Chapter 1

“Liam... please, pick up the phone.”

Elara’s voice trembled between ragged breaths. Her heels clacked against the hospital floor—hurried, anxious. Her eyes scanned every corridor, her chest tightening under the weight of dread pressing down on her heart.

Just twenty minutes ago, someone from Liam’s office had called—saying her husband had been in a minor car accident. She dropped everything and rushed to the hospital, not even remembering to grab a jacket in the cold night air.

Her phone vibrated again. Liam’s name flashed on the screen. Relief flooded through her as she pressed the green button.

“Liam! Where are you? I’m at the hospital—”

The voice on the other end cut her off—flat, emotionless.

> “I’m still at the office, Elara. Working late. Why?”

Elara froze. Her heart pounded wildly.

“The office?” her voice quivered. “But... I was told you were in an accident. I’m at the hospital right now, they said—”

> “You must’ve heard wrong,” Liam interrupted quickly. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

And the line went dead.

Elara stared blankly at her phone. Something was wrong. Her instincts screamed that Liam was lying.

She followed the directions the nurse at the front desk had given her, walking toward the assigned room. The door was slightly ajar. Through the narrow gap, she saw something that shattered her completely.

Liam stood there—

smiling.

That gentle smile she hadn’t seen in years.

But it wasn’t for her.

It was for another woman in a white dress—Celine Ward, Liam’s coworker, whose name Elara had heard countless times but always chose to ignore.

And in Liam’s arms was a baby.

Elara froze. Every second felt like a blade slowly piercing her chest.

Her hand trembled as she gripped her purse. Her lips quivered as she tried to swallow the pain rising inside her.

“Liam...” she whispered, barely audible.

The man turned. His smile vanished.

Shock flickered in his eyes—then turned cold. Frozen.

“Elara?” Celine looked between them, brows arched. “You know her?”

The air thickened instantly. Elara stepped forward, her voice unsteady but firm.

“Of course he knows me. I’m his wife.”

But her words drifted uselessly into the air.

Liam stared at her for a long moment... then opened his mouth.

> “I don’t know her.”

The world stopped.

“What?” she whispered. “Liam, what do you mean?”

She searched his face for even a flicker of guilt. There was none. Only distance. Only coldness.

Celine let out a small, mocking laugh. “Oh, so you’re the one who kept calling late at night? I thought it was just a wrong number. Now it all makes sense.”

She slid her arm around Liam’s. “Honey, we should take the baby home. You need to rest.”

Elara stared at them, her mind blank.

“Honey?” she repeated, disbelief breaking her voice.

Liam said nothing. He just looked down, gently patting the baby’s back—

as if the woman who once stood by him through everything no longer existed.

Elara stood motionless. But inside, everything was collapsing.

“So this is how easily you erase me, Liam?” her voice cracked, pain bleeding through every word. “So quickly you forget the vows you made before God? I was there when you had nothing! And now you stand here, pretending you don’t know me?”

Liam didn’t look up.

“Enough, Elara. Don’t cause a scene.”

Tears finally fell. But they weren’t from weakness—

they were the tears of someone betrayed, erased from the life she helped build.

Celine smirked, her tone dripping with satisfaction. “You heard him. Don’t humiliate yourself.”

Elara stepped back, her vision blurred with tears, her heart burning with pain and fury.

She took a shaky breath, then looked at Liam one last time.

> “You may pretend not to know me today, Liam. But one day, you’ll look for me. And when that day comes, I’ll be the one who doesn’t know you.”

She turned sharply, holding back sobs as she walked out of the room, her steps unsteady.

Behind her, Liam watched her fading silhouette. Something twisted in his chest—a strange, sharp ache—but he pushed it away, forcing himself not to care.

Beside him, Celine smiled with quiet triumph, the baby sleeping soundly in her arms.

Out in the corridor, Elara’s body finally gave in to the tremors. She leaned against the cold wall, pressing a hand to her chest.

Her sobs broke through, muffled behind her palm.

And in the stillness of the hospital night, only her quiet cries and bitter whisper could be heard:

> “If love means being forgotten... then let me go, before I lose myself completely.”