"Don't tell me you've forgotten what day it is, my husband."

Arkana paused just as he was about to take off his heavy wool coat in the foyer. The icy New York winter air that slipped through the apartment door as it closed behind him seemed almost warmer than the voice that greeted him. He turned to find Aurelia standing beside the dining table, her apron still tied around her slender waist.

He let out a quiet sigh, loosening his tie before walking toward her.

"I didn't forget, sweetheart. If I had, I wouldn't have made it home just before the day ended."

Aurelia fell silent. Her eyes traced the exhaustion etched across her husband's face. The tension that had been tightening in her chest slowly eased, replaced by a quiet sense of guilt. She stepped forward and reached for his black wool coat.

"I'm sorry," Aurelia whispered, unable to meet his eyes. "I was just afraid you'd forget our first wedding anniversary."

Arkana said nothing. Instead, he gently patted the top of her head, a familiar gesture that never failed to calm her.

"I'm going to take a quick shower. After that, we'll celebrate our anniversary."

A faint smile touched Aurelia's lips.

Once Arkana disappeared into the bathroom, she hurried back to the dining table. Since early that morning, she had been busy in the kitchen overlooking the glittering lights of New York City. Every dish on the table was Arkana's favorite, from a perfectly cooked steak to a bowl of warm mushroom soup. Beside his plate sat a small velvet box in deep navy blue. Inside was a pair of silver cuff links that Arkana had admired at a boutique the previous week.

*This past year hasn't been easy,* Aurelia thought as she lit the aromatherapy candle at the center of the table. *But tonight, I want us to remember why we chose to walk this road together.*

Twenty minutes later, Arkana returned in more comfortable clothes. A black long-sleeved shirt and tailored lounge pants gave him a much warmer appearance. He took his seat across from Aurelia, his eyes sweeping over the beautifully decorated table.

"You did all this?" Arkana asked, looking at his wife.

"Of course. Who else was going to help me?" Aurelia teased, trying to dissolve the lingering awkwardness between them.

The atmosphere immediately softened.

Arkana, who was usually reserved, seemed unusually relaxed that evening. He picked up the navy velvet gift box beside his plate, opened it, and smiled when he saw what was inside.

"How did you know I wanted these?" he asked, glancing between the silver cuff links and Aurelia.

"Because I always pay attention to you," Aurelia replied sincerely.

Arkana slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a rectangular gift box wrapped with a cream satin ribbon. He slid it across the table toward her.

"Happy anniversary, my wife."

Aurelia's heart pounded.

She carefully opened the box. A white gold bracelet with an elegant chain design shimmered beneath the soft candlelight.

"It's beautiful..."

"I had my secretary pick it up in Paris last month. I thought it would look perfect on your wrist."

Arkana reached for her hand, intending to fasten the bracelet around her wrist.

Just as his fingers touched Aurelia's cool skin, a loud vibration shattered the romantic silence.

The phone resting on the marble tabletop buzzed so intensely that it shifted slightly in place. Its screen lit up, displaying a single letter as the caller ID.

**S.**

Arkana's hand froze instantly.

Aurelia felt his fingers tense without warning. The smile that had just appeared on his face vanished, replaced by a clenched jaw.

He didn't answer immediately. He glanced at Aurelia, hesitation flickering across his eyes. But when the phone stopped vibrating only to ring again a second later, he could no longer ignore it. He grabbed the phone and answered.

"Yes?"

His voice was low, but the restrained anxiety in it was unmistakable.

Aurelia remained silent, holding the bracelet that was only halfway secured around her wrist. The room was so quiet that she could faintly hear the voice on the other end of the line. It was a woman, breathing heavily, sounding fragile and distressed.

Arkana shot to his feet.

He moved so abruptly that his dining chair scraped loudly across the floor.

"Okay, I'm on my way. Just wait for me," he said in rapid succession, already striding away from the dining table.

Aurelia sat frozen.

The candle at the center of the table was still burning, but the warmth that had filled the room only moments ago disappeared without a trace. She watched Arkana hurriedly put his black wool coat back on, the same one she had carefully hung up just a little while earlier.

"Arkan?"

Aurelia's voice stopped him just before he reached the front door.

He turned around, his face pale and tense.

"We haven't blown out the candle yet. We haven't cut the cake." Her voice trembled as she fought the lump rising in her throat. "It's only five minutes until midnight."

Arkana gripped the doorknob, his gaze unfocused.

"I'm sorry, Aurelia. There's an urgent emergency at the Queens branch office. I have to go right now."

Aurelia looked straight into her husband's eyes.

The lie stood there, naked and undeniable.

The branch office? At nine o'clock at night? On the evening of their anniversary? And with this kind of panic?

She knew he was hiding something.

But seeing how desperate he seemed to leave, she chose not to question him.

