He was a man of greatness and he had made that clear to her. How could she hold him back with a child?

As the dim light overwhelmed their last silhouettes, she refrained from telling him about her pregnancy.

Instead, she lifted her head and blessed him gently, "Then | wish Mr. Evans a brighter future."

Feeling Mark's gaze fixed on her, she averted her eyes and quivered her lips, "Please go now. Otherwise, I'll become a nuisance.”

Mark slowly stood up, pausing as if he wanted to pat her head, but eventually thought better of it. It wasn't until he held the doorknob that he finally spoke, "I'm sorry, Cecilia!"

His apology encompassed their love that had now perished.

He apologized for the failure of their relationship.

Her little girl would eventually find the right man, while someone like him deserved to be consumed by the power struggle. He considered it punishment for his selfish choices.

Mark departed.

The door creaked open and closed slightly.

Cecilia collapsed onto the soft carpet, her face buried in her hands as she cried sorrowfully.

Upon returning to Duefron, she didn't dare to go home.

Instead, she went to their apartment on Gamous Road and survived on the food in the fridge.

Unable to cook, she could only toss all the ingredients into boiling water.

Each night, she would wake up from dreams where her ‘Uncle Mark’ had returned. In her dreams, he would gently carry her to bed and playfully scold her for being disobedient.

Upon waking, her cheeks were wet with cold tears.

But he never came back.

Two months later, she woke up from a nightmare and found her belly had started to show.

Fear of her family finding out about the child kept her from going home.

She didn't dare to let her family know she was pregnant, let alone with Mark's child. She hid wherever she could, with no credit cards or cash to her name.

Her clothes grew plainer by the day.

She moved into a tiny rental house, barely twenty square meters in size. Learning to support herself with low-paying part-time jobs, she even taught herself to cook simple meals.