The November wind swept fallen leaves across the cemetery. As I brushed my fingers over the cold gravestone, my eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"I'm here to visit, Mom."

I gently placed a bouquet of Mom's favorite roses at the base of the gravestone and carefully wiped the framed photo on the marble. Mom was smiling so warmly in it.

I had so much to tell her. I wanted to tell her that I was doing well now, and that as soon as my daughter, Bella Rothchild, got better, I'd bring her here to visit.

Just then, the sound of footsteps approached from behind.

"Mom, is that you?"

I froze but didn't turn around.

Archie Levine's voice was hesitant and laced with a subtle longing. He nervously clenched the hem of his clothes and called out, "Mom…"

I acted as if I hadn't heard her words and kept my head down as I continued cleaning up the grave.

Zachary took a couple of steps forward, leading Archie by the hand. His voice carried a hint of hurt as he said, "Alyssa, our son really misses you…"

"Stay back!"

My voice was devoid of warmth.

My gaze moved past Archie and landed on Zachary, filled with distance and indifference. "You're not welcome here, so please leave now."

Archie froze as if he was stunned by my heartlessness. But soon, his eyes were filled with tears. "I'm sorry, Mom. Could you please come home?"

My breath hitched.

I was suddenly reminded of the day I gave birth to him, and how I nearly didn't survive the complications.

When I looked at the fragile baby in the incubator, seeming like he'd shatter with just one touch, I'd vowed to love and protect him with everything I had.

Back then, Zachary was always busy with work, so when Archie had high fevers in the middle of the night, I was the one who'd carried him to the hospital on my back.

Back then, he was three and would murmur in his sweet, toddler voice, "I love you so much, Mommy."

I never imagined him turning into a guardian of Zachary and Leah's romance. He'd watch me spiral into hysteria and calmly say, "Why do you always fight with Dad, Mom? He treats you so well, so why can't you just be content?"

"If you ever hurt Aunt Leah again, I'll have Dad kick you out!"

He even told everyone with that innocent childhood honesty, "I woke up in the middle of the night and saw Mom sneak into Aunt Leah's room to steal a stack of files!"

It was Leah who'd plagiarized my medical thesis, but with one sentence from Archie, I became the thief and lost my career.

On his birthday, he made a wish that Leah could be his mother, and when I was sick, he told Zachary, "Mom's just faking it, Dad. She's acting pitiful to win sympathy!"

The more I loved them, the deeper their betrayal cut.

"I'm not your mother. Leah is," I coldly told Archie. "Now leave. Don't disturb my mom's peace."

Archie's face went deathly pale, while Zachary tried to grab my wrist and begged in a low, desperate voice, "Alyssa, for your mother's sake, don't take it out on Archie. He's sorry now…"

I laughed as if I'd just heard the world's funniest joke.

"How do you even have the nerve to mention my mom, Zachary?

"When she had that heart attack, who was it that hid her emergency medication? Did you forget it was your son?

"He took her medicine just to appease Alyssa and watched as Mom struggled on the floor, while you were busy in bed with Leah and never picked up when I called you over a dozen times. How dare you come here now?"

Archie reached out to grab my hand, but I violently shook him off.

"From the moment you chose Leah and let your grandma die, you stopped being my son!"

Those words finally broke him. He covered his face and broke down in sobs as he turned and ran away.

I looked at the fruit and flowers Zachary had brought and swept them off the ledge. "Take your trash and get out now! Don't let it rot on my mom's grave!"

When I returned to the hotel exhausted, Bella dashed straight into my arms.

After the divorce, I'd spiraled into a severe depression. It was after I met my husband, Nathan Rothchild, that I began to heal. And it wasn't until Bella was born that I truly stepped out of the dark abyss.

"Mommy, when are we going home?" Bella asked.

I kissed her chubby cheeks. "As soon as I finish attending my professor's birthday party, we'll head back to Helvetgard."

On the day of the birthday party, Nathan took Bella to the hospital for her final follow-up appointment, while I grabbed my gift and headed to my professor Emmanuel Reed's house.

The courtyard smelled of lilies, just as it had during my student days.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard Emmanuel's familiar voice. "Aly's here!

"Come in and take a seat. As husband and wife, why did you arrive at different times?"

Following his gaze, I saw Zachary sitting in a corner of the couch. He was visibly stunned when our eyes met.

"The gifts you both brought really hit the mark. Let me introduce y'all to everyone—the 'Golden Couple' of our school back in the day."

Emmanuel smiled and patted both our shoulders. His voice was full of pride and relief as he continued, "I remember being the witness when you two got married, and I couldn't have been happier seeing the most talented pair in our faculty tie the knot!

"And look at them now! They're still going strong after all these years!"

The smile froze on my face as it struck me that Zachary hadn't told anyone we were divorced.

Childhood sweethearts? The enviable pair? Our marriage, which I once took pride in, now felt like an ironic joke.

