Chapter 1

At Joy's birthday dinner, he gave the place that should have belonged to me to another woman.

It wasn't because he had betrayed me. Not yet. At least, that was not the word I could use that night.

But standing at the edge of the room, watching him laugh at something Mia said about their past, I felt a quiet realization settle over me: maybe the person I had spent years trying to reach had never truly been reaching back.

"Vivian, you're here. "

A friend walked over with a smile.

"Joy was just asking when you'd arrive. "

I nodded, still holding the gift I had spent months preparing--a miniature architectural model recreating Joy's first college design project, the one he had always been most proud of. He once told me that, back then, he had nothing except a dream, but it was the first time he knew what kind of person he wanted to become.

I wanted to give that memory back to him. Not just because it belonged to his past, but because I still remembered the way his eyes lit up whenever he talked about architecture.

When I walked toward him, Joy was surrounded by friends, smiling as he accepted their birthday wishes. Seeing me, he stepped forward.

"Sorry, I didn't see you come in. "

"Happy birthday. "

I handed him the box.

"This is for you. "

When Joy opened it and saw the model inside, his expression changed slightly.

"This is..."

"Your old architecture project. I remember you telling me about it. "

He picked it up carefully.

"You made this? "

"Yes. "

"It's beautiful. "

I waited for more. A question. A memory. A moment where he would remember the young man who had once chased his dream so fiercely.

Instead, he simply smiled and placed it on the table.

"Thank you. "

The words were sincere, but brief.

And suddenly, I realized something painful.

I knew his dreams. I knew his past. I remembered the things that once mattered most to him.

But when was the last time he asked about mine?

Then the restaurant doors opened.

"Looks like I didn't miss it. "

Everyone turned.

Joy turned too.

Mia stood there, holding an old photo frame.

The moment he saw her, his expression softened not with surprise, but with a familiarity I had never seen before.

"Mia? "

She smiled.

"Happy birthday. "

"I thought you might like this. "

She handed him the frame. Inside was a photo of them on a college campus, young and full of possibilities.

"You still have this? "

Joy asked.

"Of course, "

Mia said.

"This was the first time you told me you wanted to become an architect. "

Joy looked at the picture and smiled.

"I almost forgot about this. "

"But I didn't. "

It was a simple sentence.

Yet somehow, it changed the way he looked at her.

I stood quietly beside them. I knew who Mia was. Joy had mentioned her before--his childhood friend, the person who had shared the years before I entered his life.

She knew the version of Joy I had never met.

I had never asked him to erase his past. Everyone had one. I loved Joy because he had dreams, memories, and a life before me.

But that night, I understood something for the first time.

Some parts of the past ran too deep. Deep enough that no matter how hard you tried, you might never truly reach them.

During dinner, Mia sat beside Joy. They talked about college competitions, late nights spent revising designs, and the struggles he faced when he first entered the real estate industry.

Those stories belonged to a younger Joy the one I had never known.

"Joy, do you remember? "

Mia smiled.

"You once told me that the people who understood your past were the ones who truly knew you. "

Joy laughed softly.

"You still remember that? "

"Of course. "

They looked at each other and smiled.

And for the first time, sitting beside my own husband, I felt like I was watching someone else's story from the outside.