It had been nearly two months since that day.
The wedding, the guests, the jasmine flowers, and all the noise had faded.
But inside Aurel's heart, everything was still in chaos.
Every morning, she woke up earlier than Damar.
She stared at the ceiling in silence.
In her hand was something she kept hidden from everyone—a red bracelet.
A gift from Rey.
She had never planned to throw it away.
Damar knew Aurel had changed.
But he said nothing.
Maybe because he was afraid of the truth.
---
"Your belly's starting to show, huh?" her mother said that morning.
Aurel gave a faint smile.
"Yeah… maybe four more months until the baby comes," she replied flatly.
But deep down, she wasn't ready to be a mother.
There was something unfinished.
Something unhealed.
---
Meanwhile…
The village had gone quiet when it came to Rey.
No one knew where he had gone.
But that morning, a friend of Mrs. Siti rushed in from the city.
"I saw Rey!" she said.
"At the old train station. Sitting alone on a bench for hours. His clothes were wrinkled. His eyes were empty."
"What did he say?" asked Mrs. Siti, her voice trembling.
"He didn't say much, Ma'am. He just asked, 'What day is it today?' Then walked away."
Mrs. Siti cried that same day.
She knew… her son wasn't dead.
But his soul… might no longer be in the same place.
---
That night, Aurel sat at the edge of the bed.
Damar slept beside her, facing the other way.
Her belly had begun to grow—
but her heart remained hollow.
She stared again at the red bracelet.
Clutching it tightly, as if she could dive into time
and pull back what once was.
"I'm sorry, Rey…" she whispered.
"If I had been stronger, maybe I could've waited for you."
---
Somewhere else, Rey sat at the edge of a small bridge.
The night wind swept across his face.
He watched the still water below, but his eyes were restless.
On his lap, a new letter—still unfinished.
> "Sometimes I wonder… maybe I was never meant to be happy…"
Rey folded the letter.
He sat quietly for a long time.
Then he smiled.
But it wasn't a smile of peace.
Not one of joy either.
It was the smile of someone who had stopped expecting anything from the world.