The rain poured heavily that night.
Behind the large windows of a luxury penthouse, a woman stood alone, gazing at the city streets glowing with lights.
Her name was Alya.
It was almost midnight.
Yet the man who was supposed to come home as her husband still hadn't arrived.
Alya glanced at the neatly set dining table.
Two plates.
Two glasses.
And food that had lost its warmth two hours ago.
Today was their second wedding anniversary.
There were no flowers.
No gifts.
There wasn't even a single message from her husband.
Alya gave a faint smile.
She had no idea how many times she'd done the same thing.
Waited.
Prepared dinner.
Hoped.
Only to end up disappointed.
The sound of the door opening made Alya turn at once.
A tall man in a black suit stepped inside without a trace of expression.
Adrian Mahendra.
CEO of Mahendra Group.
A man whose name was known across nearly the entire country.
Handsome, wealthy, powerful, and cold.
Even toward his own wife.
Adrian set his jacket on the sofa without looking at Alya.
"You're not asleep?"
Alya swallowed.
"I was waiting for you."
Adrian merely raised an eyebrow.
"What for?"
The question was simple.
But for some reason, it felt like a knife.
Alya tried to smile.
"Today..."
She paused for a moment.
"Today is our wedding anniversary."
Adrian fell silent.
His gaze shifted to the dining table.
Then back to Alya.
"Oh."
That was all.
Oh.
Alya lowered her face so Adrian wouldn't see her eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"I prepared dinner. If you haven't eaten—"
"I already ate out."
The words cut her off.
Alya nodded slowly.
"Oh."
This time, Alya was the one who could only manage a single word.
Adrian walked past her.
But before going upstairs, he stopped.
"I'm leaving for Singapore tomorrow."
Alya lifted her face.
"How long?"
"A week."
"Okay."
Adrian continued upstairs.
Alya gripped the hem of her shirt.
There were so many things she wanted to say.
About her loneliness.
About how their two years of marriage felt like living alone.
About how, every night, she still hoped that one day Adrian would see her as a wife, not merely as a woman who happened to live in the same home.
But she swallowed all those words again.
Because Alya already knew.
Adrian had never wanted to hear them.
"Adrian."
The man stopped on the stairs.
"What?"
Alya drew a deep breath.
"Happy anniversary."
Several seconds passed.
Adrian didn't answer.
Then he said coldly,
"I told you from the beginning. This marriage is only an agreement."
His footsteps sounded again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Until, at last, they disappeared upstairs.
Alya stood alone.
Her smile slowly crumbled.
The tears she'd been holding back finally fell.
She stared at the two plates of food on the table.
Then she let out a small laugh through her tears.
"Fool..."
Her hand wiped away the tears.
"Why do I still keep hoping?"
That night, for the first time, Alya didn't wait for Adrian to come back downstairs.
She cleared the dining table by herself.
Turned off the lights.
Then went into the bedroom that had always felt too large for her over the past two years.
On the bedside table sat a small box.
Alya picked it up.
Inside was a wedding photo.
In the photo, Alya was smiling happily.
Adrian stood beside her with a cold expression.
Alya stared at the photo for a long time.
Then she whispered,
"I think it's time I stopped waiting for you, Adrian."
She didn't know...
That this simple sentence would become the beginning of the greatest regret in the life of a CEO named Adrian Mahendra.
Because in just a few days, Alya would leave.
And when the woman who had always been there finally disappeared...
Adrian would only then realize one thing.
The home that had always felt empty wasn't empty because it was too large.
It was because Alya was no longer inside it.