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A Widow’s Child, A Wife’s Goodbye
A Widow’s Child, A Wife’s Goodbye
Penulis: Celebrant

Chapter 1

Penulis: Celebrant
Three months ago, my husband, Second Lieutenant Daniel Hawthorne, and his older brother, Thomas, were deployed to the front.

A month later, only Daniel came back.

Thomas was dead.

In a time like this—when cities burned overnight and lives disappeared without warning—a widow had no ground to stand on.

Eleanor, Thomas’s wife, unraveled quickly. She cried until her voice broke, starved herself, wandered at night as if hoping the war might take her too.

She tried to end her life.

More than once.

I stayed with her.

I talked to her, held her, reminded her that she was not alone, that she still mattered, that Thomas would never forgive us if we let her follow him into death.

Daniel stayed with me, or so I believed. He said it was his responsibility, that Thomas had entrusted Eleanor to him.

Two days ago, everything changed.

Eleanor came back from the hospital holding a pregnancy report.

Three months pregnant.

Everyone called it a miracle. A mercy. Proof that God had not taken everything from her when her husband died.

The house filled with relief overnight. Her grief softened into something people could bear to look at.

They said the child had saved her. That she finally had a reason to live.

I was genuinely happy for her.

And for the first time, I gathered the courage to tell Daniel the truth I had been carrying in my pocket for days.

I was pregnant too.

That night, I held my own test report as I walked toward the study, rehearsing how I would tell him. But before I reached the door, I heard voices inside.

Daniel wasn’t alone.

“Daniel,” a man said with a low laugh, “you don’t expect me to believe you never wanted her. Your brother’s wife.”

“That’s not it,” Daniel replied, his voice tight. “She came to me crying. Said she couldn’t go on living after Thomas died. She said… if she had a child, maybe she could survive.”

He sighed.

“This stays between us. If Margaret ever finds out, I’m finished.”

His friend chuckled. “You’re impressive. First half of the night with your wife, second half with her. You don’t get tired?”

“And you’re not afraid she’ll wake up?”

Daniel laughed quietly.

“She won’t. There’s always sleeping pills in her milk.”

There was a pause.

Then the sound of glasses clinking.

They laughed together.

I stood there, frozen, my fingers numb around the pregnancy report.

In that moment, something inside me split—cleanly, quietly.

The love I had believed in, the marriage I had trusted without doubt, ceased to exist.

I didn’t rush in.

I didn’t scream.

I turned away, walked back to the bedroom, and closed the door without a sound.

Only then did the tears fall—quiet, uncontrollable.

Love like ours was rare in this age.

In a world consumed by war, where survival mattered more than promises, when romance was treated like a luxury few could afford, he still gave me a cathedral wedding and a dress so exquisite it felt unreal.

He wore his love for me openly.

My photograph was always tucked against his chest, close to his heart, a symbol he never tired of showing others.

When he came back from battle, he brought gifts instead of scars—beautiful things, unnecessary things—proof that even in chaos, he had chosen me.

That was what made it unbearable.

Because a man capable of such devotion had still chosen betrayal.

A notification sound cut through the darkness.

An email.

From the First Battle Medical Command.

Margaret,

We are honored to have you join the frontline medical division. With your expertise, I am confident casualty rates will be significantly reduced.

You will be issued the highest-level clearance. In the event of escalation, your immediate family will be granted priority evacuation and full protection. This is the army’s guarantee.

A helicopter will arrive in three days. Please prepare accordingly.

My parents had died in the war five years ago.

Daniel had been my only family left.

His brother. His sister-in-law.

I had treated them as my own blood.

Now I understood.

They were no longer my family.

I typed my reply.

Thank you, Commander. The clearance will not be necessary. I have no family.

I only ask that my identity and assignment be kept strictly confidential. I do not wish for anyone to know where I am.

A reply came quickly.

Your husband—

He is no longer my husband, I wrote. He has a child with another woman.

A brief pause.

Understood. Your information will be sealed. He will never find you.

The bedroom door opened without a sound.

Daniel walked in carrying a glass of warm milk, his expression gentle, familiar.

“Who were you emailing?” he asked casually.

I looked up at him.

And smiled.
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  • A Widow’s Child, A Wife’s Goodbye   Chapter 8

    The edge of the war zone was quieter than Daniel had imagined.No artillery fire.No sirens.Only wind carrying dust across the flat, scarred earth.He stepped out of the military vehicle, boots sinking slightly into the mud hardened by old blood and rain. Ahead stood a cluster of temporary medical tents, their white fabric dulled by smoke and sun.This was where they told him she was.Margaret Hawthorne.No—just Margaret, now.He spotted her before she saw him.She was kneeling beside a stretcher, sleeves rolled up, hands steady as she pressed gauze against a soldier’s wound. Her hair was pulled back tightly, her face streaked with dirt and sweat. She spoke calmly, efficiently, issuing instructions without raising her voice.The medics around her moved when she spoke.Not because of rank.Because they trusted her.Something twisted painfully in Daniel’s chest.She looked… whole.Not fragile.Not abandoned.Not waiting.When the stretcher was carried away, she straightened, pulling of

