For more than a month after her violent death, Xi Wang was a victim without a name.
The 34-year-old was allegedly murdered by her ex-husband in her Flat Bush home 15 days before Christmas.
But suppression orders prevented her name being published, her friends paying tribute, or her story being told.
Today the Herald can finally tell part of Wang's story.
On December 10 Wang was home with her 4-year-old son.
She loved to cook and had prepared a steak dinner which she sat with her child to eat.
They toasted - Wang with a glass of red wine and the little boy with a cup of milk - and finished with a desert of Chinese iced sugar steamed pears.
"My kid loves," she wrote alongside a photograph of the dish on Facebook.
Hours later, Wang was dead.
Police allege her ex-husband Ephraim Joseph Beazley came to Wang's home and violently attacked her.
It is understood she was stabbed multiple times in the head and body.
Her son, who has permanent name suppression, was allegedly nearby.
The 33-year-old Rotorua farm worker was later charged with murder.
Wang was killed days after British backpacker Grace Millane and Mt Roskill mentor Rima Sikei.
While their families and friends could speak openly about them, holding private and public vigils in their honour, Wang's had to stay silent.
But after Wang and Beazley's name suppression lifted a friend of the slain woman contacted the Herald.
"She was a lot more than just Xi Wang, 34," she said.
"It would be nice for the public to hear about the type of person Xi was and how great of a mother she was to her son.
She spoke to the Herald yesterday - sharing her and another close friend's memories.
"Xi was one of the most intelligent people in the world," she said.
"She was from China but studied at multiple universities around the world - that's how she ended up here.
"Xi was travelling and she decided she liked it, and she met someone."
That someone was Beazley.
The pair married, but separated while Wang was pregnant with their first child.
She was a single mother when the little boy was born.
"Her life was her child, she did absolutely everything - made every decision - for him," said her friend.
"She lived and breathed for her little boy.
"He absolutely adored her and he still asks for her, it's quite sad."
When Wang was pregnant she moved into the Flat Bush house, chosen as it was spacious enough to house her family should they come visit from China.
It was also close to good day cares, schools and parks which was important to her.
"Everything she did, she wanted to make sure it was going to be the best thing for her child," said the friend.
Wang was a full-time mother but the friend said she worked to support herself.
She had a masters degree in business and was involved in real estate and property development.
She loved fashion and cooking and was known among her mates in Auckland as an "amazing" host.
"She made home made meals for him every single night," her friend said.
"All that mattered to her was showing how much she loved her child."
Wang was a very private person and had a "tight" circle of friends.
They knew she had been married to Beazley and that the relationship had ended but said Wang never spoke of him.
If anyone raised the subject, she would quickly change it.
"All I know is that she wanted to make the world a better place for her child … Ephraim was just someone that was outside the square," her friend said.
"Her focus was on her future rather than on the past."
According to her friends Wang was motivated, driven and fiercely independent.
She had become a New Zealand resident and was extremely excited about her future here with her son.
She taught him Mandarin, how to read and to play the piano.
She was proud of her appearance and was always perfectly groomed and styled.
"If there was something she wanted, nothing would stop her from doing it," said her friend.
"She was very sure, very adamant about her goals - she never let you down, she never broke a promise."
The friend said she was "shocked" and "baffled" when she heard Wang had died, and even more so when she heard who was allegedly responsible.
"I didn't expect anything like that to happen, it was straight out of the blue," she explained.
"My friend, Xi's very close friend, called me absolutely bawling his eyes out … there was just sadness, shock.
"I can't even express it in words … a death is a death, but when someone is killed, when they are taken away from you… you're angry, numb."
The friend then had the task of packing up Wang's home.
She put all of her belongings into storage so the landlords could re-rent the property.
A decision is yet to be made on what will happen to Wang's things.
Her son is being cared for by people close to Wang.
"He is 100 per cent protected and well looked after," she said.
Wang's friends have many questions about her death and hope that they will get answers through the court process.
"You want to know why, how?" said the friend.
"She hadn't had any problems … then this happens all of a sudden, it's so bizarre.
"Xi was so amazing, she was just a good - a really good - person.
Beazley will next appear in the High Court at Auckland on March 6.
It is expected he will enter a plea to the murder charge on that date.