I took out the drawing paper and tried to recover my feeling for it.

I was so absorbed in the painting that I didn't notice that there was another person in the room.

"Stella?"

I raised my head and frowned slightly.

"When did you come back?"

I rubbed my eyes. They felt sore from reading for a long time.

Luxor's voice was filled with anger.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?"

I didn't understand. It was just a missed call. He often didn't answer my calls or reply to my messages before.

"I'm busy. I didn't hear you."

This was the countless times he had brushed me off, and now I was returning the same excuse to him.

I stood up with one leg and reached for my phone on the bedside table. As soon as I unlocked it, the message notifications kept chiming.

Some were from Luxor, and some were from Casper.

I opened Casper's chat box, filled with "Stella." I quickly glanced at it; it was probably about the studio's profit sharing and benefits.

I replied briefly and looked up at Luxor.

Luxor looked at my leg and the screen of my phone. For a moment, he didn't know where to start asking.

"Your leg..."

I looked down.

"It's been set with a steel plate. Anything else?"

Luxor's eyes briefly flashed with guilt, and he wanted to come forward to help me.

I dodged away, leaving Luxor feeling somewhat dejected, standing with his hands hanging by his sides.

"That day, Sherry got injured. You know, she felt dizzy and said she couldn't breathe properly. I wanted to take her for a check-up and then come back..."

But he looked into my eyes and couldn't continue.

Sherry's injury was just a minor knock on her hand, covered with a large adhesive bandage.

As for me, I was left alone in a burning building. If it weren't for a kind person who saved me, I might not have made it out alive.

Luxor coughed lightly, bringing my attention back.

"It's also because Sherry didn't eat anything today and has low blood sugar, so I went to take care of her, which delayed me."

I stopped at the guest room doorway, turning back to look at him quietly.

"It's only right, after all, she's your neighbor's little sister. You should pay more attention to her."

He was taken aback, not expecting me to say that.

In the past, I would have interrogated him fervently, asking who was more important to him.

"Stella, why are you acting so strange? There's nothing between Sherry and me."

I interrupted him coldly.

"She's just your little sister. You just need to take better care of your sister. I get it. Are you satisfied now?"

Luxor was left speechless by my retort.

"You don't need to tell me anything else. I don't want to know. You can go and care for your dear little sister."

Luxor stood still, struggling to say.

"Then go to bed early."

The next morning, I was awakened by a commotion.

Sherry came.

"Luxor, why hasn't Stella gotten up yet? You spoil her too much."

"I brought so many things to see her. Why isn't she getting up? Does she not welcome me? Or did I give Stella the wrong impression? Is she still mad at me? She is too petty."

I leaned against the door frame with one leg, quietly watching her acting wronged in front of Luxor.

Luxor ruffled her hair and comforted her gently

"Of course not. I'll go call her."

As he looked up, our eyes met. I watched him quietly.

Sherry hurried over to me, exclaiming.

"Stella, is your leg really injured?"

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If I hadn't fainted, causing Luxor to take me to the hospital first, he wouldn't have left you alone in the fire."

Her voice carried a hint of fear, as if I were a vicious person.

Luxor couldn't bear to see her like this, so he stepped forward to comfort her.

"It's not your fault. The hotel fire wasn't your doing, so you shouldn't blame yourself."

"Stella, if you want to blame someone, blame me. This has nothing to do with Luxor. You don't need to make it hard for him. You can even hit me."

Watching Sherry's pitiful look, it felt like I was back to that night.

During the vacation, Sherry said she was bored at home alone and invited us for a road trip. As soon as we got in the car, she sat in the front seat next to Luxor, being all chummy with him.

I pretended not to see from the back seat, but Sherry didn't let me off, pestering me with questions.

"Stella, are you really together with Casper? Is it true?"

After saying that, Sherry covered her mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Stella. I forgot that Luxor is still here."

Luxor's face turned grim instantly. Later, when we arrived, he dragged me to the hotel room and slammed me to the ground with a crisp sound of a slap echoing in the room.

We had a heated argument, and Sherry stood by, pretending to be concerned.

"Stop, I believe Stella and Casper, they are just very close friends."

This statement further incited Luxor.

Later, there was a fire downstairs, and the flames spread to our room. Luxor dragged Sherry out, and due to the fire, the door was damaged and couldn't be opened.

I was left alone in the room, desperate and crying in pain.

The sensation of my leg being burned by the intense fire was still vivid in my mind.

When I came to my senses, I looked down, feeling scared.

"Yeah, I was terrified. If it hadn't been for that kind passerby, I might not have made it back."

"I'm sorry, Stella. I didn't know..."