Zachary and I grew up together. When Mom and Dad divorced, he was the one who stayed by my side and pulled me through the gloom.

In college, he'd ride me across the sycamore-lined avenues on his bike and reserve my favorite seat in the library. He'd stay awake all night by my bed whenever I was sick.

Who would have thought that our marriage would end up in such an ugly way, when the man I loved cheated on me with the one person I hated most?

"Professor Reed, we're div—"

Just as I was about to explain, Zachary cut me off. "We're doing great, Professor Reed!"

He looked at me with a flicker of hidden plea in his eyes, as if trying to stop me from exposing the truth.

Emmanuel kept pulling me into memories of the past.

"Aly, do you remember when your graduation thesis was swapped? Zachary almost missed his own defense, trying to gather evidence for you. I told you back then that he had eyes only for you."

I forced a smile, but what surfaced in my mind was the day we divorced.

Zachary had slammed the divorce papers in front of me, and his eyes were cold and devoid of warmth.

"Let's get divorced. I don't want my son to have a mother tainted by a plagiarism scandal."

To force me to sign quickly, he went as far as to fabricate evidence of medical malpractice, so I lost my marriage and career all in one day.

"What's wrong, Aly? You look pale," Emmanuel asked with concern after noticing the odd look on my face.

"How's your mother? I haven't heard from her in a while. Just like her, you started building a family and left the field too early. Otherwise, you'd be a top-tier neurologist by now!"

Colors drained from my face. I was silent for several seconds before saying, "My mother… passed away seven years ago…"

Zachary's face was a ghostly white as he remained frozen to the spot, while Emmanuel was visibly shocked. Then, his expression quickly shifted to one of deep regret.

"What a tragedy! I'm so sorry, Aly." He patted my shoulder, and his voice was thick with sympathy.

I shook my head and forced a small smile. "It's fine. It's all in the past now."

When I looked up at Zachary, the guilt in his eyes was vivid.

He opened his mouth to speak, but a dainty, feminine voice suddenly rang out from the gates in the yard.

"Zach, I'm here!"

Everyone turned toward the voice as Leah walked in, carrying an exquisitely decorated cake. She wore a sweet smile on her face as she marched straight to Zachary's side and naturally slipped her arm through his.

"I'm so sorry, Professor Reed. The traffic was a nightmare. But anyways, happy birthday!"

Emmanuel froze, clearly not recognizing Leah, but she didn't seem to notice. Her smile remained poised, though sharp with an unmistakable sense of claim.

"Professor Reed, I'm Zach's wife, Leah Hayes. We just had a baby last month. Didn't he mention it to you?"

Ignoring Emmanuel's grim expression, she kept her arm locked in Zachary's and stepped toward me. "It's been seven years since you and Zachary got divorced, Alyssa. Haven't you moved on yet?"

She intentionally paused, and a provocative smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. "It'd be scandalous if people thought you were trying to seduce a married man!"

She made a show of smoothing her hair and flashed the diamond ring on her ring finger. "I heard you're working as a hospital nurse now just to make ends meet. If you need any help, you must tell us."

Zachary pulled at her arm. "That's enough. What nonsense are you talking about? Aly and I are just here for Professor Reed's birthday, so stop making a scene!"

I found the scene utterly absurd. The way Leah was acting now reminded me so much of my younger, foolish self, who desperately tried to hold on to her place as the lawful wife.

When Leah noticed the look on my face, her temper flared.

"Honey, what's there to miss about her so much that you're even defending her now?

"Alyssa, you should learn from your short-lived mom and just die!"

I stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face.

"Your mom ruined my parents' marriage and drove Mom into depression. And after doing the same thing to steal my husband, you're now twisting the story to blame it all on me.

"Like mother, like daughter. You're both just as shameless."

Leah's eyes turned red with fury. "Zach, are you just going to let her insult me?"

Zachary looked at the hysterical Leah in disgust. "Enough. You owe it to Aly, so you earned every word."

Then, he turned to me and continued, "We're at fault for what happened back then, but I hope you can forgive—"

"I'm back just to visit my mom's grave and celebrate Professor Reed's birthday," I cut him off. "I have no interest in playing along with your little drama."

Still, Leah wouldn't let it slide. She lunged forward and tried to grab me. "Just admit it, Alyssa! You're just jealous that Zachary loves me, and even your son chooses me over you!"

I stepped back to avoid her and coldly said, "I have no reason to be bitter. I have a husband and a daughter now, and I'm happy."

Both Zachary and Leah froze. Even Archie, who'd appeared at some point, stared at me with wide, disbelieving eyes.

Leah let out a mocking laugh. "Stop putting on an act! Everyone knows you could barely survive after the divorce, and now, you're just cleaning up after patients in a hospital. Where would you get a husband and a daughter?"

When she kept advancing, Zachary tried to hold her back, but failed to stop her.

Just as her fingers were about to touch me, a cold male voice thundered from the gates, carrying suppressed fury.

"Touch my wife, and I'll break that filthy hand of yours!"