Alfred sat on the floor of his apartment, the engagement ring still clutched loosely in his hand. Hours, maybe days, passed he didn't know. The clock ticked on the wall, indifferent to the storm inside him.
He hadn't eaten. He hadn't slept. The shower sat untouched, his work emails ignored, his phone buzzing with missed calls from everyone who cared. But he couldn't move. He couldn't breathe properly. His world had ended the moment Splendour walked out the door.
"She… she loved me once," he whispered to the empty room, his voice hoarse. "And now… she's gone. She chose him. After everything…"
Memories of her flooded him her laugh, the way she tucked her hair behind her ear, the late-night whispers of their dreams, the blood covenant they had made. Every memory was a knife twisting in his chest.
He tried to rise, to go to work, to eat something, anything — but his body refused. He lay back against the wall, staring at the ceiling, feeling hollow. The apartment smelled faintly of coffee and her perfume, as if mocking him with her absence.
> "How… how can she just leave like that?" he choked out, tears streaming down his face. "After seven years… after I gave her everything… after I loved her like my own soul?"
Time passed. Or maybe it didn't. Alfred had become a shadow of himself — a man hollowed by loss, trapped in the echo of what once was. Nights were the worst. He would curl into himself on the cold floor, replaying their moments together, whispering her name like a prayer no one else could hear.
"Splendour… please…" he murmured, voice breaking. "Please come back… I'll still wait… I'll still love you… I'll do anything…"
But there was no reply. Only silence. And in that silence, Alfred knew one terrifying truth: the love he had for Splendour wasn't a joke. It had consumed him, and now, without her, he was lost.
Alfred remained there, a shadow on the floor, gripping the ring as though it was the only thing keeping him tethered to reality. The man who had once been strong, patient, and full of life now existed only in fragments broken, bleeding, and haunted by the girl who had walked away.