"Within the echoes of love and the crucible of adversity, we find the strength to forge our own worth."-N.A. Shah

The phone buzzed, a familiar ghost vibrating in his pocket. He stared at the screen, the name a stark reminder of a love fractured by hardship. Tonight, his reflection was different, etched with the hard-won lines of self-reliance. No hummingbird thrummed in his chest; a quiet ember glowed instead.

He remembered the call, choked with vulnerability, met with echoing silence. Her dreams, once interwoven with his, had drifted apart like leaves in a storm. Love, he'd believed, was a...