EXTRACT FROM DESTINY BY TAYMA HUNTE
The words landed with weight, like a stone dropped in still water. Destiny felt the ripple spread through her, but she stayed still, caught off guard.
Jamal held her gaze, waiting, bracing himself.
“A fiancée.”
The word settled between them, sharp and unmoving.
Last night replayed in pieces. The laughter. The way he looked at her like he saw something rare. The effortless pull between them.
And now this.
He belonged to someone else.
Something inside her hardened.
She could have asked how long.
She could have asked why he came.
She could have asked if any of it was real.
But she didn’t.
She quietly exhaled. Then, with a voice steadier than she felt, she spoke.
“Okay.”
Jamal blinked.
She saw it. The flash of something. Surprise. Guilt. Maybe even regret.
But she didn’t ask for more. Didn’t demand answers. Didn’t beg for something that was never meant to be hers.
Instead, she stepped back. One quiet retreat after another. Pulling herself away from everything she had felt.
The flicker of hope. The softness she had finally let breathe.
She refused to hold onto what wasn’t hers to keep.
Jamal dragged a hand over his jaw, as if steadying himself. Then he stood.
He walked to the door.
She didn’t stop him.
And when it closed behind him, the air around her felt altered.
It had been a long time since she’d felt anything close to real hope.
And just like that, she had to let it go.