The first memory I ever had of love was warmth.

I was five years old,

running barefoot through our tiny garden,

my laughter echoing in the afternoon air.

My mother twirled me around, her smile as bright as the sun, while my father watched with a gentle expression. Back then, love felt like something soft-like the breeze, like my mother's embrace, like the warmth of their intertwined fingers.

I believed in love. I believed in fate.

But then, one night, everything changed.

A shattering noise, followed by my mother's muffled sobs. My tiny feet carried me down the hall, my heartbeat pounding louder than my footsteps. And then I saw it-

My father, towering over my mother, his face twisted in anger. His hand raised. The sharp sound of a slap cut through the air. She crumpled to the floor, clutching her cheek, her eyes filled with something I didn't understand at the time-pain?, fear?, or.. resignation.

And then I saw it.

The Red String of Fate that once bound them together-glowing faintly between their ring fingers-was now loose. Tangled. Frayed. And as I watched in horror, it slowly untwisted, thread by thread, until it faded completely.

Love was supposed to be forever. Soulmates were supposed to stay together. But if fate was real, then why did my mother's string disappear?

That night, I learned the truth. Love wasn't real. Fate was a lie.

I don't believe in love. Ever.

People whisper about the Red String like it's some fairytale. Like it's this magical, unbreakable bond between two people meant for each other. They cling to it, chase after it, let it control their lives. But I refuse to be one of them.

I promised myself, a long time ago, that I would never let fate decide my life. I would never need someone the way my mother needed my father.

Love makes you weak. It binds you to people who can destroy you.

And I'll never let it happen to me.

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Chapters will be uploaded once 'Equations 4 love' and 'Hello Mr Nice Guy' is Complete.