My mother stood at the door.

The moment she saw the floor covered with my hair, the bowl of red apple and longan soup in her hands almost fell.

“Oanh Oanh…”

Her voice trembled.

She looked at me.

Then at Tham Nam Phong, who had already disappeared through the window.

Then at Lam Sat, who was still standing there holding the clippers.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Because my mother understood.

A mother always understands when her daughter has been hurt.

She walked slowly toward me.

Her hands touched my head.

The moment her fingers brushed against my uneven scalp, her eyes instantly turned red.

“My daughter…”

I didn’t cry.

Not even then.

I had cried too much during those twenty years of waiting.

Waiting for him to return from missions.

Waiting for his calls.

Waiting for the day he would finally put a ring on my finger.

I thought I had waited for a lifetime.

But I never imagined I would be waiting for the man I loved to protect me from himself.

My mother turned toward Lam Sat.

Her voice was extremely calm.

“Who gave you permission?”

Lam Sat opened her mouth.

“I…”

But my mother interrupted.

“You entered my daughter’s dormitory.”

“You drugged her.”

“You cut her hair.”

“And you call this a joke?”

Lam Sat’s expression changed.

She had faced enemies on the battlefield.

She had never faced a mother protecting her daughter.

“It was just training.”

My mother laughed.

A cold laugh.

“Training?”

She pointed at my head.

“Then why did you not tell her beforehand?”

“Why did you need sedatives?”

“Why did you need to wait until the night before her wedding?”

Nobody answered.

Because everyone knew.

This was not training.

This was humiliation.

A few minutes later, the door opened again.

Tham Nam Phong returned.

He had probably realized he had left too quickly.

Maybe he wanted to explain.

Maybe he wanted to comfort me.

But when he entered and saw my mother standing there, his expression became complicated.

“Oanh Oanh…”

I looked at him.

The familiar voice.

The familiar face.

The man I had loved since childhood.

Suddenly became someone I didn’t recognize.

“Why did you come back?”

He froze.

“I came to apologize.”

I smiled.

“Apologize for what?”

His lips moved.

But he couldn’t answer.

Because there were too many things.

For the medicine bag?

For letting Lam Sat insult me?

For defending her while blaming me?

Or for making me realize that after twenty years, I was still not the person he would choose first?

“Nam Phong.”

I said his name quietly.

He immediately looked at me.

This was the first time that night I called him like a stranger.

“Do you know what I was thinking when I woke up?”

His eyes trembled.

“I thought about our childhood.”

“I thought about the boy who carried me home when I fell.”

“I thought about the young man who promised me he would come back from the border and marry me.”

A pause.

“But then I opened my eyes.”

I touched my shaved hair.

“And I saw that the person who hurt me was the same person who promised to protect me.”

His face turned pale.

“It’s not like that.”

I looked at him.

“Then what is it?”

He couldn’t answer.

Because the truth was simple.

If Lam Sat was only joking, why did he not stop her?

If I was truly important, why was he more afraid of hurting Lam Sat’s feelings than mine?

At that moment, my mother placed the bowl of soup on the table.

Then she took out her phone.

“Your wedding tomorrow is canceled.”

Tham Nam Phong’s expression changed instantly.

“No.”

It was the first time he reacted so strongly.

My mother looked at him.

“Why?”

He was silent.

Because he had no right to object.

But he still stepped forward.

“Oanh Oanh, don’t make decisions when you’re angry.”

I looked at him.

“Angry?”

I repeated softly.

“I spent twenty years loving you.”

“Four years waiting while you fought at the border.”

“I defended you every time people said you cared more about your soldiers than your family.”

“And now you tell me I’m just angry?”

His expression became painful.

For the first time, I saw regret.

But regret came too late.

Outside the window, the morning sun slowly appeared.

The wedding day had arrived.

The day I was supposed to wear a white dress.

The day I was supposed to enter the military compound as Tham Nam Phong’s wife.

But instead…

I was standing there with my hair gone.

And my heart finally awake.

Three hours later, news spread throughout the military district.

The wedding of Chief Tham had been canceled.

Everyone was shocked.

Especially Tham Nam Phong.

Because he believed I would forgive him.

Just like every other time.

But this time was different.

Because when he rushed back to find me…

I was no longer waiting in the dormitory.

My room was empty.

My clothes were packed.

My childhood photographs were gone.

Only one thing remained on the table.

The engagement ring.

And underneath it was a note.

Just one sentence.

“Tham Nam Phong, the girl who loved you for twenty years died last night.”

He stared at the words for a long time.

Then his phone rang.

It was his commander.

“Chief Tham, there is an urgent matter.”

His voice was cold.

“The To family has withdrawn their support from the military project.”

Tham Nam Phong froze.

Because he suddenly remembered something.

I was not just the girl who waited for him.

I was the daughter of the person who had supported his entire career.

And now…

The person who had always stood behind him had finally walked away.

But the biggest shock came five minutes later.

A message arrived from an unknown number.

Attached was a photo.

Lam Sat.

And another man.

Together.

The date was from three years ago.

Tham Nam Phong stared at the screen.

Because behind Lam Sat’s carefully built image…

was a secret that could destroy everything he believed about his closest comrade.