Aurelia's expression gradually changed. "Was that true?"She lowered her gaze. "So he had been pretending to be seriously injured?"The possibility took root in her mind before she could stop it. "Then Nahir was right..".She shook her head. "But why would Alexander do that?"She had no answer.Before she could think any further, a hospital employee approached her. "Mrs. Aurelia?"Aurelia looked up. "Yes?""There are some documents for you." The employee handed her a sealed envelope.Aurelia frowned. "What is this?""I was instructed to deliver it directly to you." The hospital employee handed the envelope to her and walked away.She accepted the envelope. For some reason, it felt heavier than it should have. Aurelia slowly opened it. Her eyes immediately fell on the first page.She stared at the document for several seconds without moving.Then her expression changed. "Divorce acceleration?"Her voice came out barely above a whisper. She read the words again and then again.Her fing

Aurelia stared at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. “What?”Nahir lowered his gaze as though he were struggling with the memory.“He was furious. I think...” He paused deliberately, allowing the unfinished thought to settle between them. “I think he couldn't stand hearing it.”The words sounded simple enough, but Nahir knew exactly what he was doing.He did not need to accuse Alexander directly. All he had to do was plant the suggestion in Aurelia's mind and allow her own guilt to fill in the rest.Nahir reached for her hand. “You shouldn't blame yourself.”Aurelia did not pull away, but she did not return the gesture either. “I should have cared for him too.”“Don't torture yourself,” Nahir said, his voice gentle and almost painfully reassuring. “I know what you're thinking.”He gave her hand a soft squeeze. “You didn't know how badly he was injured. You couldn't have known.”Aurelia stared down at their joined hands. “I should have known.”Nahir's expression tightened with

The stark, clinical words printed on the medical report refused to leave Aurelia’s mind, burning themselves into her memory: Multiple severe fractures. Potentially fatal internal injuries.Although she had read those damning phrases several times since leaving Alexander’s hospital room, the reality of his condition still felt entirely impossible to accept. Alexander had certainly been injured before, but he had always recovered with an unyielding strength. Even when life seemed absolutely determined to knock him down, he somehow always managed to stand back up.Over the years, Aurelia had grown so accustomed to his unwavering resilience that she had begun treating it as something permanent—a foundational truth she could implicitly rely on to always be there. But the heavy, crumpled report in her trembling hand told a drastically different story.Alexander had nearly died, and in his most desperate moment, she had simply walked away from him.Tightening her grip on the papers, Aurelia

Unable to meet her friend’s furious gaze, Aurelia stared at the floor tiles. "I had my reasons for believing what I did.""You always have your reasons, Aurelia," Vivian snapped, shaking her head in sheer frustration."I was just trying to help Nahir!""You could have easily helped Nahir after you made sure that your husband was safe!" Vivian’s voice steadily rose, thick with protective anger. "Even if you thought Nahir was hurt worse, you didn't even bother to check on Alexander. You could have driven him to the hospital yourself, or stayed by his side, or at the bare minimum made sure he was actually receiving treatment! But instead, you just left him there to bleed out while you stayed with Nahir the whole time."A fresh sob clawed at Aurelia’s throat as she looked back down at the medical file. "I swear to you, I didn't know his condition was that serious.""You didn't know because you never even bothered to ask," Vivian fired back mercilessly.The harsh truth of the accusation le

The building's security staff initially hesitated when she demanded to review the surveillance footage, but her commanding presence and undeniable authority quickly forced them into cooperation.The grainy digital recording clearly showed Clara casually entering the building through the main doors. Aurelia watched the screen with unwavering intensity, noting that there was absolutely nothing unusual about the girl's demeanor at first.A few moments later, however, Clara abruptly changed direction and walked purposefully toward a secluded stairwell.Aurelia leaned closer to the glowing monitor, her eyes narrowing in concentration. "Stop the video right there," she instructed.The footage instantly froze, capturing Clara standing perfectly still near the shadowy entrance of the stairwell. "What exactly happened after this moment?" she asked the guard.The security worker shook his head in obvious confusion. "The camera inexplicably stopped recording shortly afterward, ma'am.""Why would