The Forgotten Hero

“Regina?” Luke called her name from the doorway. Regina, a girl with long black hair and sharp eyes, was lost in her thoughts, seeming unaware of his presence. Luke turned his wheelchair. Just as he moved closer to the table, his shadow caught Regina's eye, and she turned to him with a fierce look. The woman stared at him intently. ”What is it? Are you leaving again?” The woman waited impatiently for his answer as Luke seemed hesitant to respond to her question. “Tell me, how long are you going to be gone this time, Luke!” Her tone grew more urgent, the expression on her face hardening. Luke looked away from the woman with a slow sigh. “I'll be back as soon as possible this time—” Regina immediately stood up from her seat and threw the cup of hot tea on the table at Luke angrily upon hearing his answer. Because of Luke, her mood had become even worse than before. The woman's life changed drastically; she was at her lowest point, feeling defeated by her life. Due to the bias of her family, especially her grandmother, who was the head of the Moodie family, Regina's existence seemed meaningless. Even though Alex tended to lack the skills needed to be a company leader and made many mistakes, he was still better than her. Even when the company was in trouble and managed to get back on its feet under her leadership, they tried to pull Regina out of her position by forcing her to marry Luke. Esme, Regina's grandmother, who loved Alex very much, trapped her by ordering Regina to marry Luke, who was lying on the street, injured and in a coma for some time. She tried to refuse, but Regina ended up marrying Luke solely for her family's plan to put Alex back in a position where he could lead the company, while Regina faced immense humiliation from other prominent families for marrying someone disabled and incapable of supporting her position. She knew none of this was Luke's fault, but Luke made things worse with what he did after their marriage. He would disappear for several days each month without leaving any trace of his whereabouts, and there were always large bills piling up every time he left the house. Luke worsened the mental state of the woman, who was already exhausted from everything. “Can you stop acting this way?“ the woman spoke to him without emotion. Luke tried to comfort her, but the glass he threw at him shattered, and he stared at the broken pieces without saying a word. ”I'm completely fed up with you, Luke!” Regina stood up from where she was sitting and approached Luke. She didn't demand accountability from Luke for Esme's injustice in forcing her to marry him, but Luke's actions over the past three years of their marriage were no longer something she could tolerate. The woman placed both hands on Luke's wheelchair arms and leaned forward toward his face with a fierce expression. “I'm not asking you to try to understand everything, but how can you not even try to understand your situation, Luke?” Luke returned her gaze and looked at her calmly. His flat, expressionless gaze sparked various emotions of anger within Regina. Three years ago, he was a man with exceptional fighting skills and unmatched strength, but the ambush during the battle left him facing an extremely intense situation. He made a major decision that ultimately cost him the use of his legs. “Regina, calm down...” he tried to comfort the woman by touching her wrist. But Regina's thin hand roughly pushed him away. "I've been calm enough facing you all this time. Now tell me! Tell me where you've been all this time?" she continued to press the man. “Tell me why you disappeared for days and where all the money I spent in such large amounts went?” Luke made her think he might have another woman he was hiding. ”Tell me now or this marriage is over, Luke Parker!” “Regina, what are you talking about?” Luke tried to reach out to her, trying to calm the woman down. ‘You and I aren't getting divorced.’ Her eyes stared coldly. "You want me to maintain this impossible relationship? How much longer do I have to be patient with you, Luke?" she shouted in frustration. All this time, Regina had been a strong, cold figure. She didn't say much and always showed a tough demeanor, full of charisma and elegance. But today, Luke saw her differently. The woman looked so tired and desperate. She stood in front of Luke with tears streaming down her face. “Tell me where you've been all this time!” Luke looked at her helplessly; he couldn't tell her. “It's not good for you to know more about me, Regina.” But that only made Regina clench her fists, glaring at Luke. “I don't care what you've done, but what you've done keeps dragging me down, your actions keep humiliating me, Luke Parker!” Her stiff body seemed to tense up with rage. "Because of you, I have to listen to rumors out there saying that you have a mistress, all rumors that make me feel like I'm being played like a fool for not doing anything to prove it. Do you know how much I've suffered? And for what reason do I have to endure even worse humiliation because of your actions! Tell me why I have to feel this way!” She screamed in frustration, kneeling on the floor and sobbing uncontrollably. She sobbed, pouring out all the emotions that had been bottled up and tormenting her in front of Luke, who was one of the triggers. Luke looked at her with a broken heart, feeling the bitterness and emotional torment. “I didn't do anything like that, Regina.” He denied it firmly. “I don't have another woman in my life.” The woman raised her head again and turned to look at Luke's legs, which couldn't move, always in the same position. “I married a paralyzed man; my life is truly tragic.” She smiled weakly with a cynical look in her eyes, turning to Luke. Luke stared into those eyes filled with deep sadness, feeling guilty. “I'm sorry.” He knew that this marriage was more like a punishment for Regina. “I should have treated you better as my wife.” Regina glared at him angrily. “A man who depends on me for his life doesn't deserve to call me his wife!” She stood up straight, her face hardened with disappointment, anger at injustice, and sadness all mixed. "Someone like you doesn't deserve to be my husband." She roughly wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks, ignoring the pain from her hands rubbing against her skin. The woman stood up, continuing to stare intently at Luke, who was watching her with a wounded expression he tried to hide. Though he was once a war hero who had achieved great success, in Regina's eyes, he was now nothing more than a helpless man who had become her burden. He could have killed dozens of people with his bare hands, but now he couldn't even stand on his own two feet. He had lost more than half of his abilities and felt utterly powerless in front of the woman who needed more than just support and a sense of security from a man. “What can someone like you do?” the woman's brows furrowed as she glared at Luke, cornering him. ”A man who dares to call himself my husband, who calls me his wife, should be a great man, a man who can protect me from many threats, not a cripple like you, Luke!” Regina's words hit Luke hard, leaving him speechless, his face stiff as he struggled to hold back the humiliation he felt in front of the woman who continued to show him how powerless and insignificant he was in her life. Regina leaned her face closer, directly in front of Luke's, who was trying to look straight ahead without meeting her gaze. “I did marry you, but that doesn't mean you deserve to be my husband and I your wife. You're still a stranger I'll never truly know. The man who should have married me is a hero, someone with extraordinary abilities, someone who can protect me from everything and support me, someone I can rely on." After saying that, the woman left quickly. She went to the drawer near her desk, took something from inside, then returned quickly and stood in the same spot. “No matter what you do, you will never be worthy of me. I will never consider you my husband, because you are not worthy of me. Because for me, there is only one person who is worthy of that, one person I love, the one who saved me on the battlefield.” Regina raised her hand and extended it forward, from her open palm dangled a pendant she had hung on her finger. “The man who has the same necklace as mine is mine, made exactly like the one he wore around his neck. That man will always be in my heart, and no matter how long it takes, you will never be his equal.” Luke stared at the necklace in awe, his memories flooding back to the day he was still fighting and met a woman whose face he didn't recognize. But after Regina showed him the necklace, Luke realized that Regina was the woman he had saved during that battle. “Are you that woman?” he murmured, his eyes shifting back to the necklace. The necklace was the same as his own. Luke had always worn it because it was a family heirloom, containing a photo of someone he loved. But during the fierce and intense battle, he had lost it. The necklace was no longer around his neck.