35: She's now married…

Father Henry walked back and forth in his modest quarters, the walls of the monastery closing in on him as he grappled with a torrent of emotions. His mind swirled with memories and regrets, his heart torn between duty and desire.

He had known Khana since they were children, growing up together in the small village nestled among the hills. They had shared dreams of a future intertwined until life had taken them on separate paths. That one missed supposedly meeting up to elope together had started the downfall of their relationship. 

If only they had met back then, the young wouldn't find solace at church. Henry would not have been drawn to the serenity and purpose of the church, he wouldn't have become a priest. And, Khana wouldn't have pursued her own journey and eventually ended up with another man.

Today was the day Khana was to marry. He had hesitated, debated with himself whether he should go, whether he could bear to see her as a bride, radiant and happy with someone else. He took a deep breath and thought. There's no way he could bear not to see the bride at the last moment. 

The ache in his heart was too deep. Then, whispered the need to see her one last time. Such foolish feeling of a man in love outweighed his apprehensions. With a deep breath, he made his decision and slipped out of the monastery under the cover of a simple hoodie. 

He stood now, hidden among the trees near the old church where he had once presided over weddings, a silent observer of a moment that would haunt him forever. Thus, he watched from afar and waited for the wedding to commence, but the bride wasn't there yet. He thought Khana had run away again since she was never willing to get married anymore.

However, shortly after, a car stopped in the church. Henry was there when the bride left the bridal car. He was stunned by the beauty of the Khana. There was a pinch of desire inside his heart, wishing it was him and not Richard. He felt a pang of jealousy grip his heart, a bitter taste of regret mingled with the pride of seeing her happy, even if it wasn't with him. 

Henry simply clenched his fist and agonized over his situation alone. A tear escaped his eye, unnoticed in the shadow of the trees. He knew Khana had once loved him too, fiercely and without reservation. 

He truly loves Khana, but they are in a situation where a happy ending means living apart. A tear fell from his eyes upon realizing she was eager to defy heaven and earth for him, but Henry couldn't give the world to her. He's a coward who thinks serving the church would remove the dark past he has been hiding all these years. He thought that sacrificing himself in the church until eternity would cleanse his guilt for the crime he did when he was a teenage boy.

He removed the black shade and wiped away the tear with a trembling hand, his fingers brushing against the rough fabric of his black hoodie. "This is for the best," he whispered to himself, though the words brought him little solace. 

"Goodbye, Khana."

With a heavy heart, he turned away from the scene, resolved to leave her behind completely. He would bury his love for her deep within his soul, where it would remain a silent ache for the rest of his days.

The drive back to the monastery was a blur of winding roads and overcast skies. Henry tried to focus on the familiar path ahead, to keep his thoughts from straying back to Khana and the life they might have had together. Yet, his mind betrayed him, replaying moments of their shared past with painful clarity.

The rain fell in heavy sheets, obscuring the winding road that led away from the church where Henry had silently witnessed Khana's wedding. The tears on his cheeks mingled with raindrops as he drove, his mind still reeling from the emotional turmoil of witnessing his beloved's wedding.

"This is for the best," he repeated to himself, his voice barely audible over the roar of the rain against the windshield. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, knuckles white with tension. The image of Khana, radiant in her bridal gown, haunted him. He had forced himself to smile, to pretend he was happy for her, while inside his heart shattered.

The monastery loomed ahead, a solitary refuge amidst the storm. Henry's thoughts were a whirlwind of conflicting emotions — love, regret, and the unshakable weight of duty that had defined his life as a priest. He couldn't allow himself to dwell on what might have been. Khana had made her choice, and he had made him long ago.

As the road curved sharply, Henry's mind momentarily drifted. The tires lost traction on the wet pavement, sending the car into a skid. Panic seized him as he fought to regain control, but it was too late. 

Lost in his thoughts, Henry failed to notice the sharp turn approaching, the edge of the cliff looming dangerously close. It was only in the final seconds, when the tires skidded against loose gravel, that he realized his mistake. The vehicle careened off the edge of the road, hurtling down the steep embankment.

Time slowed to a crawl as Henry's life flashed before his eyes — the moments of joy and sorrow, the faces of those he had loved and lost. His breath caught in his throat as the car plunged toward the bottom of the cliff. In that fleeting instant, he whispered a prayer for forgiveness, for Khana, and himself.

Henry's thoughts turned to Khana. In his final moments, he whispered a prayer for her happiness, a desperate plea for forgiveness for the love he could never let go.

The impact was sudden and brutal. Metal twisted and glass shattered as the car slammed into the unforgiving rocks below. The impact was swift and merciless. Darkness enveloped Henry as pain shot through his body, sharp and relentless. The world spun in a dizzying whirl of noise and pain. For a moment, he hung suspended between life and death, his consciousness fading. Darkness closed in around Henry, enveloping him in a final embrace.