The next day,Astrid Lawrence wore a floral dress and held onto Santino’s arm as they went together to visit his mother.

Seeing his mother’s pale and tired face,Santino clenched his hands.Gratitude for Aurelia’s past kindness and the anger he felt toward her tangled together,leaving him restless.

At the hospital,Aurelia held the examination sheet tightly.“The brain tumor is spreading quickly.Without treatment,you have at most half a year.”

The doctor’s words still echoed in her ears when she turned a corner and suddenly came face-to-face with Santino and Astrid.

Startled,she quickly hid the sheet behind her back and forced a smile.“What a coincidence.”

But Santino only gave her a cold glance,his eyes filled with dislike.

“You’re following me again.”

“I wasn’t…”

Before she could finish,Santino pulled Astrid into his arms and walked away.

Aurelia stood there with a bitter smile.When she returned home,her nose began bleeding again.She wiped it carelessly,then opened the beautifully packaged cake on the table,but when she took a bite,it tasted like wax.

A new message appeared on her phone,and Aurelia glanced at it instinctively.It was from 10086:“Happy Birthday.”

She let out a bitter laugh,put the cake away,and wandered aimlessly down the street until she found herself at the restaurant she used to visit with Santino.

Before everything fell apart,this had been his favorite place.The first time he did well on his exams and earned a reward,Aurelia had brought him here,and from then on,Santino carried a quiet fondness for it.

On every important occasion,he would bring her along,and over time,the restaurant became their little secret.But now,that secret had been broken by someone else.

Almost without thinking,she pushed the door open and immediately saw Santino and Astrid sitting close together at a table.

Her sudden appearance felt like an intrusion,as if she had stepped into the intimacy of a young couple,out of place like an unwanted third wheel.

She instinctively wanted to hide her tired appearance and slip away,but Astrid looked up and called out to her with bright almond-shaped eyes.“Aurelia,what a coincidence,come eat with us.”

Aurelia waved her hand to refuse,but out of the corner of her eye,she noticed Santino’s face growing darker.

His voice was cold,yet there was no room for refusal.“Since you’re here,why not sit with us?”

Aurelia was stunned into silence.The boy who had once been thin and quiet had unknowingly grown into a man whose presence weighed heavily in every movement.She gathered herself,pulled a chair over,and sat down.

Astrid handed her the menu,and as Aurelia looked at it,every dish on the page felt familiar,each one tied to memories she had once shared with Santino.

She passed it back with a faint smile.“You two order,I don’t really know this place.”

Her words made Santino’s brows knit tighter,his cold expression sinking even more,but Astrid,unaware,spoke lightly.“Then let Santino order.He’s eaten here for ten years,he knows which dishes are good!”

Santino took the menu,though his eyes never left Aurelia,and he listed a few dishes,each one heavy with oil and spice.

Aurelia couldn’t handle spicy food;just a little would leave her stomach aching for half a day.For the past ten years,Santino had always given in and chosen mild dishes for her sake.

Now his eyes stayed on her,as if waiting to catch the smallest crack in her calm.Whether it was anger or sadness,anything would do,anything except this polite indifference.

But Aurelia didn’t waver.She only smiled faintly and said,“As expected of a regular,these dishes already sound delicious.”

The food came quickly,and Aurelia was the first to pick up her utensil.As she chewed,she noticed she didn’t seem as sensitive to the spice anymore;there was only the lightest trace of heat on her tongue.

A fragile hope rose in her chest.Could it be that Santino still remembered and had ordered the mildest level on purpose?

Just as she lifted her head to speak,she felt a warm trickle slide from her nose,and without hesitation,she rushed to the bathroom to wash it off with cold water.

When Aurelia lifted her head,she caught her reflection in the mirror,her hair messy,her face drawn,her lips red and swollen from the spice.

Just as she was about to leave,Astrid appeared at the doorway,her voice soft with concern.

“Aurelia,are you alright?”

That innocent and gentle tone cut through her like a knife.A girl as pure as Astrid was the one who truly deserved Santino,while she was nothing more than the villain,clinging to him,hurting his mother.

The kinder Astrid seemed,the heavier the shame pressed down on her,and the stronger her urge grew to run.

She forced a small smile.“I’m fine.”

With that,Aurelia hurriedly said goodbye.Santino didn’t stop her.

When she returned home,a sharp pain twisted through her stomach,dropping her to the floor as cold sweat drenched her skin until she finally fainted.

When she woke again,her eyes fluttered open to see Santino sitting quietly at her bedside,watching her in silence.

When Aurelia woke,Santino pulled back the softness in his gaze,and his eyes hardened into coldness again.When he finally spoke,it wasn’t out of concern but filled with questioning.

“Why did you go to the hospital?The follow-up call came to me.”

She remembered her last visit for the brain tumor.The doctor had told her to come back for a checkup.She hadn’t thought much of it and,as always,filled in both her number and a family contact.