Luxor showed a rare look of guilt, wanting to come forward to comfort me.

However, before he could take a step forward, Sherry pulled him back and said.

"Then I'm sure you'll be blessed if you survive this disaster, Stella! Luxor, things have already happened, so you don't need to blame yourself. Let's go buy some fruit to celebrate Stella's escape from great danger and to make amends to her."

Self-reproach and amends?

I don't need it.

I didn't need their self-reproach and amends. They comforted each other but never truly cared about the feelings of me, the victim.

They came back quickly with a lot of bags in their hands.

"Stella, thank you. I haven't had so much fruit in a long time. Now I can finally make my secret fruit salad!"

I watched them happily cutting and eating the fruit, making and praising each other's tea, and even cutting the cake without saving any for me.

After Sherry washed her hands, she playfully flicked water at Luxor.

Luxor lowered his head and nuzzled Sherry's forehead with his chin.

The first birthday we celebrated together, I tried to make a cake with Luxor.

I accidentally smeared a bit of cream on his face.

He immediately showed a look of disgust and resistance.

"It's so dirty!"

In front of so many people, he left with a straight face, disregarding my face.

Since then, I have never eaten cake again.

They ate the fruit in high spirits and evaluated which fruit was more delicious.

Luxor glanced at me from the corner of his eyes and saw that I was still standing there, looking at them calmly.

Furrowing his brows slightly, Luxor sounded a bit impatient.

"Why are you standing there?"

Hearing this, Sherry turned her head and pouted.

"Stella, are you still angry with me? It's all my fault. I fainted so that you were alone in the fire. I should have been burned to death in the fire."

I found their fussing tiresome and left the room.

At noon, I saw Sherry had updated her social media.

[We're the most in sync.]

The picture showed an open bag of snacks on the piano.

Luxor was a young and talented pianist, and his piano room was off-limits to me, let alone eating snacks in there.

When I first moved in, out of curiosity, I checked every room and accidentally dirtied the floor.

When he came back, he was furious.

For me, it was a forbidden area, but for Sherry, it was just a room at home.

Perhaps Luxor didn't mind someone else entering his piano room, it was just the person that mattered.

I was painting in the studio with my headphones on.

Casper sat beside me, quietly keeping me company.

I had previously thought about having Luxor by my side while I painted, but he coldly dismissed the idea, saying.

"You're not a baby. Why would I sit with you? It's a waste of my time."

The quiet atmosphere was shattered by the sound of my phone's notifications. It was a call from Luxor.

"Where are you? I've sent you so many messages. When are you coming back?"

Luxor's series of messages left me with a headache. In the past, I would have been overjoyed about it.

"What would you like to eat tonight? A new French restaurant has opened. Would you like to try it?"

"Stella, Sherry dropped the cherry blossom model you gave me. Where did you buy it from? I'll go and get another one."

...

Just an afternoon without checking my phone, and Luxor had sent me more messages than he had in all the years we've been together.

It used to be me initiating conversations, and his responses would be limited to [Oh] if he was interested or [Busy, don't text me] if he wasn't.

When did he change his mind?

When evening fell, I reluctantly said goodbye to Casper and headed home.

When I turned on the lights, I saw Luxor sitting on the couch, staring blankly at his phone.

[Where were you? Why haven't you come back?]

I glanced at the message I had just received a moment ago.

"I went to the studio with Casper. What's wrong?"

I took off my coat and went into the bathroom to freshen up.

He stood at the doorway, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Stella, is it still Casper? I've already apologized for the car accident. As for today, I'll be more careful in the future. If you have any thoughts, we can sit down and talk about it."

"Communication is essential in a relationship. Silent treatments don't solve problems."

It turned out he wasn't unaware that a relationship requires effort from both parties.

But he had stubbornly used a silent treatment to silence me before.

I wiped my hands dry and looked up at him.

"Luxor, you can check your phone. How many times have you replied to me?"

He turned away in embarrassment, then persisted in asking me.

"Is it because of Sherry? I can explain it to you."

"No, I haven't misunderstood anything. Besides, you and she are just neighbors. You grew up together, so it's only right to take care of her a bit more."

I didn't want to dwell on this matter any longer. I pointed at the cherry blossom model on the table.

"Just throw it away. It was meant for display. It's worthless now that it's broken. There's no need to keep it."

The cherry blossom model was similar to my love for Luxor. Once it was broken, there was no need to mend it.

In the past, when I quarreled with Luxor, I wanted to let go of him. But while taking a look at the cherry blossom model he made for me, I was still reluctant to do so.

Luxor Joel, whom I used to love so much, was no longer around. Instead, he belonged to Sherry.

Luxor pursed his lips, and a trace of guilt appeared in his eyes.

