When Caleb first met the woman of his life, he was barely ready for it.

He was drowning in responsibilities. He had to take over his father’s company, take care of the ailing man and manage his own studies, and a distraction was the last thing he needed.

But true love was like a hurricane, unstoppable force of nature. With her, all his carefully built rules broke down completely.

She came from a prominent family background that was way above his own.

Caleb knew he had to prove himself first, just to have the confidence to meet her parents.

But before he could even try, strange men showed up at his door. Her father had sent a warning: Stay away from her.

Alas, in love, a man knew no bounds.

On the decided day, Caleb still dressed up in his best suit, ready to go to her parent’s place.

He never made it.

Before he could meet her, Caleb was hit by a car.

By the time he woke up from his coma in the hospital, months had passed.

His company was almost gone, his life was on the verge of total ruin, and the woman he loved had been married off to someone else.

She had married into the infamously prestigious Kingsley family. Their security system was completely impenetrable.

Still, Caleb tried his best and used every single connection he had just to get one word about her.

All he got to know was that she had become a mother and given birth to her first child. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Heartbroken, Caleb drifted off.

He didn’t want to ruin her new life. He was a complete wreck of a man, but he knew there would be nothing left of his soul if he destroyed the peace of the woman he loved the most.

Yet, he never expected to meet her again.

Years later, it happened at a private high-end hotel. She was there with her husband for a gala, and Caleb was there for a crucial meeting with investors to revive his company.

Through a bizarre twist of fate, a sudden commotion happened in the hallway, and they accidentally ended up running into the exact same room to avoid the crowd.

It was hard to put into words what Caleb felt when he saw the only woman he had ever loved standing right in front of him.

But it was even harder to explain the horror that consumed his when she fell, accidentally revealing the dark bruises all over her delicate body.

He had never remembered her to clumsy. She didn’t take a step wrong, let alone falling when she walked. It was like fate brought the truth out in front of him.

She was being abused.

Rage blinded him.

Caleb wanted to step out of that room right then and kill her husband with his bare hands. But before he could take a single step, she blocked his path, crying and begging him to stay.

That night was the only time Caleb Astor abandoned all his morals and values. He willingly got together with a woman he knew belonged to someone else, a woman who was already a mother.

For once in his life, Caleb was completely selfish and hopeful.

The next morning, she left his side coldly. She looked at him with hollow eyes and asked him to never, ever get in touch with her again.

Heartbroken once more, Caleb still respected her wishes.

Years passed.

If not for the anonymous envelope he received in his office, he would have never known the truth.

The woman he loved was no more. And her children... they were his.

She had been forced to marry that man when she was already pregnant with his child. Their first child, a baby boy. Ryle.

And that night in the hotel room... led to a daughter. Raelynn.

...

Chen Mansion.

Ryle’s hazel eyes were covered in frost as he gazed at the man who was kneeling on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

The documents and photographs from the envelope were clutched tightly in Caleb’s shaking hand.

Tears streamed down his wrinkled face. His chest heaved as he looked at the son who had fought through hell alone, and the daughter who had suffered on the streets for years.

"I’m sorry..." Caleb looked at Ryle’s cold face, then at Ivy’s confused expression.

Ivy had regained her consciousness somewhere around to hear Caleb reminiscing about his past.

About his lover, his children...

The truth was, the man had been her boss for the longest time and he was the most unproblematic and wise person she had met. She deeply admired the man and was befuddled to know he had such a messy past.

And what confused her even more was that, he was sitting beside her bed, holding her hand as he cried.

"Wh-What’s happening?" she eventually asked, her voice worse.

The innocence of her question made Caleb’s heart clench in pain.

The grown man wailed like an inconsolable child, holding his daughter’s hand, "I am your father... You both... are my children. I am so sorry I didn’t find you sooner."

...

Outside, a gentle midnight rain tapped against the glass. Inside the master bedroom, the warm glow of a bedside lamp threw soft shadows across the floor.

Ryle sat silently by the large glass window, staring out into the dark.

His hands rested on the armrests of his wheelchair, completely still, and his face was unreadable.

The bathroom door clicked open.

Daisy walked out, a soft towel draped over her shoulders as she dried her damp hair.

When she noticed Ryle, she dropped the towel onto a nearby chair and walked over to him.

"Everything I knew was a lie," Ryle whispered suddenly.

Daisy shifted, her eyes softening as she looked down at him.

Ryle turned his head slowly, his eyes reflecting a hint of vulnerability that he had fully masked in front of others, "I don’t even know what the truth is anymore, Daisy."

Daisy took his right hand between both of hers.

His palm was slightly cold and she rubbed it gently, transferring her own warmth into his skin.

"I am," Daisy said firmly, looking straight into his eyes.

Ryle froze.

"The life we are building together is... All the people in our lives... they are not a lie," she uttered softly, "You can’t live in the past anymore."

"You saw things from how Nathan Kingsley’s side," Daisy said softly, her thumb tracing the back of his knuckles, "Then today, you got Caleb’s side of the story. But with your mother gone... you will never hear her side."

Ryle’s chest tightened.

"Her part of the story will probably always remain untold," she whispered, not bothering to sugarcoat that part, "But Ryle, one thing that can never be fabricated is the fact that she loved her children endlessly."

Daisy had been the one to discover the truth of this matter first. And for the longest time, she didn’t know how to tell Ryle about this, or how to question Caleb.

She had sent Caleb the information, the evidence and she hadn’t known if she was doing the right thing. Ryle’s mothers had paintings sprawling all over that tiny room, poem hidden with her confessions to Caleb and the truth of all affairs.

Of how Nathan Kingsley had tormented her. Of how she had dreamt leaving that place and changed her mind because it would put Ryle in danger. Of how she had shown her wounds to Caleb on purpose and spent that night with him, hoping he would fight for them, hoping he would free them.

Of how the morning after she regretted it and chose to push him away out of love, to not harm him. Of how, she had wanted to end her life way sooner.

Every word was a confession.

Every confession was a wound.

And with time, Daisy knew that some wounds should be given space to heal. Constantly picking at them would only rot them faster.

So, things of the past are better off left in the past. And somewhere in her heart, she hoped that probably Ryle’s mother would have wanted this too.

Daisy squeezed the man’s hand tighter.

Ryle stared down at Daisy’s hand before he looked up and met her gaze. And he understood that gaze. He probably knew it somewhere within him that she would have answer to all his questions.

But it was like a mutual, unspoken understanding between them. He never voiced those questions.

As Daisy smiled at him, the walls around him began to melt away just like that.

Ryle pulled his hand from her grip and moved her straight into his lap.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into the crook of his shoulder as his arms locked tightly around her waist.

"Thank you," Ryle murmured into her hair.

Daisy brushed her lips against his neck, remaining still in his arms.

"Sweetheart, do you know what I’m thinking about?" he asked suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"We never had the perfect childhood..." Ryle said, his gentle voice cocooning her like a wrap of warmth, "I am thinking about how to forever dote on you so I make up for all the lost time."

She paused and then chuckled, "You being here is enough."

"Forever," he promised, "I am forever here."

"You are adorable, you know?" she smiled at his solemn tone.

"I love you too, Miss Chen."

The end.