The Husband She Left Behind

Chapter 11

Darren looked at her without speaking. His silence made Vanessa nervous. She searched his face carefully, afraid she would find only coldness.

Instead, after several long seconds, she noticed that the ice in his eyes had softened ever so slightly. It was barely noticeable. But Vanessa knew him too well. She immediately realized that the wall around his heart had loosened just a little.

Joy quietly blossomed inside her.

Not wanting to miss this rare opportunity, she smiled gently. "Since today is our birthday, I've already prepared a surprise."

"What surprise?" Darren finally raised his eyes to look at her.

"I booked the rooftop of the Imperial Crown Restaurant. It's completely private. No other guests. Just the two of us. A candlelight dinner." She squeezed his hand.

"I planned it long before everything happened. I wanted us to celebrate our birthday together. And, this time, no matter what happens, I won't leave again." She looked at him seriously. "I'll stay with you the whole evening. I promise."

Darren quietly studied her expression. She looked sincere.

Today wasn't just their birthday, it was also the anniversary of his mother's death. Every year, he visited her memorial alone before spending the rest of the day quietly. This year, he had originally planned to bring Vanessa with him afterward.

He had imagined introducing the woman he loved to the mother who had never lived to meet her daughter-in-law. That dream had already been shattered. Still, looking at Vanessa now, Darren hesitated.

He would give her one final chance. One last opportunity to see whether she truly meant everything she had said.

After a long silence, he slowly nodded. "...Alright."

Vanessa's eyes instantly sparkled. "Really?" She almost couldn't believe it. Without waiting for another answer, she threw her arms around Darren's neck.

Before he could react, she stood on her toes and kissed him deeply. Unlike the hurried kisses of the past, this one was filled with relief.

When she finally pulled away, her face was flushed with happiness. "I won't disappoint you. I promise."

Her phone suddenly vibrated and the smile on her face faded slightly as she glanced at the screen. It was her assistant calling.

The moment Vanessa answered, a series of urgent reports came through one after another. Several military clients had unexpectedly moved up their delivery schedules. At the same time, multiple international mercenary organizations had also requested that their shipments be delivered ahead of schedule. The sudden changes affected several major weapons contracts, all of which required immediate coordination. As the person in charge, only Vanessa could personally oversee such large-scale operations.

A slight frown creased her brow. After ending the call, she turned to Darren with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go to the company. Several arms orders have suddenly had their delivery schedules moved forward. Both the military and our mercenary clients are demanding earlier shipments, and I have to personally coordinate everything."

She quickly added with a reassuring smile, "It won't take long. I'll finish everything as quickly as I can, and then I'll come back to pick you up. Be good and wait for me. Tonight is ours."

She reached up to gently straighten his collar before leaning in to give him another quick kiss.

"I promise I'll be back."

With that, she hurried away.

...

After Vanessa's departure, Darren stood motionless for several minutes.

Normally, whenever Vanessa left for work, he would begin cleaning the apartment, preparing dinner, washing clothes, and organizing everything, but today, he did none of those things.

Instead, he walked into the bedroom, carefully selected a black suit, a crisp white shirt, and a dark tie.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he silently adjusted his cuffs, then he left. His first stop was a flower shop.

After carefully choosing a bouquet of fresh white lilies mixed with white chrysanthemums, he thanked the florist and quietly drove toward the outskirts of Kelpton City.

Nearly an hour later, his car stopped before a secluded private cemetery. Darren walked slowly through the rows of gravestones until he reached a quiet corner.

There stood a modest black gravestone. There was no coffin beneath it. Only a memorial.

Buried beneath the earth were merely several old pieces of clothing that had once belonged to his mother. That was all he had left of her.

No funeral had ever been held.

Unable to recover her body, he had built this memorial himself years later. He knelt before the stone and his thoughts drifted back twenty years.

...

He had only been ten years old. That morning had also been his birthday and his mother had smiled warmly as she held his hand.

"We're going to the amusement park. Your father promised he'll meet us there. We'll celebrate together."

Young Darren had been so excited that he could barely contain himself. He spent the entire morning asking when his father would arrive.

His mother only laughed.

"Soon. He'll be here soon."

They waited happily. But the person who came wasn't his father. It was death.

A sharp gunshot shattered the laughter around them. One after the other.

His mother instinctively threw herself in front of him and bullets tore through her body. Warm blood splashed across young Darren's face and his ears rang violently.

He stared blankly as his mother's body collapsed like a discarded rag and blood rapidly spread beneath her. Darren screamed until his throat bled. Yet no one could wake her again.

His father arrived far too late, but instead of comforting him or allowing him to mourn, his father immediately ordered people to clean the entire scene.

Everything returned to normal, except his mother.

Afterward, there was no public investigation or grand funeral. There wasn't even a body. His father simply told him, "According to your mother's wishes, her body has been cremated, and her ashes were scattered into the sea."

Young Darren refused to believe it. He cried and protested, making trouble countless times. He wanted to know who murdered his mother. But every single time, his father merely sighed.

All of it filled Darren with burning hatred. The official news dismissed everything casually. But Darren never forgot.

Only two weeks later, his father remarried. The bride was the eldest princess of the Royal Family of the neighboring Bailey Empire. The marriage united two of the most powerful families in the region and the entire nation celebrated.

Even as a ten-year-old child, one question lingered endlessly in his heart. How could his mother's death have happened with such perfect timing?

Three years later, at thirteen, he finally understood through a butler whom his father abandoned him with.

"The master says if you're lucky, you'll survive. If not, death might be a relief." The butler's expression remained cold. Then they left him alone in the wilderness.

At that moment, it became clear that his mother's death had never been an accident. It had been a carefully planned murder, and the Bailey Empire and its Royal Family were undoubtedly involved.

As for who inside his own country had cooperated with them, Darren had no way of knowing, but he silently swore an oath that one day, he would uncover every person responsible and uproot every one of them! He never forgot that promise.

Returning to the present, Darren slowly crouched before the memorial. Then, he paused. A bouquet of fresh flowers had already been placed neatly before the gravestone.

His brows furrowed. Someone had come before him. Very few people even knew this place existed. Only he, and a handful of his most trusted subordinates.

After a brief moment of surprise, his suspicion gradually faded. Perhaps one of them had come to pay respects on his behalf. He reached out and gently brushed his fingertips across the engraved name on the stone.

His voice was almost a whisper. "I'm sorry..." His eyes lowered. "I originally wanted to bring Vanessa here today. I wanted you to meet her." A bitter smile crossed his lips.

"But, I broke that promise."

His fingers rested quietly against the cold gravestone. Whether there would ever be another opportunity, he no longer knew. Everything would depend on Vanessa tonight. On whether she could truly prove her sincerity.