no more—is it true?” My voice is barely above a whisper.

Leon nods solemnly. “Yes, your parents died when you were six and Eniz four.”

“Oh.” The weight of that truth settles heavily on my chest. “That must have been… terrible.”

“Oh, it was,” Leon replies quietly.

“So what happened? Where did they go after that?”

Suddenly, a male figure appears at the door—a striking man in a navy blue Armani suit with black loafers that gleam under the fluorescent lights. He exudes an icy aura that sends chills down my spine.

“And this Royalty is your husband,” Leon says matter-of-factly.

I stare at him in disbelief, taking in every detail of his appearance. He is undeniably handsome—almost painfully so—with fair skin and forest green eyes that seem cold and unwelcoming.

“Who were you talking to?” he demands as he steps further into the room.

“No one,” I reply quickly. I don't need another person to think I'm going crazy.

He frowns deeply as if my answer has offended him somehow. “Why did you do it? Are you trying to ruin my reputation with your attempts at suicide?” He scoffs dismissively. “Cutting your wrist? Pathetic! If you really want to die, then make sure you do something that’ll actually kill you.”

My jaw drops in shock at his callousness. His husband just survived an attempted suicide and this is his reaction? I glance over at Leon for answers but find only a shrug of indifference.

“It was an arranged marriage; he doesn’t care about you,” Leon explains quietly. “But Oliver does—Oliver fell in love with him—but all he does is insult him.”

I sigh heavily at this new layer of tragedy unfolding around us. So there’s another reason why Oliver would want to end it all—this man’s cruelty is suffocating enough for even me that just met him.

“Are you even listening to me?” he yells suddenly, snapping me from my thoughts. I look up at him defiantly as he continues ranting about how pathetic I am for not taking life seriously.

“You are really pathetic!”

I scoff loudly, folding my arms across my chest defiantly. “You are the worst!”

“What?” He looks both shocked and confused by my outburst.

“Your husband just survived an attempted suicide—and that is your takeaway?” I snicker incredulously before rolling my eyes dramatically. “I might be pathetic but you are an asshole—an absolute fucking asshole.”

With that final word hanging in the air like a challenge, I lay back down on my bed with an exaggerated sigh of frustration. “Now can you get out? Looking at your face is making me want to cut my wrist again.”

He shakes himself from whatever trance he was in and glares at me fiercely but doesn’t respond verbally; instead, he simply turns around and storms out of the room with all the grace of someone who believes they’ve been wronged.

As silence envelops me once more, I close my eyes for just a moment—letting myself breathe deeply while trying to process everything swirling within my mind and heart.