Chapter 36 #2
The same hand that had stayed intertwined with his through countless surgeries, refusing to let go even when doctors asked her to wait outside.
The same hand that had comforted him through every sleepless night...
Every panic attack...
Every moment he had believed he would never survive.
She had never once complained.
Never once made him feel like he was a burden.
She simply stayed.
Again...
And again...
And again.
Sean tightened his fingers around hers.
Only once.
Softly.
As though memorizing the feeling.
As though he wanted to carry that warmth with him for whatever time remained.
His voice trembled when he finally spoke.
"I'm so grateful for you, Orm."
His eyes slowly filled with tears.
"I don't think I'll ever find enough words to thank you for everything you've done."
A tear escaped before he could stop it.
"You gave me hope when I had already accepted death."
"You gave me laughter during the darkest days of my life."
"You gave Liam the father I always wanted to be."
His lips curved into a fragile smile.
"I will never forget the sacrifices you made for me."
His thumb gently brushed over the back of her hand.
"So please..."
His voice cracked.
"For once in your life..."
"Stop setting yourself aside just to save everyone else."
"You've spent so many years carrying other people's pain that you forgot your own heart was hurting too."
His tears fell freely now.
"You deserve to be loved."
"You deserve to laugh without forcing it."
"You deserve mornings that don't begin with fear..."
"...and nights where you can sleep peacefully."
"You deserve to be happy."
Orm could no longer hold back her tears.
They streamed endlessly down her cheeks.
She looked at the man sitting across from her.
The man she had married.
The man she had cared for.
The man she had nearly lost more times than she could count.
Their marriage had never been born from passionate romance.
It had begun with compassion.
With responsibility.
With survival.
Her lips quivered into a broken smile.
"So do you. Take care of yourself."
It was barely above a whisper.
Yet Sean heard every word.
For a brief moment...
Neither of them let go.
Not because they wanted to remain husband and wife.
Not because either of them wished to undo the divorce.
But because they wanted to honor everything they had survived together.
Some people meet because of destiny.
Some because of love.
They had met because of tragedy.
Yet somehow...
They had still managed to give each other something beautiful.
A family.
A son.
A second chance.
A reason to keep living.
When they finally released each other's hands...
Neither of them looked back.
Not because they had forgotten.
But because some chapters are never meant to be erased.
Only cherished.
They walked away from the courthouse no longer as husband and wife...
But as two souls forever connected by a season of extraordinary kindness.
Some love stories end with forever.
Theirs ended with gratitude.
And somehow...
That made it just as beautiful.
—
Finally.
Nearly two years after losing Lingling...
Sean fulfilled the promise he had made.
After completing his work assignment in Japan, he returned to Thailand carrying something far more important than his luggage.
Three plane tickets.
After the divorce, he had kept his distance, giving Orm the time she needed to heal, to grieve, and to learn how to breathe again after everything that had happened. He moved back to Japan and now they're only co-parenting Liam.
Now...
He was back for a vacation and to be with his son.
Sean stood in front of Orm, quietly placing the envelope into her trembling hands.
Inside were three tickets bound for Paris.
Along with them were two neatly folded pieces of paper.
One contained the address of Lingling's Engineering company.
The other...
The address of the house she now called home.
Sean looked at Orm with the same gentle smile that had carried her through countless sleepless nights.
"Orm..." he said softly, his voice calm despite the emotion hidden beneath it. "Please follow your heart now."
His fingers gently closed around hers, making sure she wouldn't let go of the envelope.
"Lingling is in Paris."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"These are the addresses to her company... and her home."
His voice cracked ever so slightly.
"Don't let her go this time."
Those simple words shattered the last wall around Orm's heart.
Tears instantly welled in her eyes.
Sean smiled despite the pain reflected in his own.
"I'll take care of Liam while you're there."
"I've taken a month-long vacation from work."
"So don't worry about anything here."
"Just..."
He swallowed the lump in his throat.
"...go."
"Go and tell her everything you've kept inside for the last two years."
"If she chooses not to forgive you..."
He forced himself to smile.
"At least both of you won't spend the rest of your lives wondering what could've happened."
Orm could no longer hold back.
She threw her arms around Sean, sobbing into his shoulder like a child.
