Chapter 2

My voice was ruined ten years ago.

That was supposed to be the most fulfilling year of my life. My family was whole, and my career was thriving. Industry interviews poured in nonstop.

Aileen had even planned a unique underwater proposal for me back then.

Beside the brilliant coral reefs, she gently slid a butterflyfish ring—a symbol of eternal loyalty—onto my finger.

On dozens of submersibles surrounding us, the same message flashed across the lights. "Hendrick, I will love you faithfully until the day I die."

Sadly, that grand proposal didn't quite end on a sweet note.

Mateo was still just a salt worker back then when he happened to fall into the water.

After he was pulled out, I brought him to the changing room to dry off.

Back then, Mateo was dark, frail, and always carried a trace of self-doubt whenever he met anyone.

I felt bad for him and began to care for him like a real brother, helping him out wherever I could.

I gave him a job and invited him into my academic research and my personal life.

He hungrily absorbed everything I taught him.

He even copied my mannerisms and way of doing things down to a T.

Even Aileen would sometimes look momentarily dazed when she saw him, before her brows drew together in annoyance.

"I don't need you doing pointless things for me like picking me up from work or delivering hangover remedies. Besides, you shouldn't copy Hendrick in everything. You aren't him, understand?"

Mateo stood awkwardly behind me, offering an embarrassed reply that he only wanted to repay my kindness.

Back then, I truly valued him.

Yet his way of repaying me was to turn my celebration party into the occasion for Dad to acknowledge him as his son.

How laughable.

The person I trusted as a close friend turned out to be Dad's illegitimate son.

Overnight, I lost the father I relied on and trusted.

Mom was so overcome with rage that she suffered a heart attack and became bedridden.

I couldn't accept it. I was the one who had invited the enemy into our home and brought about Mom's downfall.

Wracked with guilt and self-blame, I knelt by Mom's hospital bed night after night until my legs went numb.

During those dark days, Aileen was the one who stood firmly by my side.

She had told me it wasn't my fault, promised she would never betray me, and assured me she would always be my rock.

I had believed her completely, leaning on her support to pull myself together again.

Yet when I returned from a three-month deep-sea research mission, I found her and Mateo tangled in passion in the very bed we shared.

At that moment, I lost my mind.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I'd grabbed Mateo by the collar, slammed him to the ground, and screamed at him.

Mateo fell to his knees in front of me, his face flushed with shame. "Hendrick, I'm sorry. Don't blame Aileen. She just missed you so much that she mistook me for you after drinking too much."

But the mix of fresh and fading hickeys and scratch marks across his skin proved this was no one-night mistake.

Those marks cut into my heart like a blade.

Blind with rage, I hurled everything within reach at Mateo.

But Aileen stepped in front of him and looked at me with a conflicted gaze. "Hendrick, during the three months you were gone, I got a phone call from the future. The caller said I would fall in love with Mateo. I tried ignoring the prophecy, but I failed."

I asked her why.

Aileen merely let out a sigh, looking as though a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Just think of it as me wanting someone who cares about me, someone I can trust and count on to be there when I need him. Hendrick, I was too lonely. Mateo is different. He's like you, but he loves me more."

I froze on the spot, stunned beyond belief.

I couldn't accept that the woman who once encouraged me to pursue my work and dreams had become someone who complained that I was too ambitious and didn't give her enough attention.

I let out a bitter laugh.

I couldn't bear to admit that after losing my family, I was losing my love, too.

Besides, Aileen was three months pregnant with our baby.

My voice rasped as I spoke. "If you want him, what about our baby?"