Slowly, I pulled it out.
Then opened the lid.
The first thing I saw was an ultrasound photograph.
The one she had taken at the hospital.
My fingers paused.
Slowly, I picked it up and stared at the blurry image.
The baby was still small, making it difficult to make out any clear details, yet I found myself unable to look away.
A strange feeling settled in my chest.
My child.
Our child.
A dull ache settled in my chest.
I traced the edge of the photograph with my thumb before carefully placing it aside.
That was when I noticed there were more things inside the box.
A folded document.
A paper bag.
A bracelet.
Several notes.
And a small gift box.
None of them looked valuable.
If anything, they seemed strangely ordinary.
I frowned.
Why would Alicia keep things like these?
Curiosity got the better of me.
I reached for the folded document first.
It turned out to be a copy of her final high school results.
Distinctions.
Every single subject.
I wasn’t surprised.
Alicia had always been intelligent.
Even back then, everyone knew she excelled academically.
What confused me was why she would keep this here after so many years.
Then I noticed a handwritten note attached at the bottom.
"I finally did it. I got the distinctions just like him."
My brows knitted together.
Him?
Who was she talking about?
I turned the paper over, searching for more clues.
There was nothing.
Just that single sentence.
For some reason, I couldn’t stop staring at it.
Whoever this person was, they must have been important enough for Alicia to preserve this memory all these years.
I slowly set it aside and picked up the next item.
A paper bag.
It looked old but had been preserved carefully.
I unfolded it.
"Delight Bakery."
I frowned.
Why would Alicia keep a bakery paper bag?
Then I noticed another note.
"He got me cookies. It’s the first time he got me something, and it was so thoughtful..."
I stared at the sentence.
Again.
The same person.
The same "he."
Who was he?
And why would Alicia keep a paper bag because of him?
I couldn’t understand it.
The bag itself held no value.
Yet she had kept it safe for years.
Almost as if it was precious.
A strange feeling settled in my chest.
I set it aside and reached for the bracelet.
The moment I saw it, I froze.
I knew this bracelet.
A blue and gold bracelet.
After our wedding, Nana had handed it to me and insisted I give it to Alicia.
At the time, I didn’t want to.
I thought it should belong to Lilian.
But Nana had refused to listen.
In the end, I gave it to Alicia.
I remembered thinking she didn’t deserve it.
My grip tightened unconsciously.
Then my eyes fell on the note attached to it.
"His first gift to me after our wedding."
The room suddenly became quiet.
My gaze shifted between the bracelet and the note.
A strange thought crossed my mind.
Then another.
And another.
The bakery bag.
The school results.
The bracelet.
Could it be...
No.
That didn’t make sense.
I frowned deeply.
Back then, Alicia and I barely interacted.
We rarely spoke unless it was necessary.
So why would she keep these things?
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