  • A Widow’s Child, A Wife’s Goodbye   Chapter 7

    另一边；The clinic smelled of disinfectant and faint lavender.Daniel stood beside Eleanor, one hand resting lightly at her back as the nurse called her name. It was supposed to be a simple visit—one last prenatal check before he left to “inspect the front-line camps.”That was the story he had told everyone.Including himself.Eleanor moved slowly, deliberately. She wore a pale blue dress that accentuated her belly just enough to invite attention. As they walked through the corridor, two officers’ wives nodded at her with practiced sympathy.“How many months now?” one of them asked warmly.Eleanor smiled. “Almost three.”Daniel’s steps faltered—just for a fraction of a second.Three.The word scraped against his nerves.The woman hesitated. “Already? I thought… the funeral was just over two months ago.”“Oh—well,” Eleanor laughed softly, hand tightening over her stomach. “You know how these things are. Stress can make dates confusing.”The smile never reached her eyes.Daniel felt it the

  • A Widow’s Child, A Wife’s Goodbye   Chapter 6

    The first explosion hit just before dawn.I was already awake, scrubbing my hands at the basin, the water cold enough to sting. The ground trembled, dust raining down from the canvas ceiling, and somewhere outside a runner shouted warnings that blurred into the rising sirens.“Incoming wounded!”I didn’t freeze.I didn’t think of anything beyond what needed to be done.“Table three is free,” I said, already pulling on gloves. “Get morphine ready. Check blood type tags before transfusion.”They listened.That still surprised me—how quickly they listened.The first stretcher came in soaked with blood, the kind of deep arterial red that doesn’t forgive hesitation. A young corporal, barely twenty, shrapnel embedded in his thigh. He was conscious, eyes wide with pain.“Look at me,” I said, steady, meeting his gaze. “Don’t look down. You’re going to be fine if you follow my instructions.”His breathing hitched, then slowed.I worked fast, fingers precise. Clamp. Pressure. Tourniquet adjusted

  • A Widow’s Child, A Wife’s Goodbye   Chapter 5

    Daniel had been searching for my whereabouts all along,but every lead ended the same way—nothing.By the third day, Daniel began to realize that this wasn’t a disappearance meant to be noticed.It was a disappearance meant to be final.He exhausted official channels first. Military transport logs. Medical unit rosters. Evacuation records. He invoked rank where he could, called in favors where he shouldn’t have, and pressed men who had once owed him their lives.Nothing.No trace of Margaret Hawthorne.Her name did not appear in the system—not as a passenger, not as staff, not as a dependent. It was as though someone had reached into the records and removed her entirely.The realization unsettled him more than he cared to admit.Margaret had never been impulsive. If she had left like this—without accusation, without confrontation—it meant she had planned it. Carefully. Quietly. Long before he ever noticed.That thought followed him relentlessly.Eleanor arrived unannounced on the fourt

  • A Widow’s Child, A Wife’s Goodbye   Chapter 4

    Daniel returned home on the third night.The house greeted him with silence so complete it felt staged, as though every sound had been carefully removed. No footsteps. No voice calling his name. No light left burning in the sitting room the way I always did when he was away.He paused just inside the doorway.For reasons he would not later be able to explain, his first instinct was not relief—but unease.“Margaret?” he called.Nothing answered.His coat slid from his shoulders onto the floor. He moved through the house quickly, checking the bedroom, the study, the dining room, as if expecting to find me tucked somewhere out of sight, waiting to scold him for being late.The bed was made.Too neatly.The wardrobe stood half-empty. My winter coat was gone. So were the shoes I favored when traveling. On the vanity, my jewelry box lay open, untouched except for the simplest pieces I wore daily. Everything extravagant—the things he had bought me over the years—remained behind, aligned with

  • A Widow’s Child, A Wife’s Goodbye   Chapter 3

    I hid behind the iron fence, staring at the tightly closed door across the courtyard.Tears slid down my face without a sound.Six years of marriage—and this was how it ended.I stayed there until dawn.He never came out.By the time the sky lightened, my heart had gone completely cold.I went to the market.I bought breakfast—everything Daniel liked.And a small gift box.When I returned home, the house was in chaos.Daniel stood in the hall, fury written across his face as he shouted at the servants.“Where is Margaret?”“You’re telling me none of you know when she left?”“What exactly am I paying you for?”“I leave you here to take care of my wife—and you didn’t even notice she was gone?”Sweat dotted his forehead. His voice shook with something close to fear.“We woke early, Captain,” the housekeeper replied, trembling.“But you said we were not to disturb Mrs. Hawthorne without her permission. We didn’t know when she left.”“Useless!” Daniel snapped. “All of you!”He kicked over a

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