Make My Heart Believe a Lie

Chapter 57

✨A Day That Felt Like Forever✨

Flora Pov

Her Body Remembers Kindness.

Flora learned, slowly, that a body could change its mind.

For most of her life her nerves had lived like thin wires pulled too tight. Sound arrived too loudly. Touch came with questions. Even silence felt like the moment before something broke. She had mistaken that feeling for normal the way a child mistakes a storm for the sky itself.

Nasir disrupted that weather.

It did not happen in one grand moment. There was no single morning she woke and felt new. It happened in small, unremarkable pieces—like stitches so fine she did not notice the wound closing.

Flora woke slowly, wrapped in warmth that had nothing to do with the morning sun spilling through the wide bedroom windows. The light stretched across the sheets in pale gold ribbons, catching in the soft folds of the blankets and brushing gently across her face.

For a moment she stayed still, blinking sleep from her eyes, letting herself drift between dreams and waking.

Then she remembered.

The ring.

Her hand lifted instinctively from the pillow, and she turned it slightly, watching how the diamond caught the morning light. A bright spark flashed across the room.

Flora smiled.

She still couldn’t quite believe it. Yesterday evening she had been pacing around the living room, anxious about everything in her life—her future, Nasir, the strange and powerful way he had woven himself into her world.

Now she was lying in his bed.

Engaged.

The word felt strange and beautiful at the same time.

A soft sound beside her made her turn.

Nasir was still asleep, one arm thrown lazily over his head, the other resting near her waist like he had reached for her even in his dreams. His dark hair was slightly messy, his expression calm in a way she rarely saw when he was awake.

Flora propped herself up on one elbow and studied him.

The powerful, intimidating man everyone else seemed slightly afraid of looked peaceful now. Younger, almost. Vulnerable in a way that made something warm bloom in her chest.

Her fiancé.

The word sent another small thrill through her.

She carefully slid out of the bed, trying not to wake him. The floor felt cool beneath her bare feet as she crossed the room and pulled one of his oversized shirts from the chair.

It smelled like him.

She slipped it on anyway.

When she turned back toward the bed, Nasir was already watching her.

His dark eyes followed her movements with quiet amusement.

“Planning to steal all my clothes now that we’re engaged?” he asked, his voice still rough with sleep.

Flora laughed softly.

“They’re comfortable,” she said, tugging the shirt lower down her thighs. “And technically they belong to my future husband.”

Nasir pushed himself upright, leaning back against the headboard. His gaze moved slowly over her before returning to her face.

“Dangerous argument,” he murmured.

Flora walked back to the bed and climbed onto it beside him, sitting cross-legged as the sunlight warmed the room around them.

“Good morning,” she said.

Nasir reached for her hand automatically, his thumb brushing over the ring.

“Morning,” he replied.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

The quiet between them felt easy.

Flora leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed contentedly.

“I feel… different today,” she admitted.

Nasir glanced down at her.

“Different how?”

She thought about it for a moment.

“Calmer,” she said finally. “Like something in my brain finally stopped panicking.”

Nasir chuckled quietly.

“Your nervous system finally gave up fighting me?”

Flora laughed.

“Honestly?” she said. “Yes.”

She turned slightly to look at him.

“You’ve basically reset it.”

Nasir lifted an eyebrow.

“That sounds like a lot of responsibility.”

“You proposed,” she reminded him.

“And you said yes.”

Her smile widened.

They spent the morning slowly.

Flora made coffee while Nasir cooked breakfast, which mostly consisted of him pretending he knew what he was doing while she leaned against the counter watching him.

At one point he turned around with a spatula and caught her staring.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re domestic,” she said with exaggerated seriousness.

Nasir scoffed.

“Don’t spread rumors.”

She laughed and stole a piece of toast from the plate.

After breakfast they walked through the city together, hands linked loosely between them.

Flora noticed everything more sharply that day—the color of the sky, the cool breeze moving through the streets, the way strangers smiled when they passed.

Everything felt brighter.

Nasir kept glancing down at her hand.

Finally she noticed.

“You’re checking the ring again,” she teased.

“Making sure it’s still there.”

“It’s not going anywhere.”

He squeezed her fingers slightly.

“Good.”

They wandered through small shops and quiet streets for hours.

At one point they stopped at a tiny bookstore tucked between two cafés. Flora disappeared into the aisles while Nasir followed behind her like a patient shadow.

She found him leaning against a shelf when she returned with three novels in her arms.

“Already?” he said.

“I read fast.”

“You collect faster.”

Flora stuck her tongue out at him.

Nasir paid for the books without argument.

