The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

Anastasia's heart skipped a beat. "Did you remember something?"

Herman looked thoughtful. "You bought me bubble tea once, didn't you? I remember the taste. It's so familiar."noveldrama

A shadow flickered across Anastasia's eyes. In the end, he really had forgotten her.

She remembered what the girl at the bubble tea shop had said that day and nodded. "Yeah, I did. You said it was your first time trying bubble tea."

He looked at her, sincere. "Would you... buy me another one?"

Swallowing the bittersweet feeling, Anastasia managed a smile. "Of course!"

In the days that followed, she stuck by him, trying everything she could think of to bring back his memories, but nothing worked.

She told herself they could start over, but every time she saw the man she loved looking at her like a stranger, the pain was sharp and real-it was impossible to ignore.

She never let any of it show in front of Herman. She didn't want to add to his burden.

He treated her with careful politeness, always keeping a respectful distance.

Every night, he slept on the couch. To everyone else, it looked like things were the same as always, but Anastasia knew the truth. In the middle of the night, Herman would sometimes sit quietly beside her for a long, long time, trying so hard to remember who she was to him. He was suffering too.

They were both so careful, so cautious-she was afraid he'd feel uncomfortable, he was afraid he'd hurt her feelings.

They shouldn't have ended up like this, but somehow, they did.

One day, Monica called. "Ana, has Herman remembered anything? Are you guys okay?"

Anastasia hesitated, not sure how to explain everything she felt. In the end, she just said, "We're okay."

He was home. That was all that mattered.

"That's a relief,” Monica said. "Finally, some good luck—Herman's back with you, safe and sound."

Anastasia smiled softly, sitting by the window and watching the world outside. She could hear a bit of noise through Monica's phone. "Are you out somewhere?"

"Yeah, Jason's working on a tough

case. I'm just here to help-don't get any wild ideas." Monica huffed. "There's been another string of. murders. Three women so far. These creeps, they always target women. Cowards-pick on people who look weaker. Makes me sick."

Monica always got fired up about this stuff. She had zero tolerance for men who preyed on women.

She was with Jason at a crime scene, while he and the other officers checked things out. Monica wandered down by the river, phone pressed to her ear.

There was already a crowd-locals and passersby drawn by the sirens and police tape.

As Monica complained to Anastasia, a scrawny man brushed past her, catching her words. He suddenly stopped and looked her up and down.

He was short, maybe five feet, with thinning hair and a skinny frame, probably about thirty-five. He smelled strongly of fish, like he'd just come from the market.

Monica, always sensitive to smells, wrinkled her nose and glanced at him. He flashed her a weird, greasy smile and disappeared into the crowd.

"Monica?" Anastasia called when the line went quiet. "What's up?"

"Oh, just bumped into a weird guy-reeked of fish, kind of creepy. Probably works

at the docks. With that look, he'll have a hard time finding a girlfriend.”

"Just be careful, Monica," Anastasia said, worried. "You're always helping Jason with these cases. I watch a lot of crime shows, and they always say some killers come back to the scene to relive it. And if the cops get too close, they might try something... I've seen stories like that on the news."

Monica laughed. "Ana, you watch way too many detective dramas.d've worked plenty of cases with Jason.

Most of those guys just want to run and hide, not come back for a victory lap."

Anastasia grinned. "So... you and Jason? Working things out?"