"Then... drive safely," Aurelia murmured, nodding in quiet resignation.

Arkana simply nodded in return before opening the apartment door and disappearing into the cold hallway without looking back.

Time crawled forward.

The clock in the luxurious penthouse now read one o'clock in the morning.

The candle at the center of the table had burned itself out, leaving hardened wax pooled inside its glass holder. The meal that had looked so inviting earlier had long since gone cold.

Aurelia was still sitting in the same chair.

She hadn't touched a single bite of food.

Her empty gaze rested on the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the deepening night. The phone lying beside her plate remained silent, with no messages or missed calls from Arkana.

With a weary sigh, Aurelia finally stood.

There was no point in waiting any longer.

As she took a step toward the bedroom, her phone suddenly buzzed.

A notification appeared on the screen.

It was a post from a local social media account that regularly shared moments from New York's expatriate community, an account followed by several people she knew.

Aurelia stopped in her tracks, her legs suddenly weak.

She opened the notification.

It was a candid photograph taken beneath the glowing red neon sign that read **Emergency Room** outside one of Manhattan's most prestigious hospitals.

In the photo, a man wearing a black wool coat she recognized all too well was holding a pale, exhausted-looking woman in his arms. His strong arm supported her firmly, making sure she wouldn't collapse onto the ground.

Beneath the photo was a short caption.

*"Thank goodness you came tonight. I was so scared to be alone. Thank you for coming."*

The picture had been taken from the side, revealing half of Arkana's face.

His features were filled with deep concern, the same expression he always wore whenever Aurelia was sick.

Aurelia stumbled backward until the back of her legs hit the edge of a chair.

The white gold bracelet Arkana had just given her suddenly felt unbearably heavy around her wrist, more like a shackle than a gift.

In the silence of the night, she could almost hear something inside her crack.

The sound shattered every hope she had carefully built since that morning.

On the very day that was supposed to celebrate their love, he had chosen another woman's embrace, leaving behind every sweet promise on a dining table that had gone cold.

Aurelia hurriedly turned off her phone.

Her heart pounded so violently that her chest ached.

She drew in a deep breath, forcing the tears gathering in her eyes to retreat.

Acting on impulse would solve nothing.

She needed to know who that woman was, what place she held in her husband's life, and just how far Arkana had gone behind her back.

Just before the clock struck one-twenty in the morning, she heard the soft click of the front door unlocking.

Hurried footsteps approached.

Aurelia moved quickly.

Ignoring the crushing weight in her chest, she grabbed a match and relit what remained of the nearly burned-out aromatherapy candle.

When Arkana walked into the dining room, still breathing a little heavily, he found his wife smiling softly in the flickering candlelight.

"You're... still awake?" Arkana asked in surprise, stopping at the edge of the rug.

"I was waiting for you," Aurelia replied, her voice impossibly calm, concealing the storm raging inside her. "We still haven't blown out the candle, Arkan. Let's call this a sweet ending to the day."

Arkana walked over to the table.

He leaned down to blow out the candle Aurelia had just relit.

As he bent forward, the collar of his black shirt slipped slightly.

In the dim glow of the dying flame, Aurelia froze.

There, on the side of her husband's neck, was a faint reddish mark.

It was far too familiar to be dismissed as a simple scratch.

The blood drained from Aurelia's face.

A sharp pain pierced her chest, far more agonizing than the photograph she had seen on social media.

Yet beneath the table, she clenched her hands so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.

She refused to lose control tonight.

She needed the whole truth, not a confession forced out in the heat of the moment.

The morning sunlight filtering through the sheer curtains of the penthouse did nothing to warm Aurelia.

She had barely slept all night. Every time she turned to glance beside her, the image of the reddish mark on Arkana's neck and the photograph outside the emergency room replayed relentlessly in her mind. Yet when the alarm rang promptly at five in the morning, Aurelia got out of bed with a calm expression, as though nothing had happened.

She carried on with her routine.

She laid out Arkana's dark gray suit, pressing every crease until it was immaculate, then headed to the kitchen to prepare his favorite cup of black coffee, no sugar.

As dawn began to break, a pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped around her waist from behind.

The familiar scent of Arkana's soap, blended with cool mint, surrounded her. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, leaving a trail of demanding kisses against her skin.

For Arkana, this was their morning ritual.

A habit he never skipped, where he always wanted his wife before facing another busy day.

"Arkan, your coffee's going to get cold," Aurelia whispered, trying to steady the violent pounding in her chest. Every instinct inside her wanted to pull away, especially when her eyes caught another glimpse of the faint reddish mark on his neck.

"Let it," Arkana murmured.

Without giving her a chance to protest, he turned her around and effortlessly lifted her onto the kitchen counter.

His touch felt exactly as it always had, intense, commanding, and full of desire.

Aurelia closed her eyes, allowing herself to surrender to her husband's touch, desperately searching for whatever sincerity might still remain between them.

