Chapter 3

Countless questions raced through Celeste’s mind in an instant.

She wanted to ask if Russell and Mylah were upset about her essentially kidnapping their son, or perhaps if Ana resented her for having taken her lover away.

However, the sheer shock of what had just happened had pushed all her questions to the back of her mind.

She hurriedly took Noah’s hand and smiled radiantly before going away so she could start packing up.

When Noah realized that Ana bore no ill will toward Celeste, he softened his gaze. “I’m sorry for reacting like that. I thought you were trying to hurt Celeste.”

It was clear that his state of mind was tethered to Celeste.

None of them remembered that in the past, whenever Celeste tried to pursue him, he would become irritated to the point of making Ana embrace him tightly. Then, with a troubled look, he would cast a look at Ana to compel her to speak up for him.

“Ana, please tell her that I’m yours, and yours only. Be as straightforward as you can!”

Sometimes, he would tease her by mimicking the way she would look in those situations by pulling a scowl. It would always end up with them having a blast and laughing themselves silly on the couch.

What a shame.

Noah no longer belonged to her.

Ana’s lips twitched, then she took them back to Noah’s house.

Although Russell and Mylah were somewhat disappointed, they quickly composed themselves and began to share stories from the past with Noah to jog his memories.

When they started to get to the part where Ana had first met Noah, they suddenly hesitated.

It was Ana who stepped in instead. “I was your childhood friend. When we were growing up, you always treated me like I was your little sister.”

She even exaggerated her story for effect before grumbling, “You keep telling me you were going to find me a boyfriend, only to end up losing your memory. What’s the deal with that? Where’s my boyfriend?”

All the others who were acquainted with the true story hardly knew how to react. Noah, on the other hand, did not suspect Ana in the slightest.

Noah apologized, then joked, “Alright, alright, I’ll make sure to find you a boyfriend once things have settled down.”

He candidly ruffled Ana’s hair in a brotherly manner. The gesture was so natural to him that even he was taken aback.

He rationalized it as him regarding Ana as his little sister, and did not think much of it after.

However, when he looked around his room and noticed how many of his belongings were related to Ana, he had the hunch that something was off.

Noah did his best to brush the feeling aside. An unconscious part of him decided it was better to keep them hidden from Celeste, and with that, he gathered all of the belongings and brought them to the yard to be burned.

Ana was jolted awake by the brightness of the flame.

When she threw on a shirt and stepped outside, she saw everything that once tied her to Noah had been consumed by the roaring flames.

All the pictures they had taken together since they were children were fed to the mouth of the flame. This included the tournament certificates they received together and even the wrapper from a candy she ate in the past… Everything was crackling and popping inside the fire.

Flickers of light were cast at random intervals against Noah’s profile while he looked on. With the moonlight shining above, his eyes became more distinct than usual.

Ana suddenly felt as if someone had plunged a dagger into her heart.

Since her rebirth, she did everything she could to fill her schedule with all kinds of tasks so she could numb herself and suppress every trace of emotion. However, during the occasional moments when she had nothing to do, all the pain she had been suppressing came rushing back and choked the breath out of her.

She dug her fingernails deep into her palms desperately so Noah would not notice how disheveled she seemed.

At the same time, Noah happened to turn around and see her.

He smiled kindly in a way that seemed completely innocuous, then remarked, “Back then, when neither of us had a partner, it didn’t feel like there was anything wrong with us being close to each other.”

After a faint pause, his voice turned solemn. “But now that Celeste is living with me, I thought she wouldn’t like to see these things, which is why I burned them. I hope you don’t mind.”

Ana shook her head, then bent down to salvage a wooden doll from the ground, which was halfway charred from the fire.

A long time ago, they took a trip to a rural village. When they heard there was a doll said to carry the blessing of a great shaman, Noah risked nearly falling off a cliff so he could secure the doll.

According to the villagers, the doll offered lifelong protection so long as both people in a relationship kept one for themselves.

Noah was never going to remember that.

“It’s fine,” she answered faintly, then suggested, “You should burn the things from my room, too.”

Even as the flames roared toward them, radiating waves of scorching heat, Ana felt as though she’d been plunged into icy water.

Once the last of the mementos from the past had been consumed by the flames, she turned to leave, only to have Noah take her by her wrist.

He asked in a troubled voice, “I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”

Soon, Ana understood what he meant by that.

Since a few hours ago, a few housemaids had been pacing around the courtyard, setting up a bunch of fireworks in an open plot of land next to the Wilder’s family estate.

Even Noah joined in to help as well. After the final batch was set up, he wiped a handful of sweat from his forehead.

Even when submerged in the darkness of the night, there was a sharp gleam in his eyes.

“Celeste has been very clingy since she came back with me. I’ve been trying to coax her for the entire day, and eventually, she told me she wanted to see fireworks.”

He gestured toward the fireworks. “These fireworks will go off in a very specific order to form a full sentence in the sky. I was worried the housemaids would mess it up. I was wondering if you could help keep an eye on it.”

Ana was taken aback by the request. She came this close to asking if she even meant anything to him at all.

Before she could even get a word out, Noah continued, “The moment I saw you, I had a feeling that you were very capable. I think I must’ve trusted you a lot in the past.”

He fixed another sincere look at her, and asked again, “Would you help me?”

In the ensuing silence, Ana forced herself to nod.

Noah smiled gladly, then reached into his pocket to give her something. “Here, I got you a sparkler for you to play with as a small token of appreciation.”

After casually patting her on the head, he turned and walked away hurriedly as if he could not wait for what was to come next.

Soon, the fireworks went off as arranged, producing deafening sounds that dominated the landscape.

Ana looked up and read the sentence it formed.

“You are always on my mind.”