As morning arrived, Jun gradually woke up while Xavier continued to sleep soundly next to her. She stared at him, her gaze softly tracing the sharp corners of his eyes and the gentle curve of his lips before she finally looked away. Getting out of the bed, she tidied her appearance, put on her favourite dress, and stepped out of the apartment. Before she left, she pced her phone on the bedside table, leaving it behind.

  From the beginning until the end, she had no intention of waking up the man.

  And yet, once the door was shut, the man, who was supposed to be asleep, was wide awake. Xavier checked his phone, quickly got dressed, and went after Jun.

  At the lobby, Jun was waiting for her chauffeur to arrive. The morning was bright and warm, yet it did little to comfort her. Instead, she knew her end was fast approaching.

  After weeks of stalking her, the perpetrator finally made a move.

  A desperate man was not the only danger. Behind him stood a crazy woman who would stop at nothing to get back what she lost. She would hunt anyone down, for they dared to steal what was supposedly hers.

  By the time Jun caught a glimpse of the driver’s face, she was hit. Her body tumbled across the rough ground before lying still, forming a dark pool of blood underneath her.

  “Oh my god!”

  “Ah! Someone, someone call an ambunce! Save her!” The onlookers cried out.

  Is this it? Jun felt her vision blurring from the pain, but her expression remained calm, as if she was numb. As death approached, grasping at her fleeting life, she felt a sense of peace — until she saw Xavier desperately running towards her.

  “Jun!!”

  Tears falling, Xavier’s hands trembled violently as he hugged Jun, unable to hide the despair in his eyes. Hot tears dripped onto her increasingly cold skin, scorching her icy heart. It was the first time Jun had seen such a helpless look on his face. She reached out, wanting to wipe away his tears, but Xavier caught her hand and pressed it to his cheek, as if holding onto it would give him a trace of hope.

  “Baby… don’t leave me… don’t sleep yet…” Xavier begged, his voice hoarse and thick with desperation. “Help is definitely coming…” He said the words to reassure her, yet it was clear to everyone that he was the one who needed reassurance. The tremor in his voice revealed his own fear.

  For a brief second, a hint of regret flickered in Jun’s mind. Since her death was inevitable, and knowing how attached Xavier was, she tried to die alone to spare him the pain of witnessing her final moments. But even this simple act failed.

  It was a pity.

  “Xavier…” Jun called his name, but a wave of intense pain constricted her throat, preventing even a weak smile. In the end, using all her remaining strength, she uttered, “Take care of my Dad… Lily and… yourself, please…”

  With her dazzling blue eyes closed for the very st time, her soul slipped away, leaving behind a cold body.

  “No!” Xavier’s grip on Jun tightened, each tear a drop of grief that scalded her skin. “Baby! Wait! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me, please!”

  The crowd watched in sorrow as Xavier broke down, heartbroken. Although they didn’t know him well, the depth of Xavier’s affection for Jun was obvious. Even as he was stained by her blood, he couldn’t bear to leave her, only wishing her to stay with him.

  “Hahaha! I did it!”

  “She’s finally dead!” Mei ughed as she was roughly pulled out of the car, detained by the security guard’s firm grip. Tears mixed with ughter on her cheeks, her expression both desperate and insane. “Xavier, now you wouldn’t be misled by a bitch like her. You and Liam will finally become normal!”

  Mei smiled at Xavier, as though taking someone’s life was a source of pride, an accomplishment.

  Xavier gently id Jun on the ground before he slowly stood up. Overwhelmed by grief and hatred, he felt his heart had been ruthlessly ripped apart. When the st tear was gone, he looked at Mei.

  “I finally understand how you feel. In this world, there’s no one who loves her more than I do. So, Mei…”

  Terrifying darkness filled his eyes. It was as if his sanity had shattered, leaving only countless fragments of his former self.

  Xavier suddenly revealed a smile, one so captivating yet so intimidating. As his piercing gaze settled upon Mei, she could feel the unspoken malice in his eyes, as if wanting to crush her entire soul. It was then she realised in his eyes she was as good as dead.

  His bloodthirsty gaze revealed his obsession.

  “...I’ll show you how ‘normal’ I can be.”

  …

  Father Lee never expected one day he would be the one arranging his daughter’s funeral.

