Try to heal

CHAPTER 29

OLERATO – POV

The One Who Stayed

I didn't want the palace.

The palace held too much history, too many eyes, too many expectations about my body and what it was supposed to produce. I didn't want silence that felt heavy with judgment or prayers whispered about my womb when I could barely breathe myself.

So when the nurse asked where I would be going, my answer came softly but firmly.

"Lihle's place."

He looked at me then, surprise flickering across his face, but he didn't question it. He just nodded, like he understood that this wasn't about comfort—it was about safety.

The drive was quiet.

Not peaceful. Just heavy.

The city moved around us like nothing had happened. Cars hooted. People laughed at street corners. Life carried on while mine felt like it had cracked open and spilled onto the road.

I pressed my hands together tightly, afraid to touch my stomach again.

Afraid of what I had lost.

"I didn't know," I whispered suddenly. "If I had known there were two…"

My voice broke completely.

Lihle pulled the car over immediately.

He turned to me, eyes dark and filled with something raw. I didn't even finish the sentence before the tears came, violent and unstoppable.

"I lost my baby," I cried. "I lost one of them."

He leaned across the seat and pulled me into his chest, holding me like he was afraid I might disappear.

"You didn't fail," he said hoarsely. "You hear me? You didn't."

But grief doesn't listen to reason.

By the time we reached his house, my body felt heavy, foreign, like it no longer belonged to me.

The door closed behind us, sealing the quiet inside.

No voices. No servants. No palace walls listening.

Just us.

I dropped my bag and slid down the wall, my knees giving in. The moment my back hit the paint, the reality of it all crushed me.

Lihle was there instantly, kneeling in front of me, his hands trembling as he held my face.

"I don't know how to do this," I whispered. "I don't know how to be okay."

"You don't have to be okay," he said softly. "Just be here."

He helped me to the bedroom slowly, carefully. The bed looked too clean, too white. My chest tightened as memory flashed—blood, panic, fear.

I lay down, shaking.

Lihle sat beside me, not touching until I reached for him. When I did, he held me gently, like my body was made of something fragile and sacred.

I placed my hands on my stomach.

One heartbeat still there.

One gone.

"I keep thinking if I had noticed earlier… if I had rested more…" My voice cracked. "Maybe both of them would still be here."

He shook his head. "No, Rato. Stop hurting yourself."

Tears soaked into the pillow as I cried quietly, deeply. Not loud. Just broken.

Time passed strangely after that.

At some point, night settled in. The room dimmed. The world outside quieted.

I turned toward him slowly. "I'm scared."

"I know," he whispered.

"I'm still pregnant."

"I know."

"I lost one."

"I know."

I took his hand and placed it on my stomach.

"This one stayed," I said softly. "And I don't know why… but I will protect them. Even if it costs me everything."

His throat bobbed as he swallowed.

"I'll protect you both," he said.

He leaned down then, slowly, like he was afraid of breaking the moment. His forehead rested against mine, his breath warm and shaky.

"I love you, Rato," he whispered.

Then he kissed me.

Soft. Careful. Full of grief and promise and something deeper than fear.

And for the first time since I lost my baby—

I didn't feel alone.

Sorry for shot chapter currently busy