Chapter 1

Over the past month, Sienna Sawyer had become a completely different person.

She no longer questioned Tristan Lawrence about coming home late, checked his phone, or showed the slightest concern about the women around him.

Even when Willa Bennett sprained her ankle and Tristan took her to the hospital, staying with her until well past midnight, Sienna simply went to bed early. She didn't mention it the next morning, either.

She was like a deep pool of water whose surface had suddenly gone still.

Calm, yet somehow unsettling.

“I'm done playing.” Tristan's throat tightened as he picked up his jacket. “You've never liked these kinds of parties anyway. Let's go home.”

Sienna sighed helplessly. “But you've barely started.”

“We're leaving!”

Without giving her a chance to argue, he pulled her to her feet, said a quick goodbye to everyone, and led her out of the private room.

They had barely gotten into the car when someone knocked on the window.

Tristan rolled it down.

Willa stood outside, her long hair fluttering in the night breeze.

She smiled and pointed toward the gathering clouds.

“Looks like it's going to rain. Everyone's heading home, but I can't get a ride. Could you drop me off if it's on your way?”

Before Tristan could answer, Sienna had already opened the car door with a smile.

“Of course! Oh, I remember you get carsick. Why don't you sit up front?”

Tristan froze.

So did Willa.

The smile she'd prepared stiffened on her lips. She stared at Sienna, surprise flashing across her face, before finally climbing into the front passenger seat.

“Well, thanks.”

The car sped through the night.

Willa's soft voice filled the cabin.

“Tristan, remember that rainy day back in high school? I'd forgotten my umbrella, so you took off your jacket and held it over my head. You walked me all the way home in the rain, even though you got soaked. And the next day, you came down with a fever.”

Tristan swallowed.

“Yeah, I remember,” he replied quietly.

“And remember when I had terrible period cramps? You skipped your advanced class and climbed over the school fence just to buy me some medicine. Then the principal caught you, and you had to apologize in front of the entire school at assembly.”

“I remember.”

“And before our college entrance exams, when I was so stressed out, you folded a paper crane for me every single day and left it in my desk with a little encouraging message. By the end, I'd collected a whole box of them.”

“I remember.”

They went on reminiscing as though they were the only two people in the car.

Willa's voice was sweet and full of nostalgia. Tristan's replies were brief, but he remembered every single thing she mentioned.

As she spoke, Willa glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror.

There was a triumphant, challenging glint in her eyes.

She wanted to see Sienna lose her composure, struggle to hide her jealousy, or at least show the slightest hint of displeasure.

But Sienna sat quietly in the back seat, her head slightly lowered, her fingers moving rapidly across her phone screen.

Willa's eyes widened in disbelief.

She'd been making her intentions so obvious. She and Tristan had been openly reminiscing about their romantic past right in front of Sienna.

And Sienna was playing a puzzle game?

She wasn't reacting at all?

Tristan also glanced at Sienna through the rearview mirror.

She was completely absorbed in her phone, her brows slightly furrowed as though she was stuck on a particularly difficult level.

She hadn't paid the slightest attention to their conversation.

That inexplicable irritation seized him again.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and was just about to speak when a sharp sound pierced the night.

“Meow!”

A black cat suddenly darted out from the roadside.

Tristan jerked the steering wheel.

The car swerved out of control and slammed into the roadside guardrail.

As the impact threw them forward, Tristan instinctively reached out to shield Willa in the passenger seat.

Sienna, meanwhile, was violently thrown forward from the back seat.

Her forehead struck the back of the front seat with a sickening thud.

A sharp pain shot through her head, and warm blood immediately began trickling down her face.

“Sienna!”

Tristan turned around.

The moment he saw her face covered in blood, he went pale.

“Are you okay? Where are you hurt? Let me see!”

“I'm fine.”

Sienna wiped the blood from her eyes with the back of her hand.

Her voice was weak but remarkably steady.

“I just bumped my head. I'll put some antiseptic on it when we get home. Let's drop Willa off first.”

Tristan couldn't convince her otherwise, so he started the car again.

After dropping Willa off, he sped all the way home with Sienna.

The moment they stepped inside, he rushed to find the first-aid kit.

Even his hands were trembling.

“Sienna, back there, I...” He tried to explain.

“I know.”

Sienna took a cotton swab from him and began cleaning her wound in the entryway mirror.

“She was sitting right next to you, so of course you instinctively protected her. It's a natural reaction. I understand.”

Tristan stared at her calm profile.

The frustration he'd been suppressing for an entire month, along with the inexplicable anxiety gnawing at him, suddenly erupted.

He snatched the cotton swab from her hand and threw it onto the floor.

“Sienna! It's been a whole month!”

He grabbed her shoulders, his voice trembling.

“All you ever say to me anymore is 'I know,' 'I understand,' and 'I'm not angry'! What the hell do you want from me?

“Are you still upset about what happened that night? I was drunk! Things got out of hand, and I said something stupid! I apologized! We didn't even break up!

“What more do you want me to do?”

He shook her so hard that Sienna's vision darkened.

Her wound throbbed painfully.

She sighed softly, sounding almost helpless.

“Tristan, I'm really not angry. I haven't been dwelling on it.”

“I don't believe you!”

Sienna looked at him and slowly raised three fingers.

“I swear, if I'm still angry about what happened that night, may lightning strike me dead. Happy now?”

Her gaze was clear, her voice unwavering.

There wasn't a trace of resentment or pretense in her expression.

Tristan froze.

His grip on her shoulders gradually loosened.

Was she really not angry?

Had he been overthinking everything?

Had she simply become more understanding?

“Then...” His voice softened. “Stop acting like this. You never used to be this way.”

“What was I like before?”

“You used to get jealous. You'd get upset over little things. You actually cared about me.”

Sienna suddenly let out a soft laugh.

“But wasn't that immature and inconsiderate of me? Isn't it better that I'm like this now?”

Tristan had no answer.

He opened his mouth, only to find himself at a loss for words.

Finally, as though he'd managed to convince himself, he released her and turned toward the bathroom.

“I'm going to take a shower.”

The door closed.

Moments later, the sound of running water filled the room.

The smile on Sienna's face faded completely, like the tide retreating from the shore.

She walked to the window and gazed into the dark night.

Her phone lit up with a new email notification.

‘Dear Ms. Sienna Sawyer,

Congratulations! You have passed the final audition for the lead role in our national theater company's touring production.

Please arrive in New York by the end of this month to begin a three-year international tour. Kindly make the necessary arrangements for your personal affairs before your departure.’

Sienna lowered her gaze and tapped out a brief reply.

‘Received. Thank you.’

Then she looked toward the bathroom.

Steam clouded the frosted glass, blurring the silhouette behind it.

The steady sound of running water continued.

She really wasn't angry anymore.

Because there was a reason nothing Tristan did could upset her now.

She no longer loved him.