Chapter 2

Moments later, a massive explosion tore through the night sky.

Serena’s heart trembled along with it.

She stopped walking and turned around, staring at the towering mushroom cloud in the distance. She wiped the cold tears off her face.

That yacht was where Wilmer proposed to her, where he had promised her forever.

He had named it Moon. When he gave it to her, he’d said, “Serena, baby, you’re my moon. You’re the only light in the darkest part of my life.”

The words still echoed in her ears. But everything had already changed.

She didn’t even know how they ended up like this.

They met when they were young. Back then, Wilmer was just some street punk.

Like every cliché story, he saved her once when she was in danger. And that was how it all started. They fell in love.

For ten years, she stuck by him, watching him climb from a street punk to the guy who ran the whole city’s economy, feared and respected by everyone as Mr. Marchetti, the big CEO.

Over those ten years, she’d shared everything with him—running through storms, tangled up on rickety beds in tiny apartments, fighting through countless hardships, side by side.

Wilmer had done the same for her.

When she got sick, he stayed up all night taking care of her.

When danger came, he willingly risked his life to protect her.

At their most in love, he once held her hand in front of everyone and declared that Serena was his life.

Even if he died, he’d never let anyone hurt her.

Ten years was a long time.

She thought they were already part of each other, like bone and blood. That they would never, ever separate. But life doesn’t warn you before it breaks you.

Back then, Wilmer went overseas to expand business. He got caught in a local armed conflict and disappeared.

When Serena finally found him a year later, he had lost his memory. And there was another woman by his side.

Even then, despite the pain tearing her apart, Serena stayed calm. She told him everything about their past, piece by piece.

She showed him proof. Proof that he had someone he loved.

That she was waiting for him.

Wilmer believed her. But he didn’t want to go back to her.

She would never forget the way he looked at her that day. Cigarette between his lips, gaze careless and distant.

“Sorry. I believe you’re my wife. But I don’t remember you at all.”

“It’s okay,” Serena said, taking his hand. “Come back with me. I’ll help you remember everything.”

But he shook his head.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. I’ve decided to stay with Brionne.”

Serena’s lips parted. “Why?”

“It’s simple. You say I loved you so much. But if you really love someone, how do you just forget them like that?”

He tapped his temple. “There’s nothing here. Not a single memory of you. I look at you, and I feel nothing.”

He studied her, doubtful. “Did I really love you that much?”

Before she could answer, he went on.

“I don’t know if I loved you before. But right now, I love Brionne. I can’t live without her.”

“So… I’m sorry.”

“If you can, I hope you’ll agree to divorce me. Let me be with her openly and officially.”

The cigarette at his lips burned down to the end.

Smoke blurred Serena’s vision.

And at that moment, she suddenly didn’t know what the hell she was anymore—the woman who’d kept the company afloat, survived a year of sleepless nights while he was gone, holding everything together as it all fell apart.

Serena didn’t give Wilmer what he wanted.

She didn’t let him be with Brionne.

Using the fact that they were still legally married, Serena forced him back to her side.

Again and again, he tried to shake her off. And every time, she trapped him with one method or another.

A friend once asked her, completely unable to understand, “Why? No matter how much you loved him before, once he fell for someone else, you’d be the first to walk away. But now…”

Her friend looked at her, heartbroken.

“Serena… this isn’t you anymore.”

Why?

Serena’s thoughts drifted back seven years.

Wilmer wasn’t the powerful CEO he was now. Back then, they lived on the edge; danger was part of everyday life.

One day, his closest friend got into trouble. Wilmer rushed to save him, but he was too late. His buddy’s legs were already ruined.

And when the guy’s wife heard the news, she left without hesitation.

Maybe it hit too close to home. That night, Wilmer held Serena tightly, his voice hoarse.

“Serena… if something like that happened to me… would you leave me, too?”

“I won’t,” she said.

But his arms tightened even more.

“Promise me. Promise me that no matter what happens to me in the future, you’ll stay.”

His eyes were red.

“Serena… Without you, I’d die.”

Seeing the fear in his eyes, her heart completely softened.

So she made a promise.

And she kept it.

Because she had given him her word, even after he lost his memory and hurt her over and over again, she never once thought about giving up.

To make him stay, she crossed lines she never would have before. She did things she used to think she never could.

She told herself that it would be okay once he remembered.

There was no way one year could beat ten.

For that, she practically ran across the entire country, visiting every top neurology hospital she could find, doing everything she could to restore his memory.

Until yesterday. She overheard a conversation between Wilmer and one of his buddies outside the door.

“Hey, you already got your memory back a couple days ago. Why are you still hiding it from your wife?”

Wilmer answered casually. “Because the moment she finds out, she’ll make me choose between her and Brionne. And yeah, I won’t give up my wife… but I can’t let go of Brionne either.”

“Dude, that’s—”

“I know, it’s kinda shitty,” he cut in. “But people are greedy. Who doesn’t want both?”

“Then if you remember everything now, why not treat her a little better, dude?”

“Serena’s too sharp. When I didn’t remember her, I treated her like shit. If I suddenly change, she’ll notice. She’ll figure out I’ve been lying. And once she does, she’ll leave me.”

“So until I figure out a solution, I just keep things as they are.”

The room fell into a long, stunned silence.

Outside the door, Serena stood frozen like a statue.

Later, she wandered the streets with no destination.

The autumn rain was cold, but it wasn’t even a fraction of how cold she felt inside.

So it wasn’t that he hadn’t remembered. He just wanted both her and Brionne.

And he was the same man who once held her hand and said that all he wanted in this life was only her for a lifetime.

Her tears came hard but silently.

Only now did Serena realize how ridiculously insane she’d been, clinging to a promise like it was everything.

Ten years really did lose to one.

She slowly pressed her lips together, wiped the tears from her eyes, and turned her back on the fire behind her, walking toward the end of the dock without a single trace of hesitation.