Chapter 30: 1Love on Paper

The only sound in the room was the soft movement of the stylus across the drawing tablet. One line followed another, accompanied by faint touches of color around the characters' eyes. Lian leaned slightly toward the screen, its blue light reflecting against her pale face. She had lost track of time hours ago, barely noticing her hunger or the tiredness creeping into her body. She was completely absorbed in the world she was creating with her own hands.

On the screen, a young man and woman stood beneath a blooming cherry tree. Neither of them was speaking. The girl looked shyly at the ground while the young man held out a small umbrella to shield her from the rain.

Lian smiled as she drew that same shy smile on her heroine's face, but then she stopped and stared at the picture for a long moment. It was strange, really. She could draw love in all its details. She knew how longing looked in someone's eyes, how fingers trembled during a first meeting, and how two people in love could smile at each other without saying a single word. She knew how to make readers feel the warmth of an embrace, the pain of a goodbye, or the joy of a confession.

And yet, she had never experienced any of it herself. She drew emotions she knew from stories, not from memory.

In the dialogue box before the scene, she typed, "When someone truly loves you, the world becomes a little less cruel."

She read the sentence again and gave a faint, almost mocking smile. "That sounds beautiful," she murmured. "If only it were true."

She reached for the stylus again, deleted the sentence, and replaced it with another.

"When someone finds a person who sees them for who they really are, they no longer have to hide."

This time, she nodded in quiet satisfaction. The words felt more honest. She wasn't trying to write a perfect love story. She wanted to tell the story of two people who gave each other the space to be themselves. To her, that was what real love meant.

Her phone vibrated on the table. Once, then again, then a third time.

Lian sighed without lifting her head. Her stylus continued moving across the screen, but the phone wouldn't stop. At last, she reached for it.

All the messages were from Sarah.

"Good morning... Are you awake?"

A few minutes later came another message.

"Lian, please answer me."

Then a third.

"Just let me know you're okay."

Lian smiled and typed without taking her eyes off the drawing.

"I'm fine."

"Working."

She didn't have to wait long for a reply.

"I knew it. No one disappears from the world quite like you do when you're drawing."

Lian smiled to herself and returned to her two characters, adding a loose strand of hair and adjusting the light reflected in their eyes until they looked more alive.

Another message arrived.

"By the way..."

"We have a new client."

"They loved our work and want to hire us for an entire project."

Lian's hand paused for a moment, and a genuine smile spread across her face. She typed back quickly.

"That's news worth celebrating with coffee."

Sarah replied with a laughing emoji, but her next message was different.

"There's something else..."

Lian didn't answer. She waited for Sarah to continue.

"People are still talking."

"Today, they're saying your husband is living with another woman."

"They say he's successful, owns luxury cars, and has closed some major business deals. According to them, there's no way he could be the one at fault."

"Some people are even saying he never wanted you in the first place."

"As if they know him better than you do."

Lian remained silent. She turned the phone facedown on the table and returned to her drawing. On the screen, her heroine was looking at the young man with eyes full of trust.

Lian added the final stroke to the scene and spoke softly, almost to herself.

"Let them write whatever stories they like."

"As for me..."

"I'll write the stories worth telling."

The stylus moved across the screen again as though it had never stopped.