Chapter 2

Not long after Sophie returned home, Daniel came back as well.

He set a tin of expensive baby formula and a box of high-end supplements on the table, then pulled three hundred dollars from his coat pocket and pressed it into her hand.

Sophie lifted her eyes, calm and distant. “What is this? Compensation?”

Daniel was silent for a moment. “Yes.”

“What happened to the child… I wronged you. I hid my identity because I was afraid you’d be upset knowing Clara shared the privileges of a captain’s wife.

“But I had to take care of her. From now on, I’ll hand over all my pay. I’ll make sure you live as the most respected captain’s wife.”

Sophie let out a faint, humorless smile, her chest hollow with grief.

No amount of money could bring back her child, or the part of her that had died with it.

Besides, in five years of marriage, what she had wanted was never his rank or pay.

She still remembered the blizzard five years ago, when she had collapsed on the town road from the cold.

Daniel took off his coat, wrapped it around her, and carried her out of the storm, like a beam of light cutting through her life.

During that month of disaster relief, she brought him warm water every day, along with a scarf and gloves she had knitted by hand.

Back then, she was young—just seeing him a little more was enough.

She never expected that, when they were parting, an older man would notice her feelings and joke, asking if she wanted to marry Daniel and move to the city with him.

Sophie blinked, then nodded. “I do.”

The tent erupted in laughter.

Daniel laughed too. “You don’t even know my name or what I do. What if I’m just a low-ranking operator?”

Her face flushed as she lowered her head. “Then I’d still say yes.”

For five years after their marriage, she believed he was just an operator.

He was busy with work, so she learned to take care of everything at home.

His pay was low, so she stretched every dollar as far as it could go.

Daniel had shown his care in clumsy ways—taking care of her when she had a stomachache, giving her gifts on their anniversary, and taking the initiative to share household chores during his time off.

She had foolishly believed that as long as there was love, life would get better, only to realize, in the end, that it had all been one-sided.

From beginning to end, Daniel’s heart belonged to Clara alone.

He was only good to her because Clara had a husband back then.

Now that Clara’s husband was gone, he no longer bothered to pretend.

Sophie said nothing.

She slipped the money into a drawer and said quietly, “Let’s get some sleep.”

“Sophie!”

Daniel’s brows drew tight with irritation.

He gave her everything—the title of a captain’s wife, money, compensation, even care. Why was she still making a fuss?

Just then, there was a knock at the door, followed by the aide’s urgent voice. “Captain, Ms. Bailey says she wants that chicken soup your wife used to make!”

Sophie’s heart jolted.

In the past, every time Daniel returned to his unit, she would cook him a bowl of chicken soup to take with him.

The ingredients were expensive.

She had pinched and saved, never once keeping any for herself.

She never imagined that something she treasured so dearly would be handed over to Clara so casually.

Daniel turned to her, urgency in his voice. “We’ll talk later. Go make the soup.

“I’ll buy you more of the ingredients. Just hurry, Clara just gave birth, she’s weak. Don’t keep her waiting.”

He had completely forgotten that Sophie and Clara gave birth on the same day.

That her body was just as weak.

Sophie swallowed the bitterness rising in her chest and turned toward the kitchen.

The coal stove took too long to catch.

Daniel’s restless pacing behind her beat against her nerves, so she poured a little kerosene into the stove to speed things up.

The moment she struck the match and brought it close…

Boom! The flames exploded outward.

The blast knocked her off her feet, her head slamming hard against the wall.

Just as the fire was about to swallow her whole, a figure rushed forward and threw himself in front of her.

“Sophie! Are you okay? Say something…”

His eyes were red with panic, his voice breaking into a shout.

He didn’t even notice the burns spreading across his back.

Blood ran down the side of his neck, and through her fading vision, Sophie looked at him, but she no longer had the strength to respond.

The world around her slowly dissolved into darkness.