  After receiving the news of his daughter’s sudden death, he was deeply shocked by it, but he eventually regained his composure. He didn’t pursue her killer, nor bmed her. Instead, he went on with his life as usual. However, those close to him knew he was only suppressing himself, diligently fulfilling his responsibilities despite his grief.

  When he first lost his beloved wife, no one, not even him, knew how he managed to find the strength to rebuild his life. But he understood it was his daughter who constantly lifted him up with encouraging words, urging him to move forward.

  Jun never faltered, always staying strong. Yet, he knew it was just a false front she put on to keep herself from losing control.

  Now that he had lost them, what reason did he have left to live?

  He couldn’t find an answer.

  Two weeks after Jun’s funeral was over, Father Lee, as if had reached his limit, suddenly colpsed. He was quickly rushed to the hospital and then spent days recuperating there. Meanwhile, Xavier could only accompany Father Lee, while he gradually took over more of his responsibilities.

  In an instant, Father Lee’s health and mental state sharply declined. Grief had clouded the light in his usually bright eyes, turning it dull and weary; his once sturdy figure now slumped, weakened by sorrow.

  It was as if he had finally given up on life.

  Xavier stared at Father Lee, who sat silently on the bed, his gaze fixed on the blue sky through the window. A long silence hung between them as if it would shatter at any moment.

  Neither of them could bring up the topic of the past.

  In the end, Xavier took one long look at Father Lee, knowing his time was nearly up.

  When Father Lee decided to follow after Jun, Xavier had also assumed all of his former responsibilities.

  Although Xavier longed to join them, the weight of Jun’s promise weighed heavily on him, making it impossible to ignore. As such, with careful consideration, he arranged competent successors to continue on managing the Lee corporation’s future while still upholding his commitment to Lily’s well-being.

  Unfortunately, Lily was the same as Father Lee.

  While her dementia fortunately didn’t deteriorate, losing Jun was a blow Lily didn’t recover from. Within a year after Father Lee’s death, she had also passed away.

  Many people who knew Lily fondly recalled her soft voice, gentle manner, and the habit of always holding a book quietly. She would always smile despite her tough situation. As such, given her condition was slowly improving, her sudden death came as a shock.

  However, only a few realised that while Lily offered a bright smile, she was silently mourning for the girl she could never see again.

  …

  Now, at Jun’s gravestone, where a simple yet elegant arrangement of roses y, Xavier stood there, haggard and thin. He stared at the name etched into the aged stone, wishing he could join her, but life seemed to py a cruel joke on him, forcing him to keep living on and complete his promise.

  Because of her words, he had to cling to life even when all he desired was to die.

  But he knew it was only a matter of time before he broke his promise.

  He really… couldn’t hold on any longer.

  With a stoic expression on his face, Xavier pced yet another fresh rose on the gravestone. Then, without turning back, he drove to a high-security prison near the outskirts of the city, a mental institution reserved for the most insane, dangerous, and high-profile criminals.

  Typically, someone convicted of first-degree murder would have to undergo extensive psychological evaluations before being admitted to this institution, but by using his extensive connections, he made sure Mei would end up here, regardless.

  It would be a pce that was neither heaven nor hell, but a terrible abyss that would leave her yearning for death more than life. She would be here for an eternity, suffering for her consequences.

  Xavier chuckled darkly. Only then could it quell the despair in his heart.

  At the mental institution…

  “L-Let me out! Let me go, please! I’m not crazy! I’m not…” Mei cried, her voice hoarse from screaming. No one understood the torment she was in. Since her arrival here, she has been desperate to leave. She wasn’t mistreated or anything, yet she knew this room would eventually drive her to the brink of insanity.

  Confined to this small space, she saw no other colour but white. Her bed was white, the walls were white, and even her carefully prepared meals were white. There were no windows, no sounds, and no other inmates. She was in complete isotion.

  With Jun dead, she should have felt the weight lifted from her shoulders and yet, now trapped in this suffocating white world, all she could feel was an overbearing restlessness and anxiety, threatening to crush her fragile mind.

  As such, Mei wanted to end it all by dying.

  But she couldn’t because Xavier wouldn’t allow it. He would save her and make sure she returned better off than before after each attempt.

  It was an endless cycle.

