The Ring He Meant to Give

art

bedroom window, watching the faint shimmer of city lights blur under the soft drizzle outside. Her fingers gently toy

The ring Michael ha

had faltered, his eyes searching hers for something unspoken. He reached into his pocket, fingers brus

ng his jaw. "I have to take this," he said quietly,

the space between them felt colder. The words nev

ing the empty promise o

on sunlit afternoons, whispered secrets under the stars, and

in. Confident. The kind of ma

day was d

a future they had hoped to build. But sometimes, th

softly, pulling he

l: "Can we talk? I ow

d. Was she rea

countless hours sharing coffee and dreams. Michael arrived fir

ce lit up, but the tension

t, the hum of quiet conversatio

, Micha

ed to hurt you. The ring - I meant to give it

in her bag, feeling the weight of

n't you?" she

esn't follow the plans we make. I had to make

, searching for the trut

," she w

family, the pressure he faced, the doubts that clouded his mind. The ring had bee

ng in, he hadn't been sure i

ng a mixture of sadn

out rings or words. It was about the

. The air felt lighter, filled with the pos

ed - but so did the

voices inside. Outside, the world felt colder - but Emma didn't not

g miles apart. The pavement was slick from the rain, reflec

broke the silenc

o, but I didn't know how. My family - they expect

have to be ready to love me, Michael. I don'

the things I've been carrying - the debts, the promis

d gently. "No one's perfect. But I w

Then maybe... maybe this ring isn't just a symbol of a pro

e velvet box. Holding it out to him, she sa

. Inside, the silver ring gleamed under the str

e said, "Will you take this ring - and

find the words. The city around them faded into the

nt, nothing

t T

e. Yet beneath the happiness, a quiet unease stirred in the back of her mind. She glan

in, slower this time, as

o long to tell me?"

"Because sometimes, the hardest battles are the ones we fight

t have to carry everything alone, Michael. I w

ng. "I'm scared, Emma. Not of

eek. "We don't have to be perf

e street. They both turned, tension prickling the air. A man w

stepped in front of

hen, without warning, he dropped a small package

. The package was wrapped in plain

own cautiously

olded letter a

s face w

anges everything

nfused and alarmed. "M

nervously. "It's from my past - som

mise of their future suddenly felt fragile, threa