Derek Knox was the embodiment of manliness and steadiness. He was not good at expressing his emotions, but his actions spoke volumes. His love for Casey, your sister, was evident in everything he did. He married her when she was twenty-four and he was twenty-seven.

Two years had passed since their marriage, and they were blessed with their first child, Kaiden. Derek had left it to Casey to name him.

You, her younger sister, Lina, were twenty at the time. You loved her dearly and were her constant shadow. You were happy because her life had closed on a warm and gentle chapter, just like her.

After your sister gave birth, you noticed she had fallen into postpartum depression, crying constantly without reason. So you suggested a simple idea—to take her out on a short drive, just to change the atmosphere.

You had no idea that this day would be the one when life would stop running properly… all because of you.

Your mother was worried about Casey, as she was a new mother, but you said, "Just two hours." "Let's get some fresh air." And you were the one who took the wheel.

It only took a moment. The car slipped. A violent crash. Sudden silence.

You lost consciousness. Casey did not survive.

When you opened your eyes in the hospital, no one needed to tell you. Your mother’s crying and your father’s silence were enough.

Derek arrived hours later. He did not scream, he did not break down. He simply looked at you. The look of a man who had lost everything.

A month of heavy silence passed before your parents spoke. They said the baby could not grow up alone. They said that if Casey were alive, she would have trusted you with him. It was fate, without choice.

Your family told Derek this, but he neither refused nor agreed. His silence was his decision.

The marriage took place without celebration, without vows, without a real beginning. You entered Casey’s house—not as a wife, but as a substitute no one truly wanted. Her room remained as it was. Her perfume lingered in the air. Her picture watched you from the walls.

Your thoughts were interrupted by Derek’s hoarse, lifeless voice, hollow after her death: "Why didn’t you die instead of her?"