Chapter 4

DAVE’S POV

“Sir, the investors are waiting.”

I didn’t answer Monica immediately. I simply stared at the time on my watch.

6:12 PM.

Before, time never mattered to me. I didn’t care if meetings ended at dawn as long as the work got done. But now… Someone was waiting for me at home again. And this time, I didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes.

I stood up and closed the folder in front of me.

“We’ll continue tomorrow,” I said coldly. The entire boardroom froze.

“Sir?” one of the investors called out in surprise. “The proposal hasn’t been finalized yet.”

“It can wait.”

I didn’t bother explaining further and immediately walked out of the conference room. Behind me, I could feel everyone’s stunned stares. Before, I was the kind of man willing to sleep in the office just to finish work. But not anymore. Because for the first time in years…

I wanted to go home.

As I drove home, my grip tightened on the steering wheel when I remembered the date.

October 14.

It was our anniversary today. Neah used to remember it perfectly.

Me?

I always forgot. And every time I forgot, she would just smile and say it was okay.

But only now did I realize— It had never really been okay.

When I arrived home, I immediately removed my coat and glanced toward the dining area. The entire house was quiet. Only the soft glow of dim lights filled the space. Neah was sitting on the sofa, quietly reading a book with a cardigan wrapped around her body.

She looked peaceful.

But I had been absent from her life far too many times not to notice the sadness that still lingered in her eyes. She looked up the moment she heard the door open. A flicker of surprise crossed her face.

“You’re early.” I didn’t know why… But hearing that hurt so much. Because it meant— She had already gotten used to my absence.

Slowly, I walked toward her.

“I told you I’d come home early.” She only nodded quietly, as if she still wasn’t used to believing my promises. And that was my fault. I took a deep breath before handing her the small paper bag I had been carrying.

She frowned slightly.

“What’s this?”

“Open it.”

Slowly, she took it from me. A few seconds later, a delicate silver bracelet was revealed inside the box. It was simple, but it had been the most expensive one among all the choices. Money didn’t matter to me anymore. Not when everything I had done to her could never be repaid by something as small as this.

I saw Neah freeze slightly as her fingers brushed over the bracelet.

“Dave…”

“Happy anniversary.”

Silence filled the living room instantly. It was as if both of us suddenly remembered every anniversary I had ruined before this. The nights she waited alone. The dinner reservations I never showed up to. The candles that burned out before they were ever lit. I swallowed hard.

“I know I ruined every anniversary we had before.”

She didn’t speak.

“And I know this isn’t enough to fix everything.” I lowered my gaze. “But I want to keep trying… again and again.”

She stared quietly at the bracelet. Then finally—

“You remembered.”

Something tightened painfully inside my chest. Because she sounded surprised. As if she never expected me to remember something important about us.

Slowly, I nodded.

“I’m trying to remember everything now.”

She fell silent again before gently closing the box. She didn’t give the bracelet back. Instead, she held onto it. And even though it was such a small thing. It felt like I had already won half the world.

“Are we having dinner outside?” she asked softly. I smiled and nodded immediately.

“Of course. I made a reservation at your favorite restaurant. Go get ready. I’ll wait for you here.”

She didn’t say anything else and quietly walked upstairs toward our bedroom. I knew losing our child still hurt her deeply. It hurt me too. We never even got the chance to meet our baby. To hold our child. I couldn’t stop myself from wondering— What would our baby have looked like? Would our child have smiled like Neah? We were only three months away from finally meeting our baby. But because of my negligence, we lost everything.

I deserved the punishment for that. Neah didn’t.

Almost thirty minutes later, Neah finally came downstairs. And I literally forgot how to breathe for a second. She wore a simple black dress that reached her knees, while her long hair flowed freely down her shoulders. Her makeup was minimal, yet it was enough to remind me why she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to me.

I noticed her grow slightly uncomfortable when I didn’t say anything right away.

“Too much?” she asked softly. I shook my head immediately.

“You look beautiful.”

She fell silent for a moment before looking away shyly. And even though it was only a small moment. It felt like I was slowly reaching her again.

I picked up my coat and gently draped it over her shoulders.

“Ready?”

She nodded slowly. When we arrived at the restaurant, the manager greeted us immediately.

“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Montenegro.”

Neah froze slightly at the way we were addressed. I noticed it instantly. And somehow, my chest tightened even more. Because even if we were still legally married. It felt like I had lost the right to be called her husband a long time ago.

Quietly, we sat at our reserved rooftop table. From there, the city lights stretched endlessly beneath us while soft violin music played in the background. This was her favorite restaurant. The same restaurant I had canceled on countless times because of work.

But now that we were finally here. I felt strangely nervous.

“Dave.”

I looked at her immediately.

“I appreciate this.”

I almost closed my eyes at the sound of her voice. Not because of happiness— But because it had been so long since I’d heard softness in her tone when speaking to me.

“This is only the beginning of making things up to you, love,” I said quietly. “This is still something small.”

She gave me a faint smile. It felt like forever since I had last seen her smile like that.

“I’ll just go to the restroom,” she said softly. I nodded and watched her walk away until she disappeared down the hallway. I let out a quiet breath while holding my wine glass. Only now was I fully realizing just how badly I had failed my wife.

Then suddenly, my phone vibrated on the table. I glanced at the screen. Monica. I frowned immediately. I had already made it clear at the office that I didn’t want to be disturbed tonight.

But the calls kept coming one after another. I answered irritably.

“What is it?”

“Sir…” Monica sounded panicked. “The investors from Singapore suddenly moved the schedule. They’re demanding an emergency meeting tonight.”

I immediately frowned deeper.

“Tomorrow.”

“Sir, they said they might pull out of the deal if you don’t come.”

I fell silent. Before, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I would have stood up and left immediately. Work before everything else. But now, I looked toward the direction where Neah had disappeared. I remembered all the nights I abandoned her for meetings. All the times I chose the company over my family.

I shut my eyes tightly.

“Cancel it.”

Monica froze.

“Sir?”

“I said cancel it.”

“But sir—”

“I’m with my wife.”

Silence filled the line. It sounded like Monica couldn’t believe what she had just heard. And I didn’t care. I was about to hang up when Monica suddenly spoke again.

“Sir… are you really changing everything because of her?”

I frowned immediately.

“What?”

But before I could say anything else— Someone suddenly bumped into my table. Wine spilled across the surface because of the waiter.

“Shit—sorry, sir!” I stood up immediately while the waiter hurriedly cleaned the mess. And during those few seconds of distraction. I didn’t notice someone had stopped behind me. Until I heard a familiar voice.

“Dave?”

My entire body went rigid. Slowly, I turned around. And there—

I saw Cassandra Sy.

She stood only a few steps away from me, staring directly at the dinner table Neah and I were sharing. A smirk slowly appeared on her lips as she walked closer.

“So, you’re just here on a date with someone,” she said mockingly. “Is this dinner really more important to you than your promotion in the company, Dave? Are you seriously willing to let our company fall apart just because of whatever woman you’re with tonight?”

Her smile widened coldly.

“If the investors pull out of the deal, you won’t just lose your promotion…”

She stepped closer.

“You might lose your job too.”