Their clothes came off one piece at a time until nothing remained but warm skin against skin beneath the comfortable temperature of the room.

Just as their breathing grew heavier and Arkana was about to make love to her, the quiet morning was shattered by a familiar sound.

His phone, resting on the dining table, buzzed loudly.

The clock had only just struck six in the morning.

Arkana froze instantly.

Every muscle in his body tensed above hers.

The warmth that had filled the room vanished in an instant, replaced by a suffocating silence.

Without saying a word, Arkana pulled away, ignoring the desire that remained unresolved between them. He grabbed the bathrobe he had discarded earlier and hastily slipped it on.

Aurelia slowly sat up on the kitchen counter, wrapping her trembling arms around her knees.

The cool air against her exposed skin suddenly felt numb.

From several feet away, she watched Arkana's expression change the moment he read the message on his screen.

He looked back at her, his eyes filled with unmistakable guilt.

"Aurelia, I'm sorry," Arkana said as he hurried toward the bathroom to get dressed. "There's an urgent situation at the office. The board meeting has been moved up to seven this morning. I have to leave right away."

Aurelia merely nodded.

Her throat was too dry to form even a single word.

A few minutes later, Arkana emerged wearing his neatly pressed suit, although his tie sat slightly crooked from dressing in such a rush.

He walked over to Aurelia, who still hadn't moved, and gently kissed her forehead.

"The meeting will be over by ten. I'll come straight home to see you, and we can pick up where we left off. Okay?"

Aurelia nodded again, forcing a faint smile that never reached her eyes.

The moment the apartment door closed and the sound of Arkana's footsteps disappeared, the smile fell away.

The tears she had been holding back finally spilled over, streaming down her pale cheeks.

The pain was unbearable.

A single message at six in the morning had been enough for Arkana to abandon their intimate morning without a second thought.

But Aurelia refused to remain the fool crying alone in the corner of her own home.

Her need for answers had reached its breaking point.

With trembling hands, she quickly got dressed, pulled on a knitted beanie, grabbed her car keys, and hurried down to the parking garage.

Only a few minutes separated their cars.

Aurelia kept a safe distance behind Arkana's black SUV as it moved through the increasingly crowded streets of Manhattan.

Before long, her suspicions were confirmed.

Instead of heading toward the business district where his company's headquarters was located, Arkana turned toward the Upper East Side.

He was driving straight to the same hospital she had seen in the photograph the night before.

Aurelia parked several buildings away from the main entrance.

Her heart pounding, she stepped into the hospital and quietly followed Arkana's tall figure from a distance.

He finally stopped in the quiet corridor of the VIP inpatient wing.

Standing outside one of the rooms was a woman dressed in a hospital gown.

Her face was deathly pale.

She looked heartbreakingly fragile, tears streaking down her cheeks.

Without the slightest hesitation, Arkana strode toward her and immediately pulled her into his arms.

He gently rubbed her back with slow, protective strokes, cradling her head against his broad chest, the very place that had belonged to Aurelia only a short while ago.

The woman sobbed uncontrollably in his embrace while Arkana whispered comforting words that Aurelia couldn't hear from where she stood.

Aurelia staggered backward.

She leaned against the cold corridor wall to keep herself from collapsing.

The soft click of the front door broke the suffocating silence inside the penthouse.

Arkana stepped inside, loosening his tie as exhaustion showed on his face. But he stopped short the moment he realized Aurelia wasn't there to greet him as she always was.

She sat upright on the living room sofa, staring at him with a look he had never seen before.

"Sweetheart, this is unusual. You're not coming to greet me?" Arkana tried to lighten the mood as he walked toward her. "I'm sorry about this morning. The meeting really took up my time, but thankfully it ended earlier than expected."

Aurelia didn't move.

Her eyes remained fixed on the shirt Arkana was wearing, the very shirt she had lovingly ironed just a few hours ago. Now it was slightly wrinkled from another woman's embrace.

"The meeting?" Aurelia's voice was flat, almost a whisper. "Was it a board meeting, or was it at the VIP wing of the Upper East Side hospital, Arkan?"

The room instantly turned ice cold.

Arkana's hand froze halfway through removing his watch. His jaw tightened, and his eyes sharpened.

"You followed me?" he asked, his voice low with disbelief.

Aurelia let out a hollow laugh, one filled with nothing but pain.

"Followed you?" She rose from the sofa, gripping her phone so tightly her knuckles turned white. "If I hadn't gone there and seen it with my own eyes, I'd still be the fool who believed her husband was busy leading a meeting, while my husband was actually busy holding another woman as she cried against his chest!"

"Enough, Aurelia!" Arkana snapped, his voice echoing through the spacious penthouse. "Stop making baseless accusations. You don't know anything about what happened there!"

