Chapter — 1.

The evening breeze drifted through the airport parking lot, and the rows of cars gleamed beneath the overhead lights flickering on one by one.

Kataleya stood among the vehicles, clutching a small bag. Inside was a dinner box she had cooked herself that afternoon for her husband — Arkana's favorite chicken soup. She smiled, remembering how he always said her soup was the best thing she made.

But when she thought about how rarely he came home on time these past few months, the smile faded. Arkana blamed his packed flight schedule. Leya never questioned it — being a pilot was like that.

She knew that world intimately, because she had once lived in it too. The sky, the cockpit, the roar of engines, the runway lights stretching out like earthbound stars — all of it had been her life. Until she surrendered everything for Arkana, her husband.

A familiar voice snapped Leya from her thoughts. She turned, and there in the parking lot stood Arkana beside his black car. He wore his Captain's uniform — sharp, impeccable. A dark blazer with gold stripes on the shoulders glinting under the lights. Once, that Captain's uniform had almost been hers.

Her mouth opened to call out to him, but it closed again when she noticed a woman standing far too close. From the uniform, she was a young flight attendant. Her hair was pinned neatly, and a flirtatious smile played across her lips.

Leya didn't move. She was only a few meters away, but far enough to remain invisible in the shadow of a car. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but their words came through painfully clear.

"Captain Arkana, if we keep doing this... your wife will get angry." The flight attendant's voice dripped with coy affection as she pressed herself against him.

Arkana laughed softly, his eyes narrowing with cool indifference. He leaned casually against the car. "She won't find out."

"What if she comes to pick you up?" The woman giggled.

"Not a chance. She's busy taking care of our kid at home." Arkana shrugged, utterly dismissive.

Kataleya lowered her gaze and gripped the food bag tighter. But the conversation didn't stop. The woman stroked Arkana's chest.

"You're really bold, Captain. If I were her, I'd never let my husband be around another woman."

Arkana laughed again, louder this time. "If you were her, you never would've had the chance to marry me in the first place."

The flight attendant frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She used to be beautiful. She was a great pilot too. But now... she doesn't even have time to take care of herself. She looks terrible — I lose all interest just looking at her." Arkana's tone dripped with contempt.

His words hit like a slap across the face. Leya stared at her reflection in a nearby car window — hair pulled back in a simple tie, body no longer as slim as before she'd given birth, clothes plain and practical. But that wasn't what made her chest tighten. What cut deepest was that Arkana knew exactly why she looked the way she did — and he was mocking her for it.

"So, you don't love her anymore?" the flight attendant asked.

Arkana was silent for a few seconds, then gave a thin smile. "Love? I married her because she gave up her pilot's seat for me."

His tone was casual, as if he were discussing something utterly trivial.

The flight attendant's eyes went wide. "Seriously, Captain? So all this time, you never loved her?"

"That's right. If she hadn't withdrawn from the captain selection back then, I probably never would've gotten the position I have now." Arkana grinned.

Leya's heartbeat hammered so loud she could feel it in her skull. She remembered that day with perfect clarity — the day she signed her resignation letter, the day she turned to Arkana with a smile and said:

"Take the captain's seat. I don't mind."

Because she had believed that if Arkana was happy, she would be happy too.

"Besides, looking at her now, sometimes I think... I rushed into this marriage." Arkana spoke again.

The flight attendant covered her mouth in feigned surprise, but her eyes sparkled. "Well then, what about us?"

Arkana didn't answer with words. He pulled the woman closer and kissed her.

The dinner box inside Leya's bag suddenly felt impossibly heavy. The chicken soup, still warm, meant nothing anymore. The night wind blew cold, but what made her shiver wasn't the air — it was the bitter truth she had just witnessed.

Six years. She had given up the sky for a man like Arkana. Became a housewife. Managed the home, cooked, cleaned, raised their child alone — because Arkana always insisted they live simply, so there was never a housekeeper, let alone a babysitter. And now he treated her like a burden, claiming he had never loved her.

Leya closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she pulled the dinner box from her bag, stared at the soup container briefly, then tossed it into a trash can without hesitation.

"I will make you regret this, you bastard!" Her eyes blazed.

Arkana opened his car door, and that was when his gaze met Leya's cold stare.

"Leya...?" His face changed instantly.

The flight attendant turned too, her expression draining of color.

She walked toward them with measured steps. No tears on her face. Not even anger — but it was precisely that calm that made Arkana visibly nervous.

"Leya, how long have you been here?" he asked.

Leya stopped a few paces from Arkana, her eyes sharp as glass. "Long enough to hear every word."

The flight attendant quickly backed away and hurried off without daring to look at Leya. Now it was just the two of them. Arkana rubbed the back of his neck.

"Leya, this isn't what you think."

"And what exactly do you think I'm thinking?" Leya asked quietly, but her piercing gaze made Arkana squirm.

Arkana opened his mouth, then closed it again because he had no answer.

Leya gave a thin smile, but there was nothing warm in it. "Relax. I'm not angry."

Arkana exhaled, visibly relieved.

"But I finally understand something," Leya continued.

The man raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Her gaze dropped to the Captain's uniform Arkana wore, then shifted to the gold stripes that had almost been hers.

"Everything you have now — it used to be mine." Her voice was steady, her eyes deep.

"What are you talking about, Leya?"

She locked eyes with her husband and smiled — a cold, razor-edged smile. "Tomorrow, I'm filing for divorce."

Arkana's face twisted. He gritted his teeth. "Leya, don't joke around! That's not funny!"

"I'm not joking." Her heart turned to ice as she stared at the man she had once loved with everything she had — now with nothing but contempt. "One more thing. From now on... I'm taking back what should have been mine. I'm taking back my sky."

"Leya! You—"

Without waiting for his reply, Leya turned and walked away with her chin held high. In the distance, the runway lights blazed bright, as if calling her home.

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