Chapter 39

Miss Kai closed the office door and slid down the smooth mahogany paneling, collapsing onto the floor in a fit of silent, heavy weeping. No, not again. The same nightmare was back, years later, a cruel, undeserved karma.

Since the tragic death of her husband, Isaac Williams, she had fought relentlessly to maintain her sanity and her family’s dignity. Williams was the hard-won fruit of a long, desperate battle. From the moment Isaac chose her, an orphan with no roots, he was excluded from his elite family. They despised Miss Kai, viewing her as unworthy, less than human. But Isaac had stood by her, married her with quiet dignity, and built a loving foundation before his life was extinguished in a swift, violent car accident.

He left her with their savings and their beautiful daughter, Niran. Miss Kai poured every ounce of her spirit into being both mother and father for her only daughter. Even when Niran was drowning in trauma, even when she herself was collapsing inside, she pushed her suffering aside.

Then, when her savings were nearly drained by the spiraling medical costs, life offered her a second chance.
It sent Ralph.

A brilliant architect from a respectable family. From the first moment he saw Kai, even under her exhaustion and strain, her kindness touched him. Their friendship slowly became something solid. Solid enough for him to help her financially when Niran was hospitalized. He paid the medical bills. He paid for their relocation. He paid Niran’s tuition, even when Niran would not speak to him. Even when friends and family warned him of the risks of giving so much to a widow with a child, he accepted it. Ralph had his own vision of life.

Miss Kai crumbled further onto the plush carpet, the sheer weight of gratitude and pain too much to bear.

The door opened quietly. It was Ralph, his face creased with concern, half-asleep in his silk pajamas. “Malee,” he rushed toward her, dropping to his knees. “Is everything okay?”

“Ralph, I am so sorry,” she managed, furiously wiping the tears from her face.

“What is wrong?”

“You have been there for me so many times I can’t count. I am so grateful for…”

“Kai, is that why you are crying?” He held her face gently, his eyes searching hers. In his gaze, she saw the same gentle man who had once told her:

“Listen, I have an idea.”

“What, Ralph?”

“What if I sold the country house? We could use that money and complete your savings to start a little clinic.”

Ralph was the most beautiful, stabilizing force that had entered her life after the storm. He never pressured Williams, remaining calm and distant. He risked his reputation and his wealth to help Miss Kai realize her vision of a stable future. When their love finally matured, he honored her with a solemn, loving wedding.

And now, she had the means to care for Williams. Yet the problem was not the money, but the desperate hope that Williams would finally acknowledge this man, a man who loved her at a distance, who understood without judgment.

If only Niran could give Ralph the chance to show her just how crazily, deeply lovable he was. Then maybe he could remind her of the free, open, and vibrant girl she used to be before she became ice.

But Kai wasn’t the only one suffering that night.

Adeline, too, was sinking. Her bruised face was a painful mirror of Miss Kai’s own failure. Adeline suffered acutely because she had been forced to admit the truth to Kai, that her daughter was still a mess beneath the surface, that all those years were a colossal waste of energy, that she had not saved her daughter but merely engineered a flawless soldier. A soldier who was now poised to turn the entire environment into a chaotic battlefield.

Meanwhile, Adeline was back in her own apartment, where she found her husband, Riz, pacing anxiously, his worry radiating like heat.

“What happened?” he rushed to her, his concern turning to horror as he saw the angry, red bruises blooming on her face. “Oh my god, honey, were you attacked?”

Adeline looked at him, her eyes distant. “It’s okay, please. I just had an issue with a patient.”

“You were meeting a patient at this hour? Why didn’t you call me? Did you call the police?”

“Please forget about it. Everything has been handled.”

“You need to stop all this,” Riz pleaded, rushing forward and holding her hands. “This last month, you have been unrecognizable. I need you to stop.”

Adeline pulled her hands away and moved into the bathroom to change her shredded clothing. She was not in the mood for an argument.

“I am talking to you!”

She turned, looking at her husband, a decent, loving man who understood her entirely, for a long moment. “I became a psychiatrist to understand and help people,” tears finally streaming down her bruised cheeks. “Do you understand this?”

Riz fell silent, then walked slowly toward her. “Adeline, I married you because I love you. Do you understand that if something happens to you, I will carry that guilt forever? Look at yourself,” he pointed at her miserable reflection. “You are ruining yourself to save lives. Does it matter?”

His final words echoed in her head like a brilliant, terrible idea. Ruin yourself to save a life. She looked at her husband, the pain transforming into sharp resolve.

“What if she… wait. Ruin yourself to save life.” She stared at him. “If I find it worthy, then that means I will keep on till it destroys me. Then that would be a choice, right?”

“Adeline, what are you talking about?”

Adeline ignored him. She rushed back to her desk, frantically searching for a document, a specific reference number.

“Adeline, I am talking to you!”

She paused.

“Do you remember where you met me?”

He recalled instantly. Adeline and Riz had met during her graduation. She was among the top three in her class. That same year, she had produced a revolutionary thesis, Fallen into the Shadows, which brought her international acclaim in psychology and psychiatry. That was how brilliant she was.

“When you pursued me,” she said quietly, “you knew exactly who I was. You knew my profile. You knew what you were getting into.”

“Hmm.” Her husband nodded, defeated. “Yes… you are right. I knew I had deep feelings for you, but now I wonder why you got married to me.” He turned and walked away in deception. Adeline paid him no mind. She snatched a paper, her eyes burning with a singular, fierce focus, and headed back to her desk, ready to resume her work.

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