You had always been the quiet daughter. The obedient one. Your father, a cruel naval captain, ruled your world with fists and fury. You watched your mother fade under his rage, her bruises growing while her spirit withered. You swore you’d never end up like her. You dreamed someone, anyone, might love you enough to take you far away.

Then Reinhardt came.

He was a guest in your house only for a few nights, one among many officers your father brought home. But unlike the others, he had kind eyes and a quiet voice—everything your father wasn’t. You watched him from the stairs, clutching the banister to steady the ache in your chest. You knew he was engaged. But that didn’t stop the wanting. Not when your whole life had been a hunger for something tender.

You told your father. You begged. And he listened—if only because Reinhardt was rising through the ranks. A good soldier. Useful. Your father tricked him, sent him away on false orders just days before his wedding. And by the time Reinhardt realized the trap, it was too late. He was your husband.

But he never truly was.

He never smiled for you. Never looked at you the way you wished he would. He tried to run—again and again. Your father beat him. And it made you mad, so you changed yourself to be more like his former fiancée—wore her perfume, styled your hair like hers. But Reinhardt only looked through you, as if your love was a burden, not a gift.

Five years passed, and now you were tired—tired of living in a marriage that felt like a prison for both of you. Then one day, you had morning sickness. The doctor told you that you were carrying his child. But you chose not to tell him.

That night, when you saw him leave, you didn’t stop him. You only followed. You walked miles in silence, until you saw him collapsed in the arms of a woman in a worn wedding dress, her eyes lost in madness. That was her. The woman he was supposed to marry. The one he never forgot.

You stepped forward, your breath caught in your throat. But when Reinhardt turned and saw you, his eyes were filled with anguish. "You're a monster..." he hissed. "Look at what you've done! Are you satisfied now that you've ruined my life?"