Chapter 1 The Memory
After burying her three-year-old son, Chaya Wilkins pulled a knife from her sleeve and drove it straight into her husband, Thiago Lowery.
Thiago's eyes widened, shock and pain flashing across them, the same eyes she had once spent ten years obsessing over, now clouded with an unreadable confusion.
"Chaya... You..."
The funeral descended into chaos as everyone froze, stunned by what had just happened.
Thiago was rushed to the hospital, and Willow Jenkins, the childhood friend he had grown up with, immediately dialed the police.
The police took Chaya away shortly afterward.
But within a day, they released her.
Outside the station, Thiago stood there, his face pale, the wound in his abdomen still throbbing beneath the bandages.
His voice was rough and strained, but the concern was impossible to miss. "Chaya, I just woke up this morning. You spent the whole night in there. Are you okay? I'm sorry. Willow called the police because she panicked."
Chaya looked at him coldly, her voice devoid of emotion. "You're hard to kill. I was aiming for something vital."
Her words landed like a blow to his chest. The pain twisted inside him, and his throat went dry, leaving him barely able to speak. "Chaya, I know you blame me. I know you hate me. Zach is gone, and I'm hurting too..."
"Hurting?" Chaya interrupted him, her words slicing through the air. Fury blazed in her eyes. "You have the nerve to talk about hurting?"
At his stunned silence, she stepped closer, her anger practically freezing the air between them. "You showed up at our son's funeral dressed like you and Willow had planned your outfits together! So tell me, were you grieving my son, or were you just relieved she came through unscathed?"
She took one more step toward him, her eyes going cold as ice. "Yes, I hate you. I hate you because it should've been you, not him."
After that, she didn't look at him again. She raised her hand and hailed a cab.
As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, hot tears spilled out without warning.
She hated Thiago. She hated herself even more.
Chaya had loved Thiago for ten years.
For ten years, she had stayed by his side, always in the background, quietly waiting for him. She had cared for him, memorized every one of his likes and dislikes, and carried his pain as if it were her own.
And after giving him everything she had, all she was left with was her son's funeral.
Ten years earlier, the three of them had met at a military academy.
She had fallen for Thiago at first sight, but because he and Willow had been in love, she buried her feelings deep inside.
Then one mission changed everything. Willow was shot, taken hostage, and in that desperate moment, she jumped into the sea.
Thiago dove in after her. He survived, but the injury left him permanently disabled, and he was forced to leave the front lines for good.
Chaya hadn't hesitated. She filed for reassignment that same day and stayed by his side through it all. She took care of his meals, routines, and every part of his daily life, staying with him through the dark days when his disability left him bitter and withdrawn.
Later, his mother threatened to kill herself unless they got married.
Thiago looked at the unyielding set of his mother's face and finally gave in, marrying Chaya against his will.
Chaya spent five years in that marriage, but all she got in return was the same cold distance from him every single day.
Then, in the third year of their marriage, he came home in a drunken stupor, and that night changed everything between them.
When Zach was born, he brought light to a house that had always been cold. For the first time, their home began to feel a little warmer.
On Zach's third birthday, Thiago caught her hand unexpectedly and lowered his voice to say "thank you."
For one brief, shining moment, Chaya believed that all those years of loving him had finally begun to matter.
Then Willow came back.
She claimed that after being rescued all those years ago, she had lost her memory and that everything had only just come back to her. She even said she would never interfere in Chaya and Thiago's life.
And yet she always found a way to get lost on rainy nights, twist an ankle, or call in tears at the exact moment Chaya and Thiago finally had time together.
And Thiago always turned his back on Chaya and their son without hesitation, going straight to Willow.
More than once, Chaya had lain awake in the middle of the night, contemplating divorce.
But every time she remembered that one soft thank-you from him, she lost her nerve and chose to bury the pain again.
Then came the day Thiago went to pick Zach up from school and crossed paths with members of a gang he had once helped dismantle.
When danger struck, he instinctively shoved Willow behind him to protect her. And he left Zach standing in front of the gunfire.
The image of her child lying in a pool of blood haunted Chaya, a nightmare she could never escape.
At the memory, Chaya wiped away her tears, the coldness returning to her eyes.
She had already filed for divorce. Along with it, she had requested a transfer to one of the most remote classified posts in the country. She was going to leave Thiago, leave this marriage, and leave behind the years that had cost her all her youth and every ounce of her love.