"Thank you..."
Her voice broke between every word.
"Thank you... for never giving up on me."
Sean gently rubbed her back.
"You don't have to thank me."
"I promised you that I'll help you find her again and to fix everything with her."
"And promises are meant to be kept."
That very night...
Orm boarded a flight bound for Paris.
Fluke and Junji accompanied her, refusing to let her face the journey alone.
Throughout the entire flight, Orm barely spoke.
She simply stared out the airplane window, watching the endless ocean of clouds stretching beneath them.
Every passing hour made her chest feel heavier.
Every mile brought her closer to the woman she had loved...
...and lost.
She wasn't flying there to interrupt Lingling's new life.
She wasn't flying there expecting forgiveness.
She wasn't even hoping that Lingling would welcome her back with open arms.
No.
She had come for something much smaller.
Much simpler.
She only wanted to know...
Whether the woman she had loved with every piece of her heart...
...was finally okay.
And perhaps...
If fate decided they were allowed one final conversation...
She wanted Lingling to hear her side of the story.
Just once.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
...
Paris welcomed them with its cool autumn breeze.
The city was beautiful.
Elegant.
Alive.
Tourists laughed as they filled the streets.
Couples held hands beneath rows of golden trees.
Musicians performed beside quiet cafés.
The entire city seemed to glow with life.
Yet to Orm...
Everything looked painfully colorless.
Because the only person she wanted to see...
Was somewhere in this city.
And she had no idea if Lingling would even agree to look at her.
...
Orm still remembered the exact weight of the iron gate guarding Lingling's home.
Her fingers trembled as she pushed it open.
The familiar sound echoed through the quiet afternoon.
Every step toward the front door felt impossibly heavy.
As though her own guilt had wrapped chains around her ankles.
When the door finally opened...
It wasn't Lingling.
It was her mother.
For a brief second...
Neither of them spoke.
Lingling's mother recognized Orm instantly.
There was no anger in her eyes.
No hatred.
No resentment.
Only an indescribable sadness.
She welcomed them inside with the same gentle kindness she had always shown Orm.
And somehow...
That kindness hurt far more than if she had slammed the door in her face.
Because kindness meant she had every reason to blame Orm...
Yet she chose not to.
The sight of Lingling's mother nearly broke Orm where she stood.
She looked so different.
The graceful woman Orm once knew had become painfully thin.
Dark circles rested beneath tired eyes that had clearly cried far too many nights.
Her smile was still there...
But it no longer reached her eyes.
It looked exhausted.
Fragile.
Like something held together by nothing more than a mother's determination to survive another day.
It was the face of someone watching her child slowly disappear...
Unable to save her.
Unable to carry the pain for her.
Unable to do anything except watch.
That image would haunt Orm for the rest of her life.
As they sat together in the quiet living room, every word Lingling's mother spoke landed like another knife sinking deeper into Orm's chest.
"Lingling..."
The older woman's voice trembled.
"...is barely hanging on."
Orm lowered her head.
Her breathing became uneven.
"She shut everyone out."
"She stopped answering her friends."
"She stopped talking to us."
A painful silence filled the room.
"She doesn't play the guitar she loves so much."
Orm closed her eyes.
Her fingers curled tightly against her lap.
"She doesn't sing anymore."
Another crack spread through her already shattered heart.
"She doesn't draft buildings anymore ."
"She doesn't smile."
"She rarely leaves her bedroom."
The room suddenly felt suffocating.
Every sentence stripped another piece away from Orm until she no longer knew how to breathe.
Then came the words that destroyed whatever remained of her.
Lingling's mother looked down at her trembling hands before whispering in a voice so broken it barely sounded human.
"She refuses to talk about what happened."
A pause.
"She refuses..."
"...to even say your name."
Orm's tears fell silently onto her lap.
"She barely eats."
"She barely sleeps."
Another long silence.
The older woman finally looked at Orm.
Her own eyes overflowed.
"...She barely lives."
Something inside Orm shattered beyond repair.
It wasn't heartbreak anymore.
It wasn't guilt anymore.
It felt like her soul had been ripped apart with bare hands.
The silence that followed became unbearable.
Neither woman spoke.
Because there were no words capable of carrying that kind of grief.