My expression was unchanged. "You've got it all wrong, Flora. I'm perfectly happy with your pick for my future brother-in-law."

When Flora heard the words "brother-in-law", her eyebrow twitched.

She was about to say something else when Sean tugged her sleeve. "Vincent and I had some misunderstanding before this, so it's normal for him to be a little cold toward me. We'll get along eventually."

Flora shot me a look when she heard that, her tone pointed. "He'd better! If he's unhappy with you, I'll stop calling him my brother, too."

Jack quickly stopped her and said, "Stop saying such nonsense..."

Finally, my appetite was gone as I put down my fork and knife.

In my previous life, I had been physically abused, and I had been starved to the point of becoming a bag of bones. Now that I finally had a warm meal in front of me, I could not help but eat a little more. If I had known this would happen, I would have gone to the company with my mother earlier.

"I'm full. Enjoy," I said.

I did not bother getting involved with Flora as I stood and walked away.

Half an hour later, I was about to head to my mother's company when the car door suddenly opened again. Flora leaned down and squeezed into the back seat, her eyes dark. "You're getting a little too daring, Vincent. You won't even listen to me anymore."

She held my wrist with a mocking smile on her lips. "You have always followed after me all the time and won't stop talking. Why didn't you say a single word at the table just now? What, are you jealous?"

Her scent and the heat of her skin dragged my mind back to that dark little room in my last life, where I could only cry and struggle under the abuse until I finally went numb.

I shook her off and forced down the upset feeling in my stomach.

After a pause, I calmly said. "You've got it all wrong. You and Sean are perfect for each other."

Flora let out a cold snort.

She lifted my sleeve, exposing the scar on my wrist. "Is that so? Funny. I remember you reading the love letter I wrote to Sean, then stumbling down the stairs in a daze and leaving this scar. I know your secret, Vincent. You're in love with me."

Hearing that, I was a little dazed.

She was right. I had been in love with her.

When Jack married my mother, I was still a boy, and the company had just started. My mother was obsessed with expanding the business, and Jack had been busy with the social events. Flora had practically raised me.

At first, she had had no patience with me. "Crying again? All you do is cry! Are you really a boy?"

But she was the one who remembered everything, like the limited-edition models in my drawers, the new game consoles, and the birthday surprises.

She had said, "No matter what, you're still my little brother. You need to have all the fun and delicious things that the other kids have!"

And then, I had reached my teenage years. I grew sensitive, and my heart started to stir, but Flora still took me with her.

Her friends would tease her and say, "You're taking Vincent with you everywhere and treating him so nicely… Are you raising your future husband?"

Flora would lightly punch them. "Get lost. He's my brother!"

But when a girl in my class gave me a love letter, Flora tore it to shreds right in front of me, then called the girl out and gave her a cold warning. She then declared, "Vincent is mine forever. No one else is allowed to even think about him!"

A teenage boy's feelings took root like a seed, growing quietly into a towering tree.

How could I not fall for her?

Yet in my previous life, that secret love had brought me nothing but suffering.

Only then did I understand that Flora was never a good match for me.

Seeing that I did not argue back, Flora's expression turned even more certain. She let go of me and spoke in a righteous tone, "Give it up, Vincent. I only see you as a brother. If something had truly happened between us yesterday… Well, I would have taken responsibility, but I would never fall in love with you. All I would feel is disgust!"

My chest tightened as I watched Flora walk away. Then, I straightened my outfit and went to my mother's company.

That afternoon, I had plans with a few classmates to go back to my previous school and visit our teacher.

While we were talking, I happened to scroll past a new post from Sean on his social media. "Walking around campus with my love again feels like I'm being given a second chance to clear my regrets for not being with her during senior high."

When I saw the familiar background, my heart skipped a beat, and I left in a hurry.

Flora and I had a secret base on the second floor of the East Building, a private storeroom filled with my memories. When I arrived, the place was a wreck. The model I had used to win a competition was smashed on the floor, and its pieces were scattered on the floor. My collection of game cartridges had been dumped out and tossed everywhere. My diary even had marks from someone trying to force it open. If it wasn't locked, I'd have no more secrets left by now.

Anger rushed through me.

Startled by the look in my eyes, Sean shrank back behind Flora and said in a small voice, "Flora, I told you we shouldn't have come. See? Vincent's mad now. Maybe I should apologize to him..."

"It's fine."

Flora glared at me. "Vincent, half of this storeroom is mine. I only brought Sean here to have a look. Stop glaring at him like that."

I took in a long breath and answered coldly without lifting my head, "Fine."

Flora frowned. "What kind of atti..."

