He looked at his phone, his thumb hovering over a contact name he hadn't dialed in three years. He knew it was too late. He had heard she moved away, perhaps started a family of her own. The woman who had loved him more than anyone ever would was gone, and he was the one who had opened the door for her to leave.

Zoran sat at a corner table, his fingers tracing the rim of a glass he had long since emptied. In the background, the orchestra began the slow, haunting intro of a familiar melody. It was that song—the one that felt like a trial and a verdict all at once.

He closed his eyes and saw her. Not as she was the last time they spoke—cold and distant—but as she was five years ago. He remembered the way she used to wait for him by the window, her silhouette framed by the soft morning light. She hadn't asked for much. She didn't want the world; she just wanted him.

The lyrics cut through his thoughts: “Kao niko, kao niko nikada...” (Like no one, like no one ever before).