Later they found a small restaurant with outdoor tables. The afternoon sun was warm, and the smell of food drifted through the air.

Flora sat across from him watching the way the light caught the sharp lines of his face.

“You’re staring again,” he said.

“You’re handsome,” she replied casually.

Nasir leaned back in his chair.

“You say that like it’s surprising.”

Flora laughed.

“It still is sometimes.”

The afternoon passed easily.

They talked about everything and nothing—future travel plans, ridiculous childhood stories, the house Nasir kept promising he would show her.

Flora realized something halfway through the conversation.

She wasn’t anxious.

Normally her mind raced with doubts and fears about the future.

But sitting there with Nasir across the table, sunlight on his shoulders and his fingers loosely wrapped around hers, she felt steady.

Grounded.

Like the chaos inside her had finally quieted.

“You’re smiling again,” he said.

“I know.”

“What’s going on in that head?”

She leaned forward slightly.

“You reset my nervous system,” she repeated with a grin.

Nasir laughed.

“I should charge for that.”

They walked home in the late afternoon.

Flora kicked off her shoes the moment they stepped inside the house and collapsed dramatically onto the couch.

“My legs are dead.”

Nasir dropped beside her.

“You walked three miles.”

“Three emotional miles,” she corrected.

He pulled her against his side.

“Tragic.”

Flora rested her head against his chest and listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

For a long moment neither of them moved.

Then Nasir’s phone rang.

The sound shattered the calm.

He sighed and reached for it.

Flora watched his expression change slightly as he listened.

The relaxed warmth disappeared from his face, replaced by the focused intensity she had seen before.

Work.

Responsibility.

The world outside their peaceful bubble.

He ended the call and looked at her.

“I have to go,” he said quietly.

Flora studied him for a moment.

“Something serious?”

“Just something that needs my attention.”

She nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

Nasir leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“I won’t be long.”

Flora smiled.

“Go save the world or whatever mysterious thing you do.”

He gave her a look.

“You laugh now.”

“I always laugh.”

Nasir grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

Flora followed him.

When he reached the entrance, he turned back one last time.

“You sure you’re okay staying here?”

She lifted her hand, showing him the ring again.

“I’m engaged,” she said. “I’m excellent.”

Nasir shook his head slightly, amused.

“Lock the door behind me.”

“Yes, sir.”

He stepped outside.

Flora watched from the doorway as he disappeared down the street.

Then she closed the door and leaned back against it.

The house felt quiet without him.

But not lonely.

She wandered back into the living room, curling up on the couch with one of the new books she had bought earlier.

Her eyes drifted down to the ring again.

A wide smile spread across her face.

“Reset my nervous system,” she muttered to herself, laughing softly.

She pressed her face into the pillow and laughed even harder, the sound filling the quiet room.

For the first time in a long time, Flora felt completely certain about something.

Nasir had changed her life.

And somehow, impossibly, that terrifying fact made her happier than she had ever been.

She ate slowly, perched on the counter, sunlight warming her skin. The woman she’d been months ago wouldn’t recognize this version of herself—barefoot in silk pajamas, feeding scraps to a spoiled puppy, humming softly to nothing at all.

After dinner, she showered, dressed, and spent the evening doing nothing important.

That, too, felt new.

She watered the plants Leila insisted on buying. Rearranged books she hadn’t read yet. Tried on a dress she’d bought in Italy just to feel the fabric move when she walked. She laughed out loud at Paw when he barked at his own reflection.

She stood at the window, watching the street below. People moved freely. Couples laughed. A delivery truck idled too long across the street, engine running.

Her chest tightened—not enough to panic. Just enough to notice.

Don’t spiral, she told herself. You’re safe.

Still, she stepped back from the glass.

Her phone buzzed.

Nasir:

Running late. Everything okay?

She stared at the screen for a second before replying.

Flora: Yes. Just miss you.

The reply came almost immediately.

Nasir: Your fiance will make it up to you.

She smiled, but it didn’t quite settle the flutter in her ribs. She looked at her hand, her ring glowing in the room.

Then came the knock.

She almost didn’t answer the door.

Something about the knock felt… measured. Not rushed. Not friendly.

Flora wiped her hands on a towel anyway and opened it a few inches.

The woman smiled first. Too polite. Too practiced.

“Is Nasir home?” she asked.

Flora shook her head. “No.”

The woman’s eyes moved past her—over Flora’s shoulder, into the house—as if she were memorizing the space. As if she were measuring her.

“How long have you been staying here?” the woman asked lightly.

Flora’s stomach tightened. Her grip on the door firmed.

“That’s not your business,” she said, and closed it without another word.

Only after the lock clicked did her hands start to shake.