Chapter 10: The Man Who Never Returned
It had been two weeks since the wedding.
Two weeks since Rey stood frozen among the tents and white flowers—
flowers that were supposed to be for him.
And since that day, Rey had vanished.
No news.
No trace.
No one knew where he had gone.
Mrs. Siti, his mother, couldn't sleep.
Every night, she sat on the porch, staring down the quiet road,
waiting for her son's shadow to appear at the end of the alley,
just like he used to when coming home from school.
"Rey isn't the kind of boy who runs away," she whispered, wiping the corner of her eye.
"He'll come home… he has to…"
Neighbors started to gossip.
Some said Rey had returned to the city.
Others said he had gone abroad.
But there were those who whispered quietly:
Rey had a broken heart.
---
And Aurel…
Every time she heard Rey's name, her heart would race.
Every night, while her husband slept,
Aurel sat alone in the corner of the living room—
staring blankly out the window.
As if she were waiting for something.
Or someone…
Who would never come.
Sometimes she asked herself in silence:
"Was I wrong?"
"If I had waited just a little longer… would everything be different?"
But those questions only deepened the wound.
And the truth was too cold to deny:
Rey was gone.
Not just from her life—
but maybe from the world.
---
Meanwhile...
In a quiet, unfamiliar town, Rey wandered the night streets with no direction.
His hair was messy.
His clothes wrinkled and dirty.
His steps slow, like a man without a purpose.
He didn't speak.
He didn't smile.
He didn't rage.
Just silence…
As if his soul had been left somewhere far behind.
Every night, he sat for hours by the riverbank,
watching the water flow quietly,
letting the cold night air bite his skin.
In his pocket were crumpled pieces of paper—
letters he had written for Aurel but never sent.
One of them read:
> "Aurel, I wasn't wrong when I said I loved you.
But maybe I was wrong to believe the world would wait for us."
"I came back. But you were already gone.
And now, I don't know who I am anymore."
---
A few days later…
Mrs. Siti found a letter on Rey's bed.
His handwriting was messy.
There were water stains—whether from rain or tears, no one knew.
The sentences were short.
But enough to shatter any heart that read them.
> "Mom...
I'm sorry...
I'm not strong enough to be the good man you hoped I'd become.
I just want silence.
If Aurel asks, just tell her... Rey didn't want to be the reason someone else's marriage fell apart."
"But please...
Tell her Rey still loves her...
Even when she no longer belongs to him."
---
And from that day on…
Rey was never seen again.