He Rewrites
Earlier, at the casino...
Fifteen minutes after Karl had left the area...
The fire had already spread through most of the building.
Smoke filled the halls. The structure groaned as it slowly collapsed under its own weight.
Robert pulled himself free from the wreckage.
Half of his face was burned. His arm barely responded. Blood dripped from his knee as he forced himself forward.
"Karl..."
He moved through the burning casino.
"Karl, where are you?"
Every few steps, he found someone else in the ruins.
Some were calling for help. Some were barely conscious.
Robert stopped at each one.
"...Karl?"
No answer.
Only silence.
His expression slowly changed as the realization sank in.
They weren't Karl.
And if they survived...
they would speak.
They would tell the police.
They would take Karl away from him.
"...No."
That was the only word he said.
Sometime later, Robert walked out of the casino alone.
Behind him, the fire kept growing stronger, swallowing everything inside.
Then—
BOOM.
A gas line exploded deep within the structure.
The blast tore through what remained of the casino, collapsing what little evidence was left inside.
When firefighters and police arrived, there was nothing but wreckage and smoke.
Days later, investigators concluded the fire had started from a technical malfunction and escalated due to structural failure and gas ignition.
Out of everyone believed to be inside that night...
only one survivor was officially confirmed.
Robert.
In questioning, he repeated the same account each time.
A fire.
An accident.
Nothing more.
No mention of Karl.
No mention of what really happened inside.
With most evidence destroyed, the case was closed as a tragic industrial disaster.
Robert was sentenced to ten years for negligence as the owner of the casino.
To the world, he was the only survivor of a catastrophe.
But in the silence of that night...
he had already rewritten everything.
And somewhere far away, Karl watched the news, unable to accept what he was hearing.
A few weeks passed, and every single day Ivan kept asking Karl about his mother.
At first, Karl told him she had gone to her village.
But Ivan kept asking.
Again and again.
Until one day, Ivan broke down in tears.
"Dad… let's go to mommy. I want to see her. I miss her so much."
Karl stayed silent for a moment.
Then he slowly pulled Ivan into a hug.
For a while, he didn't speak.
When he finally did, his voice was quiet and heavy.
"Son… women risk their lives to bring a new life into this world."
"Your mother… she was very strong."
He paused.
"The strongest I've ever seen."
Karl looked away slightly.
"But her body… it couldn't handle it that day."
"There were complications while she was giving birth."
His grip tightened around Ivan.
"She was already carrying your younger sibling too."
He swallowed hard.
"She fought until the end...."
"But she didn't come back."
"...I'm sorry."
Ivan slowly got up and walked into his room.
He closed the door behind him.
Inside, there was only silence.
Karl remained outside.
He sat down in the corner of the hallway, his back against the wall.
For a long time, he didn't move.
His mind kept going back to the past.
To his wife.
To everything that happened.
To the lie he had just told his own son.
A lie he never thought he would ever speak… even in his worst nightmares.
He had declared Ivan's mother dead.
While she was still alive.
Karl covered his face with his hand.
The weight of it didn't leave him.
It only grew heavier.
Maybe this was his punishment.
And maybe… it would never stop.
Ivan opened the door and came outside.
He looked at his father and said,
"Hey Dad, I can't cry because if I cry my mom would be disappointed in me, that I'm not brave like her. I'm brave, I won't cry."
While saying this, Ivan's eyes were completely filled with tears, almost bursting out. His voice kept shaking the more he spoke. He tried wiping his face quickly with his sleeves, but the tears wouldn't stop.
Karl just watched him in silence.
"Ivan… it's okay to cry."
"Crying doesn't make you weak."
"You know… the people who cry are actually strong."
"Because most people don't cry, not because they don't feel anything… but because they're scared."
"They're scared of what others will think if they cry."
"They hide it."
"But crying… it just means you're feeling everything instead of running away from it."
Karl paused for a moment, still looking at him.
"So don't think your mother would be disappointed."
"If anything… she'd understand you more than anyone."
The scene shifted.
Olivia was in a hospital room.
The sterile white walls felt suffocating.
She sat across from the doctor, her hands clenched tightly.
"Why can't I abort my child?!"
The doctor looked at her with a calm, professional expression.
"I understand your situation," he said.
"But you can't proceed with an abortion at this stage."
"You are already eight months pregnant."
"It is medically unsafe and also not permitted under hospital rules."
He paused slightly.
"At this point, the only option is to carry the pregnancy to term and take care of the child after birth."
"I'm sorry… but these are the rules."