For the past ten years,that contact had been Santino.Perhaps the hospital hadn’t been able to reach her,so the call had gone to him,and maybe that was the only reason he came back.

“Just a routine checkup.”Aurelia kept her tone light,unwilling to let him know the truth of her illness.

Only then did Santino’s expression ease slightly,but almost at once his brows furrowed again when his eyes landed on the stomach medicine by her side.

In a daze,Aurelia felt that this moment overlapped with the way he used to take care of her years ago.She instinctively explained,“When I was eating,I didn’t think it was that spicy…”but before she could finish,she stopped herself.

She could no longer taste the sweetness of cake,nor the heaviness of spice.The illness had grown worse,pressing on her nerves and already dulling her sense of taste.

Santino picked up her phone,unlocked it with ease,held the screen in front of her,and frowned.“You booked a ticket to Iceland,why?”

Aurelia’s heart tightened,and she quickly snatched the phone back,forcing her voice to stay calm.“Business trip.”

In the past,she would have pulled him in to complain endlessly about work,but now all she gave was those two plain words,“business trip,”and even then,only after he noticed the ticket and asked.

This thought made Santino’s face darken further.

The sudden ring of the phone broke the uneasy silence between them,and Astrid’s soft voice came through.“Santino,come out with me to set off fireworks!”

Santino’s expression softened,and his voice carried a gentleness Aurelia hadn’t heard in years.He turned and left,his figure light with the eagerness of a boy discovering love for the first time.

Aurelia closed her eyes wearily as the sharp pain in her stomach twisted her insides and left her breathless.She remembered how she had once set off fireworks with Santino,too,on her birthday,when he had planned it days in advance,even designing the shapes of the fireworks himself,just to make her smile.

A burst of dazzling light lit up the night sky outside the window,scattering sparks of color across the darkness.

Another birthday had come,and again she was watching fireworks.Only this time,they were no longer for her.

Looking out the window,Aurelia shut her eyes before the glittering sky and made the same wish she had never once changed.

Every year on her birthday,her only wish had been that Santino’s life would be safe and smooth.Ever since meeting him,she had stopped making wishes for herself.

Santino never came to see her again.He seemed truly busy,caught up with school seminars,buried in laboratory data,and so occupied that he no longer had the time or even the desire to spare a single extra word for her.

In the past,Aurelia could still catch glimpses of his life through the posts he made on social media,but now,with Astrid beside him,even those had vanished.

All she could do was search through the university’s official website,scrolling through countless photos and reports just to catch sight of him again.

After going through hundreds,she finally found him on the 999th post.

He was standing beneath the university’s“love tree,”smiling as he accepted a love letter from Astrid.The last photo in the set showed the two of them kissing under the branches,the date clearly marked,Valentine’s Day of this year.

Aurelia still saved that photo,quietly cropping it down until only Santino’s figure remained,and she set his image as the wallpaper on her phone.

In the days that followed,she gave up on her work and spent her time wandering aimlessly through the streets,circling endlessly until at last she found herself back at Santino’s high school,the place where they had first met.

Sunlight poured down,and for a moment,Aurelia thought she saw the boy in his school uniform,standing on the playground and waving at her,but when she blinked,he was gone.

She walked past the caféwhere she had once sat with Santino,the amusement park where they had laughed and played,and the pet store they had visited together,until at last she reached his university.

The top university stood tall and magnificent,and Aurelia lingered outside the gate for a long time,yet she never found the courage to step inside.In the end,she went to a bar beside the campus and drank herself into a haze.

Back then,Santino had always kept a close eye on her;whenever she picked up a glass,he would immediately set aside his book.“Aurelia,drinking is bad for your health.”

Now,there was no one left to stop her.She raised her glass with a mocking smile and ordered a few more of the bar’s special cocktails.

“Alright,please wait a moment.”

The familiar voice rang in her ears,and Aurelia turned her head to see Astrid,dressed in a waiter’s uniform and working part-time here.

When Astrid noticed her,her face lit up with surprise.“Aurelia,what are you doing here?”

Astrid was young and pretty,lively and cheerful.Though she came from a poor family,she was hardworking and full of spirit,like a little sun warming everyone around her.It was no wonder Santino had fallen for her.

“I was just wandering and thought I’d try the drinks here.”Aurelia changed the subject.“You’re working here?Santino doesn’t mind?”

“Of course,he doesn’t agree,but his birthday is in a few days,and I want to save money to buy him a gift.Aurelia,you can’t tell him,alright?”

Aurelia nodded softly.“I know.It’s a surprise.”

As she watched Astrid walk away,Aurelia quietly counted the days again.Santino’s birthday,exactly the day her flight to Iceland was set to leave.

“Bitch,don’t act so high and mighty.Aren’t you just a bar girl?What are you pretending for?”The sound of a bottle shattering cut through the air.

