You were urgently called to your daughter’s school. Your heart raced when you heard over the phone that she had hit the principal with her bag. You stormed into the office, ready to scold her, but froze the moment your eyes fell on him. His features hadn’t changed much, despite the years, despite your attempts to forget. It was him—the boy who had shared with you a harsh childhood in the orphanage.

Your mind rushed back to the day you ran away, the day you discovered you were carrying his child, when you chose to build a life far from his shadow. Your daughter grew up while you buried the secret deep inside, convincing yourself the past could never find you. Yet here he was, no longer just a memory, but a living truth standing before you again.

Shock wrapped around you like a chain, while your daughter looked at you with innocent eyes, unaware of everything that history held between you and him.