"Fine," Lance huffed with a resolute nod. His tone carried a hint of resentment and reproach. "Since you're so stubborn, then don't send me messages or call me for now. We should both take time to calm down."

Sienna felt a deep desolation. So, he was going to give her the cold treatment, huh? She looked at him and suddenly found it all so absurd.

She uttered each word clearly. "Don't worry. It's not just for now. From now on, I will never contact you."

With that, she turned and walked away.

Lance hadn't expected her to be this unyielding. He instinctively wanted to follow her, but Ashley grabbed his arm.

She reminded him, "Lance, didn't you say you wanted to teach her a lesson? She's so willful because you spoil her. Leave her alone for a few days, and she'll come to her senses."

Lance stopped in his tracks. Yes, he had indeed thought that way. He had pampered Sienna for three years, and her temper had only grown worse.

Upon being reminded of this, the slight sense of panic he felt from the look in Sienna's eyes was gone with the wind. He withdrew his gaze and, in the end, did not chase after her.

When Sienna returned home, the house was still empty. Her parents were still busy with the immigration procedures.

There came a call from Fiona, and she sounded jubilant. "Enna, the college in Linton has accepted your application. The immigration paperwork is almost done, too. We can leave in a few more days."

When Sienna heard this, she felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

Over the next few days, she began carefully packing her things. She threw away every gift Lance had ever given her—dolls, jewelry, handwritten letters, and even the galaxy projector he had stayed up several nights to make.

She didn't keep any of them. It was as if by discarding them, she could bury the foolish version of herself along with the past.

Just as she finished clearing away all of those, the doorbell rang. She opened the door to see Lance standing outside.

The two stared at each other for a long time. The atmosphere grew heavy and still.

In the end, Lance gave in first.

He sounded tired, and the tone of his voice carried a faint, almost imperceptible hint of resentment. "Enna, how can you be so heartless? You never shot me a text or called me these past few days. Do you have any idea how depressed I was?"

In the next moment, he reached out to hug her. "Alright, I'm sorry. You don't need to apologize, either. Let's not fight anymore, okay? I can't stand this…"

Sienna stepped back to avoid his touch.

Seeing the calm, unreadable look in her eyes, Lance felt a sudden sense of inexplicable panic. He quickly pulled out a velvet box from his pocket.

"I bought you a gift. Don't be mad at me anymore. Our class is having a gathering tonight, and I came to take you with me. After this, everyone will go their separate ways. It'll be hard for all of us to meet again."

Sienna hadn't planned to go. But when she considered the fact that this might be the last chance to meet with her classmates, she eventually agreed.

At the entrance of the restaurant's private room, one of their classmates, Jasmine Polk, was using tarot cards to tell their fortunes.

Ashley was there, too. She cheerfully went over and said, "Tell me about my love life!"

Jasmine shuffled the cards and laid them out. "You have a good suitor coming your way, but you'll need to take the initiative to seize the chance."

Ashley smiled meaningfully and replied, "I thought so, too."

As she spoke, she glanced at Lance before walking into the private room.

Lance seemed intrigued as well. Smiling, he held Sienna's hand without asking and said to the classmate, "Go on. Tell us how our relationship will turn out."

This time, Jasmine shuffled the cards and let Lance draw three cards. Shortly after seeing the spread, her expression turned hesitant and troubled.

Lance urged, "Say it."

Jasmine had no choice but to oblige. "The cards show… that you may face the risk of breaking up soon…"

Lance frowned hard and tightened his arm around Sienna. "Nonsense! I would never break up with Enna in this lifetime!"

He then lowered his head to say to Sienna, "Don't believe any of that, okay?"

His words caused the corner of Sienna's mouth to twitch ever so slightly. There was an imperceptible shadow of a smirk that vanished as quickly as it appeared.

He would never break up with her, but she would.

After they sat down, the class monitor asked Lance to order the food. He took the menu and ordered several signature dishes, and all of them were Sienna's usual favorites.

He even specifically instructed the waiter, "Don't add walnuts to the dessert. My girlfriend is allergic to them."

In that instant, Sienna stiffened ever so slightly.

Beside her, Ashley suddenly let out a soft laugh. "You got it wrong, Lance. I'm the one who's allergic to walnuts."

The atmosphere in the private turned awkward, and silence ensued.

Lance was taken aback for a moment before explaining to Sienna in the most natural expression, "Lately, I've been busy with her dad's hospitalization. So, we often ate together. It was just an unintentional mix-up, so don't take it to heart."

Sienna looked down and hummed slightly in acknowledgment but said nothing.

It was no longer natural for him to remember her allergen as her boyfriend. However, it had become natural for him to remember another girl's preferences and taboos.

Fortunately, she no longer felt hurt.

After the meal, everyone lingered in the bittersweet mood of farewell. No one wanted to leave. Someone suggested playing Truth or Dare by spinning a bottle, and the atmosphere grew lively again.