Astrid’s hair was yanked by a burly man,her face turning pale with fear as several sleazy old men surrounded her.

“I really am not a bar girl,I’m just a waitress…”

Before she could finish,a heavy slap landed hard across her face.

Hearing the commotion,Aurelia rushed over and was met with the scene.She even recognized the man tormenting Astrid,an infamous nouveau riche,well known for using money to force women into submission.

Aurelia had already been in a foul mood,and now this man dared to cause trouble right in front of her.He must have been asking for it.

She grabbed a bottle and smashed it against his bald head,shards scattering across the floor.The man glared furiously,but the moment his eyes fell on Aurelia,his anger froze.

“Do you know who I am?”Aurelia’s face was cold,her presence carrying authority that could not be ignored.

The man stammered,his body trembling.“Y-yes,I know…President Aurelia.”

Everyone knew Aurelia’s ways.Though only a woman,she had kicked down her elder brother to take control of the family and was known for being ruthless and absolute in her words.

“You knew,and still dared to bully my friend?”

The man panicked instantly,dropping to his knees and groveling.“I didn’t realize she was your friend,I was blind…”

Aurelia crossed her arms,a cold smile tugging at her lips as she looked down at him.The man understood at once and began slapping himself across the face.

Only when his cheeks were swollen and bleeding did Aurelia finally speak.“Get lost.If I ever see you bullying my friend again,it won’t end this easily.”

The men scrambled away in fear.

When she looked at Astrid in her arms,the girl’s eyes were filled with admiration.“Aurelia,you were so cool just now.”

Aurelia let out a laugh at the blunt compliment,and just as she was about to answer,the door was suddenly kicked open from outside.

“Astrid!”

Santino rushed in,still wearing his lab coat,clearly having come straight from work after hearing the news.

When his eyes landed on the marks across Astrid’s face and the broken glass scattered on the floor,fury flashed through him.He pulled Astrid behind him,his expression dark.

“Aurelia,don’t go too far!”

Aurelia froze at the sudden scolding,the smile on her lips stiffening.

Astrid quickly tried to defend her.“No,it wasn’t like that.Aurelia saved me.”

But Santino refused to believe it.“Astrid,you don’t need to speak for her.I know exactly what kind of person she is.”

Cruel and ruthless,willing to do anything for her goals,a woman who,when rumors weren’t enough,even went as far as hurting his mother.

Aurelia paused,then let out a bitter laugh.“In your eyes,am I really that low?”

Santino ignored her words,let out a cold snort,then lifted Astrid into his arms and carried her away.

Watching his retreating back,Aurelia lost all mood to continue drinking.

Now she even wished Santino would misunderstand her,wished he would be angry with her,because even a quarrel felt better than this cold indifference.

Back home,Aurelia’s head throbbed again.The tumor inside her skull was like a nail driven deep,forcing her to remember her love for Santino with every breath while making her suffer all the same.

Late at night,as the pain grew unbearable,she fumbled for her phone in a daze and blindly sent out a message.The moment it was sent,her strength gave way,and she sank into unconsciousness.

When she woke,Santino was sitting quietly at her bedside,watching her.

Seeing her stir,he didn’t leave as he once would,and for a fleeting moment,Aurelia felt as if she had gone back to the days when he had guarded her with tenderness.

“…Sorry.”His voice was stiff,his eyes avoiding hers as though weighed down by unease.“Yesterday,I thought you had bullied Astrid.I misunderstood you.”

Aurelia shook her head,and just as she was about to speak,crimson blood dripped onto the sheets.She pressed her hand against it instinctively,but it was no use.

She had long grown used to such bleeding,yet Santino panicked,his hands trembling as he passed her tissues.

When it finally stopped,she turned to thank him,only to see him frowning,his gaze fixed on her.

“What’s wrong with you?”Santino’s voice carried a tremor he didn’t even notice.Even he hadn’t realized yet that he could no longer live without Aurelia.

Aurelia suddenly laughed,tears glistening in her eyes.“What if I told you I had a very serious illness,one that couldn’t be cured?What would you do?”

She spoke of her terminal illness as if it were nothing more than a joke,yet Santino’s expression grew darker with every word.

She was about to explain,but he cut her off coldly.“You’re still such a liar.Dying would be too easy for you.You have to stay alive and make amends slowly.”

Aurelia let out a real laugh this time,nodding as though she agreed.“Yes,I lie.It’s just inflammation,nothing serious.”

At that,Santino’s already dark face twisted into something even uglier.

Looking at him,Aurelia couldn’t help but wonder.If he knew the truth,that she had cancer,what would his reaction be?Would he feel sorrow,would he grieve,or would he only feel relieved that he was finally free of her?

Her gaze lingered quietly on him.Forget it.Better not to tell him.Let him hate her for a lifetime.