"We’ve gone through your case. You were missing for five years, but your husband applied for your death certificate and got your account canceled two years ago. We've contacted him already, but... you need to be prepared—he’s remarried."
The police station.
Emma Smith sat stiffly in the chair, her whole body feeling out of place as she listened to the officer.
Five years ago, she had gone to the Middle East with a medical aid team. A sudden incident led to her being captured by terrorists. Only recently were she and her team rescued by peacekeeping forces and finally brought back home.
Five years. For five years, what kept her going was the thought of Ethan Carter. They had been together since freshman year, dated through college, and eventually got married. He had been her whole youth.
She’d pictured the day she saw him again so many times. There would be tears, hugs, maybe a clumsy laugh—something warm. What she didn’t see coming… was being told he’d remarried.
Spring had arrived in Haicheng. The leaves outside rustled softly in the breeze as sunlight poured in golden and gentle.
Emma sat by the window, her hand mindlessly reaching out, as if just touching the warmth could breathe life back into her.
Those five years in the desert had completely cut her off from the world. The trauma, the overwhelming fear, had left her unable to speak.
The day she was rescued, she cried like never before. She truly believed that once she saw Ethan again, her shattered soul would finally find peace.
But reality hit like a punch to the gut.
He’d wiped her from his life by year three. Death certificate, canceled identity. And then, not long after—he remarried.
A soft click. The door to the station opened.
A man rushed in, clearly out of breath. He still looked a lot like the man she remembered, though time had added more calm and weight to his presence.
His tailored suit was sharp, expensive. The watch on his wrist alone probably cost a fortune.
Yeah… he’d been doing just fine while she was gone.
"Em..." His voice trembled as he looked around and quickly spotted her in the corner. The second their eyes met, his turned red.
Emma opened her mouth, but not a single sound came out.If the officer hadn’t told Emma Smith that Ethan Carter had remarried and even had a kid, she might've really thought he still had feelings for her.
"You've been through a lot..." Ethan stepped closer, clearly holding back the urge to hug her. "Come home with me first, okay?"
Emma froze, still sitting, not moving a muscle.
Home?
Did she still have one?
"Coco, don’t be scared. It's over now. You’re back,” Ethan crouched down in front of her, speaking softly, trying to comfort her.
Her eyes turned red. Deep inside, she was hoping the officer got it wrong. How could Ethan—the man who once climbed a mountain at dawn just to hang a love lock for her—actually move on?
Had everything he did, all the affection, just been a lie?
“I've already explained most of her condition, Mr. Carter. She developed mutism after the trauma...” the officer handling Emma’s case walked over, lowering his voice.
Ethan’s eyes filled with pain, and he instinctively reached for Emma’s hand.
Gently, she let him lead her out of the station, one step at a time.
She’d truly believed that making it out of hell meant walking into heaven.
But reality made her tremble uncontrollably.
"Coco… I’ll take you to a hotel first. A lot has changed these years… I can’t take you home right now," Ethan said, trying his best not to provoke her.
Emma quickly scribbled on a notepad: “Take me home!”
That place was her home.
The home they once shared. The proof of five years of love. The start of everything beautiful in her life.
Ethan paused for a good while before he finally muttered, "Coco… I’m sorry..."
Emma began shaking, clenching her hands tight in fear.
Even when bullets had whizzed past her ears on the battlefield, she hadn’t felt this afraid.
But then he said it—the thing she dreaded most. “You were gone five years. Everyone thought you were dead… I remarried. My wife and daughter live there now… I can’t let them get hurt.”
Thump. Thump.
And just like that, her heart—which had stubbornly held on all these years—completely gave out.