The first person chosen was Sienna.

"Sienna, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

A classmate grinned and asked, "Do you have anything especially happy to share lately?"

Sienna looked up and calmly replied, "Yes. I'm about to throw something away."

"Oh? Why are you happy about throwing something away? Did Lance give you a limited-edition gift, and you're about to throw it away because you got bored with it?"

Everyone laughed, clearly taking it as a joke. Sienna did not bother to explain further.

But Lance felt unsettled after hearing her words. He was about to speak when the game moved on, and the bottle pointed to Ashley.

"I'll choose dare!" Ashley declared fearlessly.

"I dare you to do the most thrilling thing you can think of to someone here."

Upon hearing the dare, Ashley's lips curved in a sly smile. Her eyes landed on the untouched slice of cake in front of Sienna.

The next second, she suddenly grabbed the cake and swiftly smashed it straight onto Sienna's face before anyone could react.

Caught off guard, Sienna let out a startled cry. A thick layer of cream was instantly smeared across her face, leaving her in a humiliating mess.

The entire private room fell silent in shock.

"What the hell are you doing, Ashley?" Lance was the first to react, shooting to his feet and yanking Ashley back with anger and disbelief.

But Ashley just looked innocently at him. "Didn't you all tell me to do the most thrilling thing I could think of? Isn't this thrilling?"

Sienna's whole body trembled—not because of the sticky cream, but from the raw, blatant humiliation. Slowly, she wiped the cream from her eyes. When her vision cleared, she locked her gaze on Ashley's expression of fake innocence.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, Sienna raised her hand and delivered a tight slap across Ashley's cheek. The sharp smack echoed throughout the room.

"Is this thrilling enough?" Sienna's voice was icy, carrying a faint tremor but cuttingly clear.

Without looking at anyone else, she grabbed her bag and turned to leave. She headed straight for the restroom. She rinsed her face again and again with cold water, trying to wash away the sickly sweetness and the stench of humiliation.

When she was finally clean, she planned to go straight home, but Lance caught up with her at the hotel entrance.

"Enna! I'll drive you back."

"No need."

"Don't be upset at me. It's late. How are you going to get home?" Without waiting for a reply, Lance forced her toward his car.

Just as he opened the passenger door, Ashley came running after them. Tears swam in her reddened eyes pitifully. "I'm sorry, Sienna. I was just joking earlier. I didn't think you'd be so angry. I'll never do it again. Please don't be mad, okay?"

Sienna stared at her frigidly, saying nothing.

Ashley then turned to Lance, her voice softer and more fragile. "Lance, it's hard to get a cab here, and I'm a little scared. Could you give me a ride, too?"

Lance glanced at the icy Sienna, then at the tearful Ashley.

In the end, he sighed and said to Ashley, "Get in."

Sienna looked at him in disbelief and felt her heart break painfully. He had seen everything. He had been there when Ashley had provoked and humiliated her. But still, he agreed to her request.

Upon getting Lance's consent, Ashley immediately broke into a smile.

But instead of opening the back door, she turned to Sienna and said, "Sienna, I get carsick. Can I sit in the front?"

Lance barely hesitated before turning to Sienna. "Enna, you sit in the back."

In that instant, a crushing sadness swept through Sienna. She suddenly remembered the night Lance had first gotten his driver's license and secretly taken her for a drive.

That night, under the dazzling starry sky, he had pulled her excitedly into the passenger seat. "Enna, this is my passenger seat. From now on, it's yours alone. No one else can ever sit here."

His eyes had been bright and sincere, with her smiling face reflected in them. His words still echoed in her ears, yet now, he was personally letting another girl take the seat he had sworn belonged only to her.

It seemed that promises only counted when love still existed.

She laughed, and tears began to fall.

Lance caught that fleeting smile and felt a sharp stab in his heart. Meanwhile, Ashley was already covering her mouth and getting into the passenger seat, pretending to feel unwell.

He had no time to think further and quickly got into the driver's seat to start the car. The vehicle moved smoothly down the road, but the atmosphere inside was heavy and silent.

Halfway through the ride, Ashley suddenly let out a pained moan and shifted slightly in her seat.

Her voice trembled with feigned agony. "Lance, I think my skin hunger is acting up again… I feel so awful. Please, help me…"

As she spoke, her hand began to reach toward Lance.

Lance immediately swerved away, his voice sharp. "I'm driving! Don't mess around!"

Through the rearview mirror, he shot a glance at Sienna. She was staring out the window, as if she was completely unaware of what was happening in front.

Ashley whimpered louder and louder. "But I really can't stand it! Ugh… Please, just once! Help me…"

Lance's brows became tightly knitted, his expression strained. The car was filled with Ashley's muffled sobs and moans.

