Chapter 2

Lance finally snapped out of it.

He reached for me, trying to stop me.

But he was too late, the ring box slipped from my fingers, and the rings disappeared into the darkness below.

"Are you crazy?!"

Lance stared at me in disbelief.

"I never said I wouldn't accept your proposal! This is just too sudden! I wasn't prepared!"

Wasn't prepared?

We had been together for thirteen years.

And even now, He was still telling me he wasn't ready.

My mind drifted back to when I was seventeen.

That year, I ran into a group of street thugs in an alley outside school.

As the only daughter of the Moretti family, I had been trained in various forms of combat since childhood.

I was already rolling my shoulders and loosening my wrists, fully prepared to teach those idiots a lesson.

Then Lance appeared.

He shielded me with his body and took every punch and kick they threw at him.

At the time, my mother had just passed away.

And I had believed that after losing her, no one in this world would ever protect me without asking for anything in return.

When I was seventeen, I thought Lance was the light that had entered my life.

But thirteen years later, that same man destroyed that light with his own hands, all for a stupid joke.

When he watched me prepare to give up everything just to save him, what had he been thinking?

Maybe he had been laughing at me.

Laughing at how deeply I loved him.

Laughing at how completely I had lost myself for him.

Because he knew I could never leave him.

I reached up and closed the window.

But when I stepped back, my legs suddenly gave out, I stumbled.

Lance quickly caught me.

He pulled me into his arms, his expression was complicated.

"It's okay."

"If the rings are gone, I'll buy you new ones."

"Blair, believe me. Aurora and I are really just friends. You know that."

He paused.

"She has a boyfriend."

"She was only looking out for me as a friend. She just wanted to see how much you loved me. That's why she came up with that stupid joke."

Then, as if nothing had happened, he changed the subject.

"Blair, have you eaten dinner?"

"Are you hungry? I'll make you some pasta."

Before I could say anything, Lance's phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the screen, the color immediately drained from his face.

Without another word, he rushed into the bedroom.

A moment later, he came back carrying several large bags of snacks.

As he pulled them out, something slipped from his pocket. A pack of sanitary pads fell onto the floor.

For a second, Lance looked embarrassed, then he quickly explained.

"Aurora's period came earlier than expected. She's stuck in the bathroom right now."

He shoved the snacks into my hands.

"Eat something first, okay? I'll make you dinner when I get back."

And with that, he hurried out. The door slammed shut behind him.

I looked down at the snacks in my hands.

Mango yogurt.

Popcorn.

Aurora's favorites.

Lance had bought them for her again and again, and he even kept them stocked at home.

But he had forgotten something, I was severely allergic to mangoes.

And I hated popcorn.

I threw everything into the trash. Then I sat alone on the couch.

I waited all night, Lance didn't come home until just before dawn.

He quietly opened the door, as if afraid of waking me.

But when he saw me sitting on the couch, he froze.

"Blair?"

"You're still awake?"

I didn't answer.

He walked toward me and immediately began explaining.

"Aurora's cramps were really bad. I couldn't just leave her there."

"I had to wait until she fell asleep before I could come home."

As he spoke, he pulled a takeout container from inside his jacket.

"I brought you something."

His expression brightened slightly.

"It's the creamy white sauce pasta from your favorite restaurant."

"It's really late. I had to pay them extra just to get them to make it."

He placed the still-warm container in my hands.

"I kept it inside my jacket the whole way home."

"I was afraid it would get cold."

"Come on. Try it. It's from your favorite place."

He smiled.

"My car ran out of gas, so I ran all the way there just to get it for you."

I hadn't eaten anything all day, my stomach was already aching from hunger.

The pasta smelled delicious, But I had no appetite at all.

He remembered what kind of pasta I liked.

So why had he forgotten that I was allergic to mangoes?

I placed the container down, then I turned around and walked into the bedroom.

Maybe it was because of everything that had happened that day.

That night, for the first time in years, I dreamed about the darkest day of my life.

Thirteen years ago, I was kidnapped.

Inside an abandoned warehouse, my mother had come to save me.

She was shot several times, and collapsed into a pool of blood.

Blood was everywhere.

I stared at the ground, unable to move.

My ears rang, my mind went blank, all I could feel was despair.

"Blair! Wake up!"

A panicked voice suddenly tore through the nightmare.

I jolted awake, and in the next second, someone pulled me tightly into a warm embrace.

Back then, after my mother died, I dreamed about that day every single night, again and again.

Until Lance came into my life, a beam of light found its way back into my world.

"Another nightmare?"

Lance's voice was soft.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here."

His face was filled with concern.

"You have my word, from now on, no one will ever bully you again."

"No one will ever hurt you."

Slowly, my eyes began to focus.

For a moment, I just stared at him.

Then I suddenly shoved him away.

"Get out!"