After that occasion, Astrid never brought up the topic again. It was as if that name were like a childhood story with a moral, one that no one was allowed to touch, not even Joshua himself. Later, that name was never mentioned by Joshua's family either, and Astrid assumed that maybe Marilyn was someone Joshua hated, which was why he had reacted that way.

But since the day Joshua had taken the initiative to pronounce the word "Mari," it was as if something had awakened in her. This person named