At last, he seemed to yield. He took a deep breath and said to Sienna, "Enna, close your eyes. Don't look."

Sienna jolted slightly, but she gave no response.

Taking her silence as consent, Lance steadied the wheel with one hand and lifted the hem of his shirt with the other. He caught Ashley's groping hand and pressed it firmly against his taut abs.

"Go ahead," he said.

Ashley touched Lance's body as she wished. She boldly ran her hand over his bare skin and even started kneading while releasing a sigh of satisfaction.

Then, she touched a sensitive spot that made Lance's entire body jolt. His grip on the steering wheel loosened, and he lost control of the car.

The car they were in smashed through the guardrail and plunged straight into the river beside the road.

Following a dull but booming splash, icy river water surged into the car in an instant. Sienna, dazed and dizzy from the crash, grabbed the emergency hammer with sheer survival instinct and desperately shattered the window glass.

Water poured in like a torrent. She struggled and managed to get out through the broken window, but she could not swim.

"Help… Lance, help!" she called out desperately, choking on the freezing water.

Lance got out of the car as well. Seeing Sienna floundering in the water, he immediately started toward her.

But from the other side, Ashley screamed in terror. "Lance! Save me! I can't swim! I'm going to die! Help me!"

Lance froze. He looked at Sienna, who was sinking fast, and then at the shrieking Ashley. He felt torn and anguished over who to save first.

In the end, he gritted his teeth and turned toward Ashley.

Sienna watched him turn his back on her decisively. The last flicker of hope inside her was utterly extinguished.

…

When she woke up, she was once again lying in her own bed.

Lance sat beside her, his hair still damp and his face pale. Both his eyes were bloodshot with fear and exhaustion.

The moment Sienna opened her eyes, he held her hand anxiously. "Thank god you woke up, Enna! I was so scared! I'm sorry, I saved Ashley first because she can't swim at all. I thought you could hold on a little longer while she was about to sink. I had no choice…

"She once did me a great favor. Afterward, I called for rescue and went right back for you…"

Sienna stared blankly at the ceiling, not really listening to his explanation. Her heart hurt so much that it no longer felt painful at all.

Just then, Lance's phone rang yet again.

"Lance, where are you? I'm so scared… I feel unwell again… Can you come over?" Ashley's fragile voice whimpered through the speaker.

Lance looked at Sienna with guilt and hesitation on his face. "Enna, I…"

"Go," Sienna said, closing her eyes.

Lance hesitated for a moment and murmured, "I'll be back soon. Rest well."

He left in a rush. In the days that followed, Lance never came back.

Occasionally, when Sienna opened Instagram, she always found new posts from Ashley. Sometimes, it was Lance asleep beside a hospital bed. Sometimes, it showed two intertwined hands. Other times, it featured the silhouette of Lance peeling an apple for her.

Every post was set to be visible only to Sienna. She scrolled through them with a heart so numbed by the pain that it stirred nothing inside her at all.

One day, Sienna returned to school to collect her graduation photo. When she walked along the familiar tree-lined path, she heard a cat's faint and desperate cry from the old building nearby.

Following the sound, she found Ashley on the second-floor balcony, torturing a tiny kitten. The small creature trembled and cried in terror.

"Stop!" Sienna rushed forward, shoving Ashley aside to rescue the kitten.

But Ashley clung stubbornly to the cat's leg, refusing to let go. As they were struggling, Ashley suddenly smiled faintly and flung herself backward. She toppled off the balcony.

Sienna froze in shock and instinctively reached out, but caught only the edge of Ashley's clothing.

In that split second, a figure darted from below and caught the falling Ashley in his arms.

It was Lance. The impact made him stagger and fall, but he managed to catch Ashley and break her fall, leaving her unscathed.

He checked on Ashley anxiously. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Trembling and wide-eyed, Ashley clutched his shirt and burst into tears. "Lance, Sienna… I think she was angry because you saved me first when we fell in the river, so she pushed me…"

Sienna, who had just rushed downstairs, arrived just in time to hear this accusation. Rage made her whole body shake.

She exclaimed, "You're lying! I didn't push you! You were abusing the cat! I tried to stop you, and then you…"

Ashley cried even harder. "Lance, she pushed me, and now she's slandering me. I've always loved small animals. How could I hurt a cat?"

Lance immediately believed her, his eyes turning sharp as he glared at Sienna. "I saw you standing on the balcony when Ashley fell!

"You already pushed her once in the hospital, and now you've gone and pushed her off a building? If I hadn't been there to catch her, she could have been ruined forever!"

"I told you I didn't push her! She jumped herself! Why don't you believe me?" Sienna argued fiercely.

Lance countered coldly, "I saw it with my own eyes. How can I believe you? Everything I've done for her, from saving her to caring for her, was only to repay a debt of gratitude! That's all! Why can't you be more tolerant? Why do you keep bullying her again and again?"