"This weekend is my last stop on the tour, right here in the capital. Do you want to come? I've reserved a VIP seat for you."

I was sorting out today's drafts.

I didn't even raise my head, and my voice was slightly cold.

"No."

Luxor was a somewhat renowned pianist in the industry, and I had once been determined to follow in his footsteps.

I even learned the violin for two years just to impress him. And I proudly showcased my violin skills in front of him.

After hearing this, he frowned with disgust.

"What kind of crap is this? It's sounds awful."

I stubbornly believed that as long as I put my heart into it, I would eventually gain his approval.

He never let me attend his performances, fearing that it would impact his career if people knew we were a couple.

Once, I secretly bought an ordinary ticket at a high price from a scalper and traveled a long distance just to give him a surprise.

However, his face immediately darkened and he pretended not to know me.

He even told others that I was a crazy fan and that I was driven away by the staff.

Later, I found out that Luxor would always invite Sherry to his performances and openly flirt with her backstage.

Now, he was actively inviting me to his tour and had even arranged a VIP seat for me.

If it were in the past, I would have been overjoyed and ecstatic.

Luxor seemed surprised by my refusal and stood there, lost in thought.

After a while, he seemed to have made up his mind.

"Stella, are you really not going? I wanted to publicly announce our relationship."

I had often dreamed that one day he would openly announce our relationship on stage under the spotlight.

But now that my dream was coming true, I felt no excitement or joy.

"You're still rising in your career. Maybe it's not the right time to make our relationship public."

I refused.

Upon hearing this, Luxor seemed unable to contain himself and growled.

"Well, go or not, as you like!"

Since we've been together, I have never refused him.

Let alone repeatedly rejecting him tonight.

He was humble enough, but I still didn't follow his mind.

He slammed the door as he left, and I calmly finished organizing my drawings, pondering how to discuss a collaboration with Casper tomorrow.

The next morning, Luxor sat in the living room with his eyes lowered, smoking.

I couldn't tell if he hadn't slept all night or if he had just woken up early.

"Are you planning to go to the art studio today? Your leg isn't convenient, I can take you."

Seeing me stand up, he stood up awkwardly.

"No, I'm going to discuss the studio cooperation with Casper."

"I don't need you to take me there. It wouldn't look good if someone saw us," I replied.

Luxor's house was quite far from where I worked. When I first moved in, I used to ask him to drive me in the morning.

He said that he was a celebrity and it was inconvenient. He would call a taxi for me.

After demanding for a few times, he often couldn't get up, so I stopped forcing him.

I know that's all an excuse. I've seen him drive a cayenne and hang his exclusive license plate to see Sherry off fair and square many times.

"It's okay. If someone sees, I'll make an official announcement."

I packed up the documents and held my bag in one hand and the cane in the other.

"Don't bother. I've already arranged for a ride with an Uber driver. I'll go down by myself."

He remained silent and took the bag from my hand.

"I'll send you down."

I wanted to refuse, but seeing his gloomy face, I fell silent.

It wasn't worth arguing over such trivial matters when we were about to part ways.

It was not worth it.

The driver, seeing my limp and cane, kindly got out of the car to open the door for me.

"Is this your boyfriend? He's so considerate."

I smiled.

"He's just a warm-hearted roommate."

Luxor froze in place, looking at me with disbelief in his eyes.

It was him who had said that we should make it clear to others that we were just roommates.

I had a relaxed conversation with Casper throughout the studio visit.

We settled on the collaboration, signed the contract, and when Casper invited me to dinner, I politely declined and returned to the studio alone.

I had been immersed in the studio for the competition, spending nights in the resting room.

It had been a while since I last painted, and it took me some time to regain my touch.

Time flew by as I was engrossed in my art, paying little attention to the outside world.

During lunch with Casper one day, he showed me a video on his phone.

"Is this Luxor?"

Comments were sometimes scrolling across the video.

[Wow, they are so sweet together. Childhood sweethearts, a musical couple.]

[It's said that this pianist once boldly claimed that he would publicly announce his partner after ten years.]

[Now at the final stop of his concert tour, they openly show their affection. I admire them.]

Out of curiosity, I took a look at the screen.

Luxor, dressed in a suit, finished his last piece, and Sherry, in a white princess gown, embraced him with tears of joy, holding a bouquet of flowers.

Under the spotlight, they looked perfect together.

I looked down at my clothes, stained with paint.

My colorful world is much cooler than your stage.

Sherry updated her Instagram story right on time.

[You will always come back to me.]

I smiled and deleted Sherry from my contacts and blocked her.

Late at night, I received a call from him.

"It's so late. Why aren't you home yet?"