Chapter 1

"So, this is the result? What on earth is wrong with you? I have told you time and again—find a woman who can conceive immediately. If she is barren like this, must I die before you finally have a child?" Mrs. Eleanor glared at her son, her face etched with pure disdain. She was repulsed by the news that her future daughter-in-law had a medical issue with her womb, even though the wedding preparations were already ninety percent complete.

"Mother, why are you speaking like this? I didn't know it would turn out this way either."

"That is exactly why I told you to have her checked long before you decided to marry!" Mrs. Eleanor's voice rose, seemingly indifferent to the fact that her words were cutting through the woman sitting across the table. "Now that we're in this mess, do you still intend to proceed? I will not accept a barren woman who cannot provide me with a lineage, Julian."

"But, Mother... how can I—"

"Will you do as I say, or shall I be the one to tell her to leave?"

Julian Sterling, a thirty-year-old man, looked at Adeline with a face full of conflicted guilt. Meanwhile, Adeline had heard every word; it was crystal clear that she was no longer welcome. Yet, the pain was unbearable—Mrs. Eleanor was being so brutally blunt, without the slightest regard for her feelings.

"Forgive me, Adeline. I cannot disappoint my mother. She wants me to provide an heir as soon as possible, but you... I have no other choice. The wedding is off."

"But that is just a doctor's verdict! As long as I have a womb, I know I can still get pregnant." Adeline shook her head, refusing to let go. They had been together for five years and were only a step away from marriage. Why was this happening? Was she losing her love and her future simply because of a difficulty in conceiving?

"When? You can't even give me a definite answer, can you? But my mother is getting older and cannot wait forever. The wedding is cancelled. I will find someone else to fulfill my mother's wishes."

"Julian, can't we think this through? Please... you've already had everything you wanted from me, without exception. I gave myself to you completely. How can I live without you?" Adeline gripped Julian's hand, consumed by terror. She had nothing left; Julian had taken everything she possessed.

"Oh? We did that consensually, didn't we? You should have realized the risks before you agreed to sleep with me! Relationships can crumble at any moment, Adeline."

"But our marriage—"

"Our marriage will never happen. Please understand, how could I possibly defy my own mother for you?" Julian dragged Adeline away from his mother's presence and out of the restaurant where they had met.

Adeline's sobbing seemed to fall on deaf ears. The man's expression remained cold, devoid of even a shred of remorse.

"Please, Julian. Please... if I don't marry you, who would want me? Have you no heart? Just yesterday we were fine. You never even hinted that you would unilaterally cancel everything if the results weren't what you hoped for. Please, give me a chance, just once. I am sure I can still get pregnant."

Adeline sank to her knees before Julian, paralyzed by fear. Her greatest terror was the realization that her purity was gone. This man was her only hope. She had trusted Julian so deeply that she had not hesitated to give him everything.

However, Julian seemed indifferent to her fate or her feelings.

"I started by using the word 'sorry' out of respect for you, Adeline. But if you're going to be this shameless, I am even more certain about following my mother's wishes. Because my mother is far more valuable than you."

With those final words, Julian turned back toward the restaurant, leaving Adeline behind with a mountain of agony. Was she a fool? Yes... Adeline would not deny it. She had been a fool to trust a man so blindly that it clouded her judgment. Now, all that remained was regret. Who would ever accept a woman as "tarnished" as her?

The fire roared wildly inside the large, rusted drum, consuming every invitation card and souvenir that had been crafted with love and care. The red and yellow sparks danced, devouring every piece of evidence of the wedding they had planned for a year—a reflection of the devastation within Adeline Fathia's heart.

Strewn around the drum were shards of glass, scraps of fabric, and other remnants of Adeline's dreams. Every detail she had once envisioned now lay as ruins of an inevitable destruction. The silent night stood as a mute witness to the grief etched upon her face as tears continued to stream down her flushed cheeks.

"Heaven help me. Is this perhaps a cruel irony of fate? I have made so many mistakes... I gave too much of myself, and now I have nothing left. Is there any way to atone for the path I chose?"

Adeline sat in the middle of her silent room. The walls, heavy with memories, seemed to close in on her. In the thick solitude, her sobs broke the silence of the night as she remembered her father's passing—a loss that brought profound pain and regret.

On the cold floor, she knelt in the shadows, her head bowed in a desperate plea for a second chance. She sat there in surrender, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. The oppressive silence and darkness of the room deepened her sense of loss.

Amidst the piercing silence, Adeline sought to find a flicker of hope in her quiet desperation, praying that her wounds would slowly heal and she would be able to find herself again.

"Adeline! Adeline!" A loud pounding came from the door.

Adeline hurriedly wiped her eyes and opened the door. It was Sophie, her neighbor.

"What is it, Sophie? Why are you shouting?" Adeline asked, seeing that Sophie was breathless and panicked.

"Adeline, you have to go to the flower shop now! Your father collapsed! They've taken him to the hospital, Adeline!"

"What?" Without a second thought, Adeline ran out of the house. She didn't even stop to put on shoes before hopping into the car parked out front.

A somber atmosphere hung over the house as people busied themselves with the funeral arrangements for a middle-aged man named Arthur Fathia, Adeline's father, who had passed away the night before. Adeline was beyond the point of functioning. Her voice was gone, her body limp, especially as she saw the casket that would soon separate them forever.

"Stay strong, Adeline. This was his time."

"How can I be strong? Tell me, how? He was my father, the only family I had left." Adeline's tears fell uncontrollably again. Her heart was in pieces, unable to accept this bitter reality. "Please don't leave me, Dad! I can't live without you! Please... come back!"

"Oh, dear... don't do this to yourself, Adeline. Take a deep breath..." The neighbors, seeing Adeline's hysterical grief, tried to comfort her.

Throughout the funeral, there was no sign of Julian or his mother. They had known her father well during the time they spent together. Julian had been a frequent guest at their home, especially on weekends.

But where were they now?

Adeline's heart burned with resentment. Her father's health had spiraled ever since the engagement was broken, and they didn't even have the decency to show their faces?

Meanwhile, in the distance, no one noticed the presence of a mysterious figure watching the burial. The stranger did not dare to approach, only watching as Adeline wept alone, clutching the fresh earth of the grave.