Rio…
He was an ordinary boy living a life without a dream or a goal—
or rather, all his dreams and goals had been shattered…
What exactly happened?
Let us go back to the past for a moment.
In the country of Azorania…
While the weather was heavily rainy, thunderclouds covered the sky, and the moon appeared between the clouds…
A young woman named Asiya came out of a pharmacy, covering her head.
"Thank you."
Asiya stood under an umbrella, protecting herself from the rain.
"What's wrong with the weather today?"
Asiya was unable to take a single step outside.
After a while, a young man named Ryan arrived.
He was very tall, about 180 cm, muscular, and very handsome.
He covered her with his umbrella and said calmly:
"Please, miss. I don't need it."
Asiya replied shyly:
"Ah… thank you."
Asiya took the umbrella and rushed toward her car.
She quickly opened the car door and got in.
Her shyness was clear on her face as she thought:
"Who was he? He was really kind!"
Asiya was distracted for a moment, then came back to her senses and said:
"Wake up, Asiya! You can't fall in love with a man just because of an umbrella!"
She clenched her fist and tried to start the car, but…
"Why isn't the car working?"
Asiya tried repeatedly to start the car, but without any result.
She shouted angrily and complained:
"Damn you, stupid car!"
Ryan noticed Asiya's movements.
She was angry and hitting the car as if she were fighting with it.
He laughed sarcastically and said:
"What's wrong with her? Has she lost her mind?"
After thinking for a while, Ryan headed toward her to help.
He knocked on her window.
Asiya was terrified and replied in fear:
"Please leave me alone! I'll give you all my money!"
Asiya rushed backward while bending down, covering her head in extreme fear.
She thought he was a thief trying to rob her, so she quickly handed over everything she had.
Ryan smiled at her reaction and knocked on the glass again.
Asiya noticed that it was Ryan and said:
"It's you! Yes, right, the umbrella, I almost forgot."
She tried to change the subject because she didn't want to remember what happened…
She took out the umbrella and gave it to him. He smiled and said:
"I don't want it. Consider it a gift from me to you."
Asiya spoke to herself in surprise and whispered:
"A gift? Today? Today is my birthday… and he said it's a gift! Could it be that he knows my birthday?"
While Asiya was lost in thought, Ryan was calling her while she was in another world:
"Miss? Are you listening to me?"
Ryan smiled lightly. He had grown tired of Asiya's lack of focus and was about to explode, but he had to maintain the image of a polite man.
Asiya did not answer him.
The sky cracked, lights branched out like roots and gathered into one point, forming thunder.
A loud, powerful sound cut her train of thought.
She screamed in fear like a small child and said in a trembling voice:
"Mom!"
Then she remembered Ryan's presence. Her face turned red with embarrassment, and she almost exploded from it.
"You… you didn't see anything, right?"
She said to herself:
"How embarrassing!!"
Ryan replied with a smile, thinking to himself what was wrong with this girl:
"Miss, I only came because I saw that you needed help."
She replied with a stiff smile, a red face, and a trembling voice:
"Oh, I understand now. Yes, I need help."
Ryan said to himself as he sighed in relief:
"Finally, I can perform my role as a polite and brave man. I got tired of waiting."
After several minutes, Ryan finished fixing the car and said tiredly as he wiped his sweat:
"May I have some water?"
Asiya answered him:
"Yes, of course."
Asiya went to the back of the car and took out a cold bottle of water.
She smiled mischievously, and ideas began to creep into her mind. She laughed and said:
"As far as I know, when two people drink from the same bottle of water, it's considered an indirect kiss…"
Then she paused for a moment and her smile widened:
"In that case, if I drink from it first and then he does, it becomes a kiss, and then he'll be forced to marry me!"
She laughed a childish evil laugh.
"Hehehe, it's a great plan to get a husband!"
Ryan replied laughing:
"I didn't expect that at all!"
Asiya froze in shock. Her face turned red like a volcano, her features stiffened like a statue, and she spoke to herself:
"I swear I wish for death right now. I've embarrassed myself in front of him thousands of times…"
Ryan laughed even more at her reaction and said:
"Miss, you should lower the volume of your thoughts, but I liked the idea!"
