Spring Begins Where Snow Ends

"You should come to Grundale," Zoey Ford said casually. "There are lots of women here as pretty as Josie Sinclair. If she doesn't know how to cherish my handsome, sunny little brother, she can just spend the rest of her life alone with her beloved saint."

"You're right. I'm in the process of getting my documents in order," he replied softly.

After hanging up, Tyler Ford took a deep breath. When he passed by the prayer room at the end of the corridor, he heard a suppressed groan.

The door was not fully closed, and a ray of light seeped through the gap. Tyler could not help but peek into the gap.

Josie was kneeling in front of Saint Sebastian's marble statue under the lingering mists of sweet incense, with her white robe partly undone and rosary beads wrapped around her wrist. Her lower body was trembled slightly with a pink massager placed under her.

Her slender shoulders shuddered as her fingers moved quickly in and out. "Shane… Look at me, Shane… Ah… Slow down…"

Tyler bit his lower lip so hard that he tasted blood.

This was the third time he had seen Josie do this.

The first time he saw what she was doing, he dashed out of the front door. When he saw her the second time, he could not sleep the entire night. This time, all he felt inside was numbness.

How twisted this was. Josie had desires, but her lust had nothing to do with him.

Tyler leaned against the cold wall and suddenly remembered the first time he had met Josie.

He was 20, and his older sister, Zoey, had brought him along to a dinner event where she introduced her best friend to him.

That night, Josie was wearing a tailor-made plain-colored dress that fit her body perfectly. On her collar was an emerald brooch, and she had a rosary wrapped around her wrist.

The room was filled with rich heirs and heiresses who were lost in decadence, while Josie was the only one who had a pot of refreshing tea placed in front of her.

Her eyes were lowered as she made the tea. Her slender fingers gripped the pot, and the water flowed steadily into the cup. As the steam from the hot tea wafted in the air, she looked up at him. That was when Tyler's heart skipped a beat.

Zoey noticed Tyler had lost himself in Josie's beauty, and she smiled while poking him in the forehead.

"Don't even think about it. You can fall for anyone but her. Most of our generation's heirs and heiresses are busy indulging in sensual pleasures. Josie Sinclair is the only one who has been religious since young. She has no interest in the pleasures of this world."

Tyler refused to believe her. He has been a troublemaker since he was a boy, and he refused to believe that anyone in this world could live without desires. So, Tyler began his mission of trying to get the girl, and he did everything in his power to seduce her.

When she was reading ures, he would trap her in his arms, but she would always push him away. He tried to drug her tea with an aphrodisiac, but she would calmly comment after finishing her tea, "Shorten the time you steep the tea. It's a little too bitter."

Tyler took things a step further once when he snuck into her prayer room while she was meditating and wore only a towel around his waist while lying in her bed. When Josie entered the room, he showed off his muscular six-pack, but she turned to leave.

The next day, she delivered a box of brand-new shirts to his house. "These are for you. Wear a shirt next time."

Zoey could not take it any longer. "Have some dignity, Tyler."

However, Tyler retorted indignantly, "I'm doing a good deed. What a waste for a beautiful woman to dedicate her life to abstinence."

Tyler courted Josie for four years, and he used every plan in the book, but he got nowhere close to her.

He was on the verge of giving up when he received a call from Josie late at night during his birthday. "Come downstairs."

Tyler went downstairs in his pajamas and saw Josie standing in the snow with her shoulder covered in snowflakes.

"Let's get married," she said.

There was no ring, and no romantic confession. He just said three words.

However, Tyler went mad with happiness, and he leaped forward to hug her. "I've finally gotten through to you, haven't I?"

Josie did not hug him back, but answered with a soft hum.

Now that Tyler thought about it, it had just been a half-hearted answer.

Back in the prayer room, Josie finally stopped.

"Shane…" She leaned forward to kiss the picture in her hand. Her voice was hoarse from all the moaning. "I love you…"

Her voice was incredibly soft, but it felt like a rusty nail sinking hard into Tyler's broken heart. He finally shed tears as he turned to leave, never to look back.

…

The next morning, Josie was already dressed when Tyler woke up, and she was about to leave the house. She was in a bespoke black dress that accentuated her body shape perfectly. The rosary beads remained wrapped around her wrist, and it suddenly seemed like the woman who had lost control the night before was just an illusion.

Just as Josie was about to leave the villa, Tyler called out to her, "Wait."

"You'll have it today," she said without looking up. Her voice was cold as ice. "Stop pestering me about it."

Her words were like a knife that slowly sliced apart his last hope. In her eyes, he was always a lapdog who refused to leave her alone.

Tyler suddenly laughed. "You've misunderstood. I just want the keys to the Maybach. You should pick another car from the garage. I like the feel of this car better."

Josie finally looked up at him, but her tone was still neutral. "Do you have business to attend to?"

He nodded. "Yup."

She asked another question, "What is it?"

Tyler took the keys directly from her pocket and smiled. "It's something that will make you happy."

He was about to leave her forever.