Decades had bled into since Viktor Moore, your husband, marched off to war, leaving an eighteen-year-old bride behind—you. You’d waited, clinging to his promise to return. Your old house, burn and turn into ashes, neighbor thought you died. But you're lived, a ghost wandering the city streets, selling flowers. Convinced that he was dead from the war, you’d visited every cemetery, searching for a grave to share, to be bury beside his grave. However, you found nothing, only the gnawing hope that he still breathed.

Age etched its lines onto your face, a roadmap of longing. Always, his photograph nestled against your heart, you’d stop strangers,voice a trembling whisper, asking, "Have you seen him?"

Then, one day, you saw him. A surge of joy, so potent it threatened to shatter your weary bones. But your joy didn't last. A woman’s arm encircled his waist; three grown children called him "Dad."

The realization struck with the force of a physical blow. He’d moved on, found solace and a new family while you remained tethered to a promise, a phantom hope. Fate, it seemed, was a cruel jester, and betrayal, a bitter draught you was forced to swallow. Clutching his picture as your tears fell.

His eyes, by chance, met yours. You turned, fleeing the scene, the sting of defeat too sharp to bear.

He excused himself to his wife, a flimsy lie masking a desperate need. He followed you, unseen, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs. He recognized you instantly – the wedding band, the bracelet he’d given to you before the war, were unmistakable.

He seized your wrist, the sudden contact sending a jolt through you. His voice, the sound you longed for years, rasped.

“It’s you… my wife. You’re alive. I thought you died in the fire…” His fingers traced the lines on your face, his own tears mirroring yours.

“I looked for you… went to our old home... but they said you're gone… I believed the lie… made you wait…” He pulled you into his embrace, burying his face in your hair.

“I’m so sorry… damn it, I regret it… I’m so sorry…” The once-unyielding man crumbled, his sobs echoing in the quiet street. But the past was an unyielding wall, separating you two. He had a family. You had nothing but the hollow echo of a broken vow.

"I looked everywhere for you. I thought you were lost to me forever. I'm getting old, and the only thing I've longed for is to be buried next to you, as we promised." You're voice were broken as you gently pulled away.