Five years ago, Ivana Millian accompanied Ernest Gilmore through the collapse after being abandoned by his 'favorite woman.'

To save his 'favorite woman,' Ernest locked Ivana in a freezer. She survived but lost a toe.

Later, Ernest compensated Ivana with four toes, kneeling on the ground and begging her to come back, "Even if you cut off my entire leg, I would still willingly endure it!"

***

"You stay inside! I waited for you for so long, now you'll stay inside just as long!" Ernest shouted at her.

In July's heat, Ivana wore thin clothes in the freezer at minus twenty-two degrees Celsius. Within seconds, her lips turned purple from the cold.

"Ernest, I didn't mean to! I swear, the traffic was bad! Punish me in some other way, please?" Ivana kept jumping up and down while pleading with Ernest.

He shouted, "Punish you another way? On Valentine's Day, you made me wait for five full minutes in public. Do I spoil you too much?"

"No, no, it's not like that." Ivana anxiously slapped the freezer door, shivering from the cold. The extreme temperature made every part of her body ache unbearably.

"Ernest, there's a phone call," someone said. Ernest took the call and his eyes lit up suddenly, "I have something to do. Let her out in five minutes!"

"Ernest! Ernest!" Ivana banged on the freezer door with all her might, shouting.

A man scolded her, "What are you yelling for! Ernest said five minutes before you can come out!"

"It's too … too cold, really. Can't you let me out, please?" Ivana begged.

"A few minutes won't freeze you to death. Maybe you'll learn your lesson! In all of San Diego, nobody dares to keep Ernest waiting!" the man named Dominic Spikes, answered.

Ivana, freezing, searched her memory and found a discarded freezer coat in a corner. She wrapped it tightly around herself. It helped a little, but she was still cold. Especially her feet, which ached as if being sliced by knives.

Ivana could barely stand, "Dom … Dominic, can you open the door, please? I'll buy you food, wine, or bake you a cake."

"Stop shouting! I'm losing at cards! One more word from you and I'll keep you in for another five minutes!" he shouted.

Ivana pleaded, "Dominic, isn't this too much? Won't Ernest get angry?"

He said coldly, "Ernest's real girlfriend is back now. Do you think he still cares about you? Didn't you see how fast he left just now?"

Ivana's phone was outside, so she had no idea how much time had passed. She just kept wrapping herself in the thin freezer coat, jumping to stay warm. She silently counted in her head. …2, 3…1125, 1126…

Eventually, Ivana had no strength left. She couldn't bang the door or shout anymore. The half-bucket of butter in the corner was gone.

Her feet had nearly lost all feeling and her fingers had turned from white to blue, now beginning to show hints of black.

Moments before losing consciousness, Ivana vaguely heard voices outside, "Bro, there's no sound anymore."

"Close enough, open the door," Dominic said.

The other man asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Dominic said, "I don't have the key."

"I don't have it either!" the other man panicked.

Dominic also panicked, "Shit, call Ernest right now! He has the key!"

"Hurry, hurry!"

"He's not answering! Ernest isn't picking up!"

"Let me try!"

"Ernest's phone is off!"

"Call 911, now! If someone dies, it'll be a disaster!"

***

When Ivana woke up, the hospital's bright fluorescent lights stung her eyes. Her hands and feet were wrapped in thick bandages and a sharp pain came from her right foot.

The nurse saw her awake and went to call the doctor, "Ivana Millian, twenty-seven years old, she's lucky to be alive. She was in a freezer for over an hour. Her right foot is frostbitten, the pinky toe necrotic and amputated. The rest is saved, but you need to recover. You'll have to stay in the hospital for observation for two months."

"Miss Millian, hello, I'm the nurse here. Your boyfriend has paid for three days of fees." Said a woman.

Ivana looked at her hand, "My boyfriend was here?"

"Yes, the one who sent you over, looked like a firefighter. He paid for all the expenses," the nurse said again.

Ivana said, "My boyfriend isn't a firefighter."

She asked the nurse to turn on her phone for her, but there were no calls or texts at all. However, on her WhatsApp status there was a nine-photo collage of Ernest and Sydney eating together. The caption read: [You're still the boy who loves desserts from back then.]

Ivana closed her eyes, the heartache unbearable. Five years of feelings were no match for the favorite woman.

If you love that woman, Sydney Hamilton, so much, then Ernest, I won't love you anymore, I don't want you anymore.

For half a month, Ivana's phone didn't receive a single message from Ernest. What filled it were nine-photo collages posted by Sydney.

Some showed them eating, some showed them shopping. Some showed Sydney baking a cake while Ernest helped on the side and some had Sydney smearing cream all over Ernest's face like a painted clown …

The latest post read: [My baby craving the taste from five years ago …]

Ernest's call came through, "Ivana, make one of your signature brownies and deliver it to Stellar Hotel, Suite 888 tonight."

"I can't." Ivana looked at her hands and, for the first time, refused Ernest's request.

"Don't forget who paid to open your dessert shop!" he threatened.

Beep ... before Ivana could reply, the call was cut off.

