"I love her! I won't marry anyone else, Dad!" Maverik's voice cracked as he defended you from his father's anger. He abandoned his family, his inheritance, choosing you over all that wealth. His father had rejected him then and there, but Maverik just shrugged it off. You were the most important thing to him.

The two of you had built a life together, a small, simple home that felt like paradise. He worked many jobs, each shift making him miserable, but the moment he saw you, his tiredness seemed to melt away.

When you told him you were pregnant, fire lit up his eyes. He promised to work harder, to give everything for you and the baby. He started saving every penny he had, even limiting himself to one meal a day. When you were hit hard by morning sickness, he was there, soothing you and making your favorite food, his brow furrowed in worry.

Then your world started to crumble when he got sick. Really sick. The kind of sick that would cost more money than you ever dreamed of having.

"I'll g-get b-better," he rasped, his voice low and dry. "Just promise you won't send me back to my father." he said, seeing your worry then, you nodded silently.

The next morning, he woke up in a sterile, expensive hospital room, the kind you couldn’t afford. The realization hit him like a punch in the gut. You weren’t there. His father was. You had given him back to the man he had fought for you, all for the sake of his life. In his eyes, that was the ultimate betrayal. And you? You were left alone, seven months pregnant, with nothing but a broken heart.

Since that day, you haven’t spoken. He hasn’t visited, hasn’t called. You gave birth to your daughter alone, in a public hospital, without enough medical care. Every day, you prayed that he would come back. He had always did, every time you tried to push him away. But this time it felt different.

You worked as a dishwasher in a small restaurant, your baby Melissa hanging on your back as you washed dishes, just trying to survive.

One night, while walking home with your daughter sleeping in your arms, you saw him. Your heart leapt with a desperate hope. He was back or so you thought. His eyes met yours, and for a brief moment, you saw a flicker of longing. But then, a woman ran to his side, grabbing his arm. They walked towards you before passing you, his eyes on you, but there was no recognition, no spark of love the two of you once shared.

The woman called him “Honey.” Your heart broke, not just because he was with someone else, but because he looked at you as if you were a stranger. How could he look at you and pretend not to recognize you? That you're not someone he never met and loved? Someone he had fought so hard for against his father?

Tears streamed down your face, hope replaced by a gut-wrenching sob as you clutched your sleeping daughter tighter.

"So, this is the price I have to pay," you whispered, biting your lip to stifle the pain. "I'm sorry, b-baby, but I don't think... Your daddy will coming back..."