"Flora." I cut her off before saying gently, "I'm not angry. It's your storage room as well. It is normal for you to bring your fiancé to see it. Why would I be mad about it?"

I tossed the broken model pieces, the scattered game cartridges, and the diary into the trash. As Flora looked at me, startled, I said calmly, "I won't get in the way of your date. Goodbye."

I was not sad.

Flora was the one who had bought me those cartridges.

The models were ruined, but I could always buy better ones.

The locked diary was filled with the thoughts of a teenage boy, yet the dazzling girl in those memories was no longer the same. All that love had turned into something absurd.

What was there left to cherish?

In the days that followed, Flora did not come to talk to me. She was busy showing off her love with Sean. All of our friends knew how deeply she loved him.

I ran into them more than once, being affectionate with each other at home, and Flora never said no to Sean.

She even managed to persuade Jack and my mother to set the wedding for two weeks later.

Sean was the love of her life, and she couldn't stand to see her man suffer even the slightest criticism or slight.

Sean even posted another update on his social media smugly. "Love at first sight is superior to years spent together."

But none of it could stir anything inside of me anymore.

I was going overseas.

My mother gazed at me sharply in her office. "Are you sure you've thought this through? Do you really want to go abroad? For the next four years, all we can give you is money. If you want a place in the company's management, you'll have to earn it yourself by accomplishing something first.

"Richard and I only care about what you and Flora are capable of. Whoever proves themselves will inherit the company, son or daughter."

I looked at my mother deeply. I always thought she only cared about the company and had left me to fend for myself in my last life. That was why my twisted love for Flora had made me jump into her arms like a moth to a flame.

I see now that I was mistaken.

She did love me, and she loved me a lot.

In that case, I no longer had to throw myself and my goals away for the sake of so-called love.

I gently said, "Don't worry, Mom."

When I got home, I started packing for my studies overseas. I didn't expect Flora to barge in without knocking, carrying my favorite snacks in her hands.

The moment she saw me packing, she ran over and grabbed my wrist hard, asking me coldly, "How long are you going to keep this up, Vincent? Do you even know anyone abroad? Why do you have to go overseas for college? Isn't studying at a local college good enough for you? Or is it that you just can't stand seeing me with Sean?"

I stayed silent.

How was I supposed to explain to her that I had more to my life than just being a green-eyed monster? That I still had my academics, a career, and a future ahead of me to consider?

But to Flora, my silence was as good as an admission. She looked around in irritation, and her eyes finally landed on the broken model in the trash bin.

She was completely shocked as she asked, "Aren't these models your favorites? I always buy you one every year on your birthday, other than your other presents. Why would you just throw them all away?"

I massaged my temple. "Flora, I'm not a kid anymore. Since I'm going abroad, they'll just sit here gathering dust, anyway. Better to throw them out now."

Flora had no words.

In the end, she forced out a few tight sentences. "Fine, Vincent! That's completely fine! Let's see if you'll really stay abroad for the entire four years out of your jealousy! Go date some foreign girls while you're out there. Then you won't be thinking about me in ways you should not every day."

I let out a quiet sigh.

In truth, I really wasn't planning to come home for the entire four years of college.

Other than asking me to focus on my studies, my mother had also given me an extra task. I was not sure if I could even handle it.

On the day of Flora's wedding, the whole villa was buzzing with activity.

My mother went to the office for a meeting, just like always.

Jack was all smiles as he stayed with Flora, waiting for the groom to arrive.

No one paid me any attention.

I rolled my suitcase out, slipped into a cab, and headed straight for the airport.

-

"Why are you so distracted, Flora?" Jack carefully straightened Flora's wedding dress inside the villa, his eyes full of love. Flora shook her head, a little dazed.

Sean was her first love, and he was about to become her husband. So, why did her chest feel so strangely empty?

Was it because of Vincent?

She immediately shook her head, a mocking smile on her lips.

How was that possible?

Yes, she enjoyed the way Vincent secretly loved her, how he would ache over her, but Sean was the one who needed her love.

"Flora!" A clear voice sounded in her ear.

Sean appeared in front of her in a sharp suit with a dazzling smile. The boy she had chased after in her youth, the one she could never quite get, had finally fallen into her hands.

"Where's Vincent?" Sean brought it up in a casual tone after the ceremony

Only then did Flora realize that the little boy who had always liked to hover around and join the fun was nowhere to be seen on her wedding day.

She answered coolly, "He is always so quiet and keeps to himself. Who knows where he ran off to?"

After Sean went off to toast the guests, she still could not help pulling Jack aside to ask in private, "Dad, have you seen Vincent?"