Asiya looked at him shyly and laughed to save the situation.
Then Ryan stopped laughing and looked at her with a sharp, charming gaze that pierced her heart.
She said while her eyes were wandering, not knowing where to look—
she looked at his eyes and felt attracted, then looked away.
Ryan's gaze pierced her heart and created a feeling of tension.
"What?"
He replied with a smile:
"Nothing. I'm just wondering… how is the moon not ashamed of your beauty and makes you take its place? And how don't they make your eyes medicine when they heal with just one look?"
Asiya looked at him in shock and said:
"What are you saying?"
Ryan thought to himself:
"Did I say something wrong? I'm certain that beauty itself sees nothing compared to your beauty."
Ryan was right. Asiya was a young woman in her twenties, created beautifully by the Creator.
She was beautiful in every sense of the word.
Her eyes were red, leaning toward light pink.
Her hair was white like snow with a bluish tint.
Her skin was clear like the sky.
Her height was about 175 cm, like an attractive fashion model.
Her eyes stole hearts without permission.
Some might think she was like the moon, but the moon wished to have even a fraction of her beauty.
Asiya said shyly:
"Thank you…?"
She paused, waiting for Ryan to tell her his name.
Ryan understood what she wanted and said:
"Ryan! My name is Ryan."
"Thank you, Ryan."
"No need."
Ryan asked for her number, and she agreed without hesitation.
They started communicating every day until Asiya fell in love.
After a few days, Ryan proposed to her, and she accepted without any hesitation.
They lived a happy life together.
After one year of marriage, Asiya became pregnant with their first child, and they were eagerly waiting for him…
But fate was not always kind.
They decided to name him Rio.
Nine months passed, and the moment of birth arrived.
It was very difficult. The doctors faced many problems, and the operation lasted for long hours.
Ryan was worried and exhausted from overthinking.
After hours and hours…
The doctor came out carrying the baby in his arms.
Ryan smiled, and joy finally entered his heart…
But it didn't last.
The doctor said in a sad voice:
"She has passed away…"
Asiya could not endure the pain of childbirth.
Ryan collapsed and fell to the ground from the intensity of his grief.
He left the hospital carrying his small baby, crying bitterly.
Everyone who saw Ryan crying that day cried with him.
Many people tried to console him, but Ryan had already died the moment Asiya left.
Ryan walked down the street toward his car.
He only wanted to cross.
When he reached the car, a group of gang members surrounded him.
One of them stepped forward and said sarcastically:
"Didn't we tell you? You'll die at the happiest moment of your life."
That was a gang Ryan had been involved with in the past.
They promised to kill him at the happiest moment of his life, and now the time for Ryan's death had come.
Ryan was aware of this, but he did nothing, because he believed it was better for him and for his child.
He did not want to escape his responsibility, but at the same time, he did not want Rio to live with his sadness and emotional confusion.
He wanted Rio to live a happy life with a father who was not sad and whose face did not carry traces of grief.
Ryan knew he was not ready for his role as a father yet.
Ryan replied:
"You're wrong. Today is not the happiest day of my life. It is the worst and the best at the same time. I lost someone I love, and I gained a part of her…"
One of the gang members looked at the child in Ryan's arms and said:
"Is he your son?"
Ryan answered yes.
He pointed the gun at Ryan's head, and then the sound of a gunshot rang out, declaring that Rio had become an orphan of both father and mother since birth.
Moments before Ryan's death, his awareness returned, realizing that what he did was a mistake—he left his child alone!!
Ryan tried to speak.
He wanted to hold his child one last time.
Tears fell from his eyes, and regret devoured his heart.
He realized the ugliness of what he had done—he had made a child live alone.
Ryan did not find peace in his death.
Even the death he had adorned as rest became ugly when his awareness returned.
How would he tell Asiya what he had done, I wonder?
Then he slowly closed his eyes… and goodbye.
Thus, Rio became an orphan of both mother and father since his birth.
The baby cried intensely, expressing his grief at losing his parents.
The police arrived and arrested some of the gang members, while others escaped.
Rio was placed in an orphanage…
To be continued…