Helen clutched the trophy, but her face was missing the spark of victory. She did not look like she wanted to celebrate, and she definitely was not about to hand it over to Chloe.

Instead, she bit her lip, her eyes wide and pleading as she spoke. "Chloe, the director told me to give you the trophy. It's such a big deal, and you're so awesome. I'm going to be super bold and ask you something. I've never won this award. Can I borrow the trophy for just a few days?"

Borrow?

Chloe had never heard anything so ridiculous. She raised an eyebrow and said with a fake smile, "If you know it's bold, then don't ask. If you want one so badly, go win one yourself."

With that, she reached out to take the trophy from Helen's embrace.

Chloe's frosty response left Helen flustered, looking like she was the victim of some great injustice. "Chloe, why are you being like this? I'm not taking it forever. I just want it at home to inspire me, is that so wrong?"

As Chloe went to grab it, Helen hugged the trophy even tighter, refusing to let go.

Their tug-of-war ended with a crash as the crystal trophy hit the floor and shattered into a million pieces.

Andrew and Stephen, who had just walked up, saw the disaster unfold. They dashed over and wrapped Helen in a protective hug.

"Helen!"

They circled her, faces etched with concern, checking her over for injuries.

Andrew lifted the hem of Helen's dress and saw a cut on her calf, bleeding from the glass.

His face turned to worry as he declared, "I'm taking you to the hospital now!"

He did not wait for her to agree, just scooped her up and carried her away.

Stephen's gaze was fixed on the glass shards scattered across the floor, his expression stormy. "Chloe, you've got it all, so why are you scraping with Helen over this?"

Scrap?

That word nearly made Chloe laugh, but not out of humor.

"That trophy is mine, my hard-earned prize after three grueling months. It's my glory. There she is, holding onto it with those puppy-dog eyes, and you accuse me of scrapping?"

Chloe's anger made her shake, her finger jabbing toward the broken glass, her voice sharp enough to cut through the chill air. "Now that she's gone and broken it, I expect an apology from Helen."

Chloe thought her explanation was crystal clear about who was in the right, but Stephen only got hotter under the collar, his voice booming.

"I thought this was about something that mattered. It's just a trophy. You can get a million of them. How does that stack up against Helen? You've hurt her, and I don't think she owes you an apology—you owe her one!"

With that, Stephen did not even wait for Chloe's response. He was off in a flash to tend to Helen.

Chloe stood there, the broken pieces a mirror of her own state, Stephen's words replaying in her head.

He actually expected her to say sorry to Helen. The idea of the injured party apologizing to the one who caused the harm was absurd.

'Stephen, you're quite the piece of work,' Chloe seethed inwardly.

A sharp pain suddenly gripped her heart, and then she felt it in her leg too. Looking down, she saw a long, jagged gash. With the flesh laid open, it looked more gruesome than Helen's injury.

Biting back the pain, Chloe cleaned up the mess before finally turning to deal with her own wound.

That night, Chloe's phone buzzed with a message from Felicia, who had sent over a slew of wedding dress designs.

[Pick your favorite], the message read.

Chloe skimmed the message once more before dialing Felicia's number.

They had barely started chatting when Felicia picked up on the weariness in Chloe's voice and could not resist asking what was wrong.

The day's unfairness flashed through Chloe's mind, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, but she dodged the question. "Mom, I should have everything wrapped up here in a week. How's the wedding planning coming along?"

Just then, Andrew and Stephen walked in.

Catching the tail end of Chloe's sentence, they both blurted out in sync.

"Wedding? What wedding?"

Chloe had not noticed when the call ended.

She took a moment to steady her emotions before saying, "My bestie's tying the knot. Why? Are you guys thinking of crashing it?"

Andrew and Stephen had been giving her the silent treatment lately. Once she was back in Kingston City, they would probably never cross paths again—not even as acquaintances.

There was no point in spilling the beans about her own wedding plans.

At her comment, Andrew and Stephen shot each other a puzzled look but did not dwell on it.

"Nah, you can go. I've got a mountain of work at the office," they dismissed.

Andrew, still seemingly miffed about Helen's accident earlier that day, grabbed some papers and headed to the study with a frosty air.

