29
LUCIEN
Playing volleyball yesterday nearly knocked the life out of my already failing heart. I know I got carried away. But I want to enjoy things while I'm still here. Every moment. Every laugh. Every stupid game.
I found my way to the hotel courtyard garden. A small fountain bubbled in the center, water catching the warm glow of string lights wrapped around the trees. The air smelled like jasmine and damp stone. Wrought iron benches curved around the fountain, and the whole space felt tucked away from the rest of the world, quiet and forgotten.
Sabrina was already there.
She sat on the edge of the fountain, her fingers trailing through the cool water. Her heels were kicked off beside her, bare feet resting on the stone. She was staring down at her reflection, lost in thought, a faint crease between her brows.
She looked up at the sound of my footsteps. Her expression shifted into a smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She pulled her hand from the water and shook off the droplets.
"Brother-in-law." She patted the stone beside her.
I sat down. The fountain's edge was cool beneath my palms. My hands were shaking. From nerves. From my illness. From what I was about to do.
I reached down and splashed a little water on my face, buying myself a second to breathe. The coolness helped.
"Selena was telling me you're moving to Mumbai for a year."
Sabrina nodded, though her expression looked uncertain. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, making herself smaller.
"Are you ready to take on the world?"
She hesitated, staring down at her hands. Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her dress, twisting the fabric.
"What's bothering you?" I asked.
She sighed, long and heavy. "I love Rohit," she said quietly. "But I'm worried. I feel like I'm leaving everything behind to start a new life with him in a foreign country." She shook her head, anxiety spilling out quickly. "It just doesn't feel like me, Lucien."
She pressed her palms against the stone and leaned back, looking up at the sky. The string lights reflected in her eyes.
"Should I just call the whole thing off?" Her voice cracked. "What if I'm making a mistake? Maybe I should just tell him now and get it over with. Rip the bandage off."
She spoke faster and faster, pulling out her phone. Her fingers began typing.
I gently took the phone from her hands and set it on the bench behind us, out of reach. "You got this."
She reached for it automatically, then stopped. "With all due respect," she muttered, her voice tight, "I don't think I do."
Her shoulders slumped. She drew a shaky breath and let it out.
And I saw it then. The vulnerability. The fear. The same fear Selena used to carry.
"Sabrina," I said softly. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, turning to face her. "I've heard a lot about you. And the thing I hear most is that you can handle anything. People admire you. They trust you."
I held her gaze. The fountain bubbled softly between us.
"So what makes Mumbai any different? It's a new place, a new culture. But you're still you. And from what I can see, Rohit genuinely has your back."
She listened quietly, her fingers still twisted in the hem of her dress.
"But what I also know," I continued, "is that you're fiercely independent. Either way." She stared at me. "So think of it as an adventure," I said. "Not pressure to make his family love you."
I smiled and reached over, gently untwisting her fingers from her dress. She let me.
"They will love you in time. Because you're you."
She looked at me for a long moment. The fountain glittered. A night bird called somewhere in the trees.
Then suddenly she jumped into my arms. Wrapped them around me tightly. Her body shook slightly.
"Thank you."
I laughed and hugged her back, one hand patting her shoulder. "Anytime, little sister."
She leaned back dramatically and exhaled, wiping under her eyes with the back of her hand. "Whew. And here Selena made it sound like you were intimidating. I thought I'd get scolded for my life choices."
I chuckled and reached down to pick up a small pebble from the ground. I tossed it into the fountain. It landed with a soft plunk, sending ripples across the water. "I'm on my best behavior. A, you're family. And B, she would have my head."
"Yeah, I don't wanna get exiled like… cough cough… Gerald."
I laughed again. "She told you about that?"
"Of course she tells me everything."
I smiled quietly. Good. That meant Sabrina would be there for Selena after I was gone.
She nudged my shoulder with hers. "By the way, I totally approve of you," she said. "You're good for her. The best thing that ever happened to her."
My chest tightened. I thought of Selena. My Selena. I looked down at my hands resting on my knees and watched them tremble.
"She's happy, you know," Sabrina continued. "With you. Happier than I've ever seen her."
"I know."
"Then why do you look like someone died?"
I didn't answer. I picked up another pebble and turned it over in my fingers. Smooth. Gray. Worn down by time.
Her blue eyes studied me. Waiting. She was good at that.
