Her voice brimmed with surprise and joy. She was happy he knew he was going to be a father and relieved he had rushed to her side so quickly. All of Lin Yu'an's regret, self-blame, and sorrow from his previous life, mixed with the relief and elation of reclaiming what he had lost, erupted in his chest like a volcano.
Unable to control himself, he lunged forward and wrapped her in a fierce embrace. He felt the softness of her body, her familiar warmth, and the scent of her hair he had longed for for years. These were the wounds that had haunted his past life.
"Arya… Arya… I'm so glad… you're okay…" His voice broke with sobs, equal parts joy and the terror that never left him. He buried his face in the hollow of her neck and wept.
At first Arya was stunned by his intensity. She assumed he was simply overwhelmed by the news of the pregnancy. Then the supermarket erupted.
Bang, bang, bang. The dull, relentless popping of gunshots cracked through the store like thunder. Glass shattered. People screamed.
Lin Yu'an's body went rigid. Not again. That madman.
"Arya, get down!" He spun and turned her toward him by instinct. He used his body as a shield, slamming them down behind a shelf stacked with large bags of diapers. As they hit the ground, he glanced up and saw a man in a dark hoodie burst in at the entrance, wielding a modified AR‑15 and spraying bullets into the crowd.
The cozy mother‑and‑baby shop turned into a living hell.
Even with the attacker masked, Lin Yu'an recognized him as if he had seared the face into his memory. He had seen that face in court during the trial in his former life. Back then Lin Yu'an had rushed to the police station and later stood numb in the morgue before Arya's pale body. Her ruined abdomen pressed on him like a tombstone. He had prepared himself to become a father, and yet this murderer had taken everything.
Regret and self‑blame ate at him like rot. If he had been with Arya then, perhaps things would have been different. Those thoughts had driven him to collapse in the morgue and ruin the rest of his life with grief.
After the funeral, Arya's family had come forward. They had been shocked to learn she had been married. Though they knew of Lin Yu'an, they had not known the two were wed. They comforted him as best they could. Her father, Robert, broad and solid like a Texas red oak, fought back tears. Her four tall brothers- Wyatt, Garrett, Beau, and Clay- clenched fists in anger and sorrow and demanded answers.
Months later the killer finally stood trial. Lin Yu'an learned the man's name: Derek. He would never forget what kind of devil could hide behind such an ordinary face. The victims' families wanted justice. They expected Derek to pay with his life.
But the defense argued intermittent mental disorder. The judge accepted medical testimony that the defendant was "possibly mentally ill" at the time of the crime. Instead of death or long prison, Derek was committed to Elizabeth Mental Hospital for treatment until doctors declared him cured.
"Committed to a mental hospital? Not the death penalty?" the families cried. "How is this fair?" Fury filled the courtroom as people demanded harsher punishment. In the chaos, Lin Yu'an snapped.
He had a simple pen in his pocket, the kind allowed in court. Gripped by blind rage, he forced his way through the crowded gallery, leapt from the back row, and charged the dock. "Go to hell!" he shouted, and drove the pen into Derek's head.
Bailiffs pinned him to the floor. The courtroom descended into pandemonium as victims' relatives surged forward and beat the defendant. When it ended, Derek lay battered and with severe brain injury. Lin Yu'an was arrested.
He was charged with second‑degree murder, contempt of court, and assault. The police testimony and his mental collapse at the scene became his defense. Under pressure from the families' collective outcry and the court's evaluation, the ruling found him not criminally responsible due to his mental state at the time. Derek, for his part, would be sent to long‑term care, but Lin Yu'an also faced consequences.
He was sent to a mental treatment center for a three‑month evaluation, then deported. He was barred from entering the United States for ten years.
Grief swallowed him. Each year he slipped back into Montana from Canada to visit Arya's grave. Her brothers would help him- out of kinship or pity- but life had lost its color. Friends urged him to move on. Once, after drinking, one of Arya's brothers asked bluntly, "She's gone. Why don't you find someone else and live your life?"
Lin Yu'an looked at them, eyes hollow with sorrow, and answered, "I can't."