"Then explain it!" Aurelia shouted.

The tears she had been holding back finally broke free.

Her chest heaved as she struggled to breathe through the overwhelming pain.

"Tell me who that woman is, Arkan! Who is she that she can call you in the middle of the night on our anniversary? Who is she that at six in the morning, when we hadn't even..." Her voice faltered before she forced herself to continue. "You walked away from me without a second thought just to rush to her at the hospital. Who is she?"

Arkana pinched the bridge of his nose, his breathing growing uneven as anger began to boil inside him.

He felt cornered, accused of something that, in his mind, wasn't what Aurelia believed it to be.

But his pride, and the promise he had made, kept him from explaining.

To him, everything involving that woman was his responsibility alone, something Aurelia had no reason to interfere with.

"I don't have to explain every detail of my life to you when you're acting this childish," Arkana said coldly, disappointment flashing in his eyes. "I went there because there was an emergency I had to handle. Why has your mind become so twisted? Where's your trust in your own husband?"

"Trust?" Aurelia pressed a hand against her shattered chest. "How am I supposed to trust you when you keep lying to me? You said it was work, but you went to the hospital. You hid her behind a contact saved as 'S.' And..." She swallowed hard. "That mark on your neck last night, was that part of your office business too?"

For a brief moment, Arkana's expression stiffened at the mention of the mark on his neck.

But instead of explaining himself, he felt his pride as a husband being trampled. In his eyes, she had treated him like a criminal by following him and questioning everything he did.

"Enough, Aurelia! I won't be interrogated and followed around like this!" Arkana shouted, fury blazing in his eyes. "I married you because I thought you were understanding, not because I wanted a jealous woman who loses all common sense and spies on her own husband. Then accuses him without knowing the truth!"

His words struck the deepest part of Aurelia's heart.

Childish?

Lacking common sense?

Her mind drifted back three years.

They had fallen in love while working at the same company.

For three years they had dated, laughing together, supporting each other's careers until Arkana finally proposed.

After they married, it had been Arkana's wish for her to live comfortably without the pressures of work.

She had willingly given up a thriving career.

She had buried her ambitions and devoted herself completely to becoming the wife who would always be waiting for him at home.

And after every sacrifice she had made...

This was all she had become in his eyes.

A childish, unreasonable woman.

"We dated for three years, Arkan... and we've been married for one." Aurelia's voice trembled violently between broken sobs. "I gave you my entire life. I quit my job so I could take care of our home, so I could be the person waiting for you every day. But what have I gotten in return? You treat me like a stranger who doesn't even deserve to know the truth about her own husband's lies."

Arkana turned his face away.

His wounded pride refused to let him look at his wife's tears.

"If you're going to keep accusing me without even trying to understand my position, then this conversation is pointless."

"It is pointless!" Aurelia cried.

Her emotions surged past the point of control.

The pain and disappointment bursting inside her forced the words from her lips before she could stop them.

"If you'd rather protect that woman than care about how I feel... if this marriage is nothing but lies, then let's get divorced, Arkan. Let's just get divorced!"

The room fell completely silent.

Only Aurelia's heartbreaking sobs could be heard.

Arkana stared at her with piercing eyes.

His jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles in his neck stood out.

The anger he had been suppressing finally exploded the moment she spoke that forbidden word so easily.

"Divorce?" Arkana asked, his voice now icy and razor sharp.

He let out a mocking scoff.

"You think this marriage is some kind of game? Something you can end whenever you throw a childish tantrum?" He gave a bitter laugh. "Fine. If that's what you want, if you've already decided you can't trust me anymore... then fine. A divorce it is."

The moment those devastating words left his mouth, Arkana snatched his car keys off the table.

Without another glance at Aurelia, who stood frozen in place, he turned and strode out of the penthouse.

The front door slammed shut behind him with a deafening bang, leaving an oppressive silence throughout the apartment.

Arkana left to cool off.

He left behind the storm he had just unleashed on his wife's life.

Aurelia slowly collapsed onto the cold marble floor.

She covered her tear-soaked face with both hands.

Her entire body shook with painful sobs.

Her chest felt hollow, tight, and shattered into countless pieces.

The man she had loved for four years, the man who had promised before the altar to cherish and protect her, had just agreed to divorce her rather than set aside his pride or explain another woman's place in his life.

She cried for hours on the cold floor, letting every ounce of her pain pour out through her tears.

Gradually, her sobs began to subside.

Aurelia slowly lifted her head and looked toward the empty front door.

She wiped away her tears roughly with the back of her hand, though her eyes were swollen and red.

The warmth that had once filled her heart was gone.

In its place stood a quiet resolve, forged from unbearable pain.

*Fine,* Aurelia thought, drawing a long breath that ached in her chest.

*Maybe divorce really is for the best. I won't let myself be destroyed any further in this house.*