FINAL PHOTO of a hero

Madalina Anghel wished her fiancé a happy New Year, but he wouldn’t live to see the sun rise

- Anna Matheson

Waking up, I groggily rolled over and realised my fiancé Tudor wasn’t in bed next to me. It was 5am, and he’d been working as security for a New Year’s Eve party all night, but I’d expected him home by now. Picking up my phone to send a text, I saw he’d sent me a photo at 2am, looking smart and handsome in the lobby of a decadently decorated building, surrounded by Christmas baubles. ‘Sorry I missed your message, where are you?’ I texted, before fallingback to sleep. Yet I’d never receive a reply, and that photo would be the last thing Tudor ever sent.

I’d met Tudor Simionovin 2015 at university in Bucharest, Romania, where we were both studying marketing. We were paired for a project and, as we worked seamlessly, I fell for his kindness and warmth.

‘We make a great team,’ I smiled. He was a talented rower and kick-boxer, too, who’d spent years competing. When he wasn’t training, he worked full-time for a transport company alongside his studies. I found his dedication very attractive, and it helped that he was good-looking, too.

We fell in love and, after we both graduated in 2018, we moved to London, where I got a job as a sales assistant and Tudor worked as a security guard. He was so tall and muscular, I never considered that he’d ever be in danger.

By December 2018, Tudor was planning to start a master’s degree in Marketing and Business, and we feltso happy and settled, we started discussing marriage. There was no grand proposal – that wasn’t Tudor’s style – but it didn’t mean he wasn’t excited about our future.