For a year and seven months, Shizuko cooks his meals, mends his clothes, and waits for a love that never comes. Kenji keeps one foot in his marriage and one foot in the arms of the woman he refuses to let go. But every time Shizuko is truly in danger, he is the first one through the door, and she cannot explain why that terrifies her more than his coldness ever did.Then comes the betrayal that breaks her completely. A pregnancy. A choice he won't make. A silence that says everything.Shizuko stops begging to be loved.And that is the moment Kenji finally feels what he's about to lose.Now the house is empty. Her side of the bed is untouched. And the man who once treated her like an obligation will do anything, walk any road, beg at any gate, to become the man she finally chooses for herself.