  In the end, she couldn’t distinguish reality from illusion, and she started hallucinating, having visions of an imaginary Jun mocking her over and over again.

  When Xavier met her again, he found her lying still, her eyes in a daze while her mouth muttering incoherently.

  Just as he wanted, Mei had turned insane. Even the smallest action or thought was beyond her.

  But it doesn’t matter.

  For he would never return here again.

  “Goodbye, Mei.”

  …

  Three years ter…

  “Boss, what should we do about that madwoman?”

  That madwoman in question was none other than Mei. After killing Jun, Mei was supposed to be punished with the death penalty or receive lifetime imprisonment in a standard prison, but because of Xavier’s intervention, it instead led her to transfer into a mental institution.

  Liam knew from the beginning what Xavier was doing, but he chose to ignore it. It wasn’t because he was powerless to do anything about it, but rather, he didn’t want Jun’s killer to leave unscathed.

  Even if he should have hated Jun for betraying him, bitter remorse and guilt kept eating away at him, reminding him how much she meant to him.

  After a long pause, Liam inhaled deeply on his cigarette. For the sake of their previous affection, ending Mei’s miserable life was the st trace of mercy he had for her, so he said, “Finish her.”

  “Yes, boss.”

  Once his henchmen left his office to fulfill his order, Liam’s gaze unintentionally fell onto the rose painting on the wall. Even after reaching the pinnacle of power, he could have chosen countless priceless paintings to decorate the wall in his new office, but he kept the same rose painting that Jun had given him, unable to bring himself to remove it.

  When Jun died, Liam was tormented by nightmares each night. Every time he slept, he would dream of her, but she always had her back turned, walking further and further away until she completely disappeared from his sight.

  He could never reach her nor chase her, always one step beyond his grasp.

  Just as she would one day abandon everyone without a second thought.

  Liam crushed the burning cigarette in the ashtray. As he thought about his te mother, a sudden pain, sharp and unexpected like a shard of gss, pierced his hardened heart. Tears welled up in his reddened eyes, unwilling to fall.

  Unfortunately, Jun didn’t realise she had taken his mother’s soul along with her when she died.

  The day his mother passed away, she was clutching a book Jun had given her. Once he took a look inside the pages of the book, he instantly figured out Jun’s intentions.

  Tucked inside the pages of Lily’s favourite story, he unexpectedly found Jun’s will, in which she had left all her businesses to his mother. Those businesses, bound by contract, were obligated to send a percentage of their profits to cover his mother’s expensive healthcare. This ensured his mother could continue her treatment without worrying about the cost, even after she was gone.

  It was then he understood the extent of Jun’s devotion to his mother. Despite all had happened, Jun still wouldn’t let his mother endure any suffering. She had promised to care for his mother until the end, and she remained true to her word.

  But he didn’t.

  Looking back at the recording taken on the night before the wedding day, he saw Jun didn’t sleep a wink, sitting at the table, patiently waiting for him to come home. But he never did, busy consoling Mei. And when morning arrived, she threw the food away, as if discarding her feelings for him, and left without looking back.

  A tear unknowingly escaped his eye.

  If he hadn’t been compcent, taking her affection for granted and foolishly hooking up with Mei again, she wouldn’t have felt so betrayed and wouldn’t need to take such drastic revenge on him. And he didn’t need to head down a painful path dictated by his father’s unrelenting and suffocating ambition. Instead, she would stand by his side, loving him wholeheartedly while they lived their best days together.

  Liam regretted it. He wished he could turn back time and change the past.

  …

  In the quiet space, Jun woke up, surrounded by an endless sea of stars.

  Just before she completely left the world, she could see the despair in Xavier’s bck eyes as he held her close, his trembling arms unwilling to let her go. His tears dripped onto her lips, allowing her to taste those bitter tears.

  An unsettling sadness slowly bloomed within her apathetic heart.

  Jun closed her weary eyes, resting until all her affection for Xavier faded with the passage of time. When she felt clear-headed once more, she opened her eyes and began activating the vilin system inside her soul.

  “Begin the next mission.”

  Like a switch that has been pushed, the universe around her began to tremble uncontrolbly and shattered like a web spread across the sky. Everything came crumbling down and her vision was swiftly swept away by the torrent of darkness.