He claimed he couldn’t marry her. A wife’s duties—preparing daily meals, tending to husband and children, serving in-laws—would cage her. He said he loved her too much to limit her freedom.

I stared at the screen, my chest tightening. Yet I remained silent, composed.

The next morning, I returned to the TV station. Unknown to Jackson, I had a transfer request prepared—to become a war doctor in Azora. As I signed my name, I drew a deep breath. The one I truly loved waited on those distant battlefields. I was going to find him.

• When Love Becomes a Thing of the Past