Mom's younger sister, an angel on earth, beautiful inside and out.

I love you aunt.

❥𝐿𝒶𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝓂𝓈

𝓡𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓽

Everything started when I was little. When I went to my grandmother's house and she was there, so sweet, so smiling, so joyful. It was a nightmare when my mom said it was time to go home. I always made a fuss because I wanted our moment to be eternal. I didn't understand why, as I was very small, but I always felt something for her, something indescribable. I always wanted to be close to her. She was my favorite person. Until everything went wrong in my life when she got married. I remember she was crying, desperately shouting, "I don't want to get married!" And I was desperate for her. I didn't want her to get married; it felt like the end of her world.

"Auntie, will you marry me?" Her melancholic face gave way to a small smile of happiness upon hearing my request.

"You are too young, dear," she said.

"I can make you happy," I replied.

From then on, I set it in my mind that I needed to save money to support our life together. I believed in that, but I grew up and realized it was kind of impossible. But I didn't give up. I bothered my mom every single day to be able to go to her house because she moved out of my grandmother's house since she got married. Until one beautiful yet sad day, we decided to go to her house.

It was nice, but I couldn't help but notice her long clothes, as if she wanted to hide something. Her face no longer had the happiness it once did, the enthusiasm, but she still looked beautiful, even when sad.

Seeing her alone washing the dishes in the kitchen, I approached her to observe her better. I was no longer a child, but I wanted to behave like one with her so that she would treat me sweetly again.

"Hi, Nana," she said. Nana was the affectionate nickname my family gave me, but it sent shivers down my spine every time I heard it from her lips.

As always, she turned and looked at me with a smile on her face, but that smile was not the same. It wasn't that genuine smile. It was false. You could see how unhappy she was in that life. It broke my heart with sadness. I just wanted to run away with her to far away places so she could be happy again.

"Aunt, are you still sad about this marriage?" My aunt was surprised, unable to hide it. I took her hand and said that my proposal was still on the table, that I was already 15 and could drop out of school to work and support us.

"That's impossible!" she exclaimed.

"Why?"

"I’m already 15." Seeing her sadness again, the desperation to pull her out of that life made me realize that what I truly felt for her was not familial love, but real love.

Heavy and quick footsteps approached us. Her husband, furious, pushed me away in anger. "What does this mean?" he shouted. "What the hell are you doing with this boy? I don't want you with him anymore."

I fell to the ground, filled with rage. My aunt rushed to help me. On one hand, I was happy. She hugged me after such a long time and seemed genuinely worried about me. "Stop it, he’s my nephew!"

"I heard your little chat. I don't want this boy here," he said in an aggressive tone.

"That's exactly what you heard. Unlike you, I can make her happy!" With blood in his eyes, he grabbed me forcefully and threw me out of the house. My mother, seeing that situation, became furious and said she would never step foot in that house while he was alive.

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't do anything. And now I couldn't see her anymore. It was eating me alive. It saddened me. It made me desperate every night before going to sleep. My dark circles were deep, my heart broken as I always remembered the sad expression on her face. So, I decided I would be stronger to pull her out of that suffering. I ate well, focused on my studies to provide her with a dignified life. No matter how the years passed, my love for her only grew.  I began to understand that aunt and nephew couldn't work, but I didn't care. I knew I could die without her. Those long three years were hell away from you, aunt.