The next moment, a message came in: [Ivana, thank you for taking care of Ernest these past years. Now that I'm back, Ernest should return to me.]

Ivana gripped her phone tightly. For a moment, she felt her heart clench so hard she couldn't breathe. But gradually, she relaxed.

Lifting her hand under the sunset, she looked at it. Five years ago, it was this hand that Ernest held tightly, telling her the desserts she made were the best in the world.

He said he'd protect her hands forever and let her make desserts only for him. The fingernails she lost to frostbite hadn't even fully grown back. Her hands looked frightening.

The cloud storage sync kept flashing and her home camera sent notifications. Ivana stared at their increasing photos and listened to Sydney's voice messages.

They talked about everything: the past, the future. In hours-long recordings, not a single word they mentioned Ivana.

It was only at the end that Sydney asked Ernest, "Ernest, during all these years I wasn't around, you and Ivana were doing well, right? Seeing you happy, I feel at peace. In a few days, I'll move to another city and we should stop contacting each other."

Ernest sounded anxious, "No, no, it's not like that. Ivana is great, but I was with her because ... only her desserts taste like yours. Every time I eat her desserts, I think of you. Every time I see the dessert shop, I think how nice it'd be if it were you making them."

The recording ended abruptly. Ivana touched her face, it was covered in cold tears.

So it was just as she thought, she was only a substitute. She had believed that, in these five years, she had warmed Ernest's heart.

But it turned out she was just a replacement. Now that the real girlfriend was back, whether the substitute's hands could still make desserts no longer mattered.

Wiping away her tears, Ivana opened her email and found the invitation from the French Le Cordon Bleu Academy when she won the dessert competition five years ago.

Back then, because she couldn't bear to leave Ernest, who had collapsed after Sydney left, she gave up on that opportunity everyone envied.

Nowadays, Ivana wanted to go again but didn't know if she still could. After some thought, Ivana sent an email to them, attaching her various awards over the years.

While waiting for a reply, Ivana also researched other schools and their admission requirements. But the one she wanted most was still Le Cordon Bleu.

Researching schools, checking flights, consulting about rental apartment ... Ivana busied herself until evening.

Ernest's call came through, "Ivana! Didn't learn your lesson last time? Where's the cake?" his voice sounded furious.

Sydney's voice clearly came through, "Ivana must've been caught in traffic again. Why you be so harsh with a woman? She might be scared."

Ernest commanded again, "Ivana, I'm telling you, three minutes. Right now. Deliver the cake immediately!"

Ivana held the phone and replied calmly, "I said I can't make it."

"You've gotten spoiled, haven't you?" Ivana could already picture Ernest furiously pacing on the other end of the line.

Over the years, Ivana had always gone along with Ernest. Getting up in the middle of the night to make cakes was nothing unusual, she had never said no before.

"I can't do it. That's it. I can't." After speaking, Ivana hung up and put her phone on silent mode.

Patients needed rest. Ivana told herself this and acted on it, asking the nurse to turn off the lights and going to sleep.

The phone screen switched from call after call to countless incoming messages. The screen's light bothered Ivana, so she flipped the phone over, screen down.

Ernest, whether you're happy or not, whatever you want to eat, whoever you want to eat with, it has nothing to do with me anymore.

After a good night's sleep, Ivana saw dozens of missed calls and hundreds of messages on her phone and felt it was ridiculous. For a cake, Ernest could persistently call and text her this many times.

Even back when Ivana had a fever, fainted and was hospitalized, he had never given her such treatment. Judging from his messages, he didn't even know she was hospitalized and had a toe amputated.

Ivana didn't intend to reply, she just compulsively tapped away all the notification dots.

Then she opened her email. There sat one unread message.

Ivana's heart raced, please, please let it be an acceptance!

She opened the email and sure enough, it was an acceptance letter. Holding her phone, she cried tears of joy. At that moment, she suddenly realized it had been so long since she'd felt this happy.

She got busy booking flights. Her foot needed another half a month to heal, so she scheduled her flight for a month later. She also needed to start looking for housing. She contacted local agents, wondering whether her broken French would be understandable.

She couldn't bring too much luggage. Everything from before could be left behind. She'd only bring a few personal clothes and buy new things in France.

***

Ernest's call came in again. After some thought, Ivana answered.

Five years of feelings, even if they were breaking up, she wanted it to end as clearly as it began.

"Ivana, have you had enough? It's been half a month and you haven't been home. Tomorrow's Sydney's welcome-back dinner. I won't hold this against you anymore. Make that award-winning Eternal Companion fondant cake and bring it over."

"I can't make it." Ivana said casually.

He roared, "It's been half a month already, haven't you had enough?"

"Even another half a month won't be enough for me to come home," she said.

"What do you mean by that?" he puzzled.

"Oh no, don't scold her. Ivana might blame me," Sydney's syrupy voice chimed in.

Ivana said again, "I'm hospitalized. I can't make it."

Ernest exploaded, "What kind of illness lasts half a month? Stop pretending! She's your senior!"