It was my turn to sigh. I knew I had to tell her. If anyone could make sure Selena was okay after I was gone, it was Sabrina. But it was hard. Her wedding was coming up soon. After that she would leave for Mumbai.
Time was something I didn't have.
I closed my eyes and let the pebble drop from my fingers. It clicked against the stone.
"I'm dying, Sabrina."
The words fell into the quiet. The fountain kept bubbling. The string lights kept glowing. The world didn't stop.
Her entire body went still. The color drained from her face.
"What?" she whispered.
I turned to face her fully. "My heart is failing," I said quietly. "I have months. Maybe less."
She stared at me. Completely lost. She pushed herself off the fountain and paced a few steps across the stone, her bare feet slapping softly. Then she pressed her hands against her face.
"No… that's not—" Her breathing became uneven.
And then the tears came.
Sabrina was the strong one. The one who held the family together. The one who always knew what to say. But now she was falling apart. And it killed me. Because she wasn't crying for me. She was crying for her sister.
She sank to the ground, her back against the fountain's edge. I knelt beside her and offered my handkerchief.
"No… this can't happen to her again," she sobbed. "She's been through so much. You were supposed to be her happy ever after," she whispered. "How could the universe take you away from her, Lucien? She might never recover from this."
She wiped her eyes. I helped her stand, my hand steady on her elbow.
"Does Selena know?"
I shook my head.
Her face crumpled again.
"I told you because I need your help with something."
She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes. "With what?"
"I need you to help me give her back to Kai."
She stared at me. Then laughed bitterly, the sound echoing off the courtyard walls. "You're joking."
"I'm not."
She blew into the handkerchief and put her hands on her hips, barefoot on the cold stone. "You want me to help you give her back to the man who destroyed her?"
"I want her happy when I'm gone."
She shook her head and started pacing again, her footsteps echoing. "Lucien… do you actually know everything that happened between them?"
"Kai told me his version."
She stopped pacing. Crossed her arms. "People don't change that much."
"Sometimes they do," I said. "When the loss is great enough."
She stared out at the fountain, watching the water ripple. "He was her best friend, you know," she said quietly. "Before everything. Before Jade. Before the cruelty. They were inseparable."
"I know."
"When he left her… she didn't eat for weeks." My chest tightened. "Mum and I had to force her to shower."
Sabrina sat back down on the fountain's edge and dipped her hand in the water again, watching the ripples spread.
"And now you want me to help her go back to that?"
"I want her to have the choice."
Silence stretched between them. The only sound was the fountain and the distant hum of the city.
Finally she looked at me. "What's your plan?"
I told her. The observations. The tests. The slow build. The hope.
When I finished she shook her head slowly. "You're dying… and you're spending your last months planning her future with another man."
I smiled softly. "I'm spending my last months making sure she's loved."
She pulled me into a fierce hug, her arms tight around my neck. "You're a good man."
"I'm just a man who loves your sister."
She pulled back and wiped her eyes again. "I'll help you."
"But if he hurts her—"
"You won't have to kill him," I said. "I'll do it from the grave."
She laughed through tears, the sound bright and broken all at once. "We're really doing this."
"We're really doing this."
She stared at the fountain one last time, watching the water catch the light. "God help us all."
We stood there in silence. Two people carrying a secret that would shatter Selena's world.
"Lucien?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you… for loving her this much. For wanting her happy even if it's not with you."
"She made it easy."
I reached down and picked up one last pebble. I held it out to her. She looked at it, confused, then took it.
"For when you're in Mumbai and you miss home," I said. "Throw it in the water. Make a wish. I'll be listening."
Her eyes filled with tears again, but she smiled. She closed her fingers around the pebble and tucked it into her pocket.
"So," she said quietly, "what do we do first?"
I looked out at the courtyard, at the string lights, at the fountain that would keep bubbling long after I was gone. "We watch," I said. "We wait. And we see if he's worthy."
She nodded slowly. "And if he's not?"
"Then we find someone who is."
We stood there for a long time. Two conspirators. Two people trying to rewrite a future before time ran out.
But in the quiet of the night, one thought stayed with me. Selena deserved a love that lasted forever. And if mine couldn't, then I would spend the rest of my life making sure she found one that could.
For the first time since the doctor told me I was dying, I realized something worse than death. I was going to have to watch the woman I loved fall in love with someone else.