Stephen's face was set in a hard line as he added, "Helen got scraped up because of you. You should go say sorry to her. Otherwise, count me out for wedding festivities."

With that, he marched off to his room.

Chloe let out a bitter chuckle, keeping her thoughts to herself.

The next morning, Chloe rose early to start on breakfast.

Chloe had barely stepped out when she was hit by the sight of the living room, now a makeshift garden with vases of flowers everywhere, their scent hanging in the air like a silent alarm.

The pollen was a yellow haze, swirling in with the breeze, everywhere at once.

Her face drained of color as her breath hitched, faster and faster.

She was asthmatic, and pollen was her kryptonite!

Panic clawed at her chest as she struggled to breathe, her world tilting into shadows. Air seemed to vanish from her lungs, each breath a battle.

"Medicine..."

She stumbled toward the medicine box, her mind clinging to the memory of where her inhaler was. Her hands, weak and shaking, groped in vain, and in a clumsy moment, she sent several vases crashing from the cabinet.

Crash!

The sound of shattering glass echoed as flowers and water spilled into chaos.

At the noise, Andrew and Stephen came running, only to explode in anger at the sight of the mess, oblivious to Chloe's distress.

"What are you doing?!"

Chloe, medicine finally in hand, could barely process their words.

Stephen, face tight with worry, shoved her aside in his rush to save the fallen flowers.

"Ah!"

The push sent her reeling, her knee slamming into the cabinet's edge, skin tearing, pain flaring red and raw.

She clutched her inhaler, hands shaking violently, as she fought for air.

At last, the cap was off, the nozzle was found.

She clung to it like a lifeline, medicating herself as she hobbled to the safety of a corner. The medicine soothed her raw throat, a small mercy in the storm.

She had just dodged a bullet, fighting for her life, and there were Andrew and Stephen, oblivious, picking up the scattered flowers and broken vase pieces off the floor.

It took a while, but Chloe finally got her breath back. She leaned against the wall, her medicine gripped tight in her hand, shielding her face to keep the pollen at bay.

She had not even had a second to catch her breath when Andrew's accusing voice hit her like a slap.

"Why are you always picking on Helen? She gives us these flowers and you just throw them on the ground!"

Stephen's voice, thick with anger, was not far behind. "Chloe, you've been acting so unreasonably lately. What's gotten into you?"

Chloe inhaled deeply, shaking with a mix of anger and frustration. She had a storm of words inside her, ready to burst out, but all that came out was a choked sob, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Me, changed? Have I really changed, or is it you who changed? I have asthma, and I'm allergic to pollen. How could you forget that?"

Her voice was weak, but her words hit Andrew and Stephen like a bolt of lightning.

They used to be so attentive to her needs.

Whenever Chloe had an asthma attack, they were the ones panicking, ditching class and jumping fences to get back to her, eyes red with worry, hovering by her bed, ready to do anything for her.

They had forgotten something so crucial.

Maybe realizing his mistake, Andrew's face went through shades of guilt, and after a moment, a trace of apology showed through his usually stoic expression.

"Sorry."

Stephen's brows knitted together as he thought about Chloe's painful episodes. They had been through so many together, and he knew just how much she suffered.

He stepped closer, concerned about etching his face. "Hey, were you okay earlier? I'm sorry about the flowers. Helen picked them herself out in the wild. She put her heart into them, and that's why I was so worried."

Chloe did not say a word.

Once she took her medicine and her color started coming back, Andrew and Stephen quickly got the flowers out of there.

They did not come home for days after that. Their room stayed dark.

Chloe did not seem to mind. She had her hands full, packing up her stuff.

It was only after she had packed most of her things that she really looked at the house.

She had bought it first, but Andrew and Stephen, wanting to be close to her, bought the houses next door. They knocked through the walls, and that was how they ended up with that big place.

However, only a third of it was really hers. Selling it was going to be a hassle.

The day Andrew and Stephen finally came back, they walked right into a meeting between Chloe and a real estate agent.

Andrew's face went stone-cold at the sight of a stranger in their home. "Who are you, and what's your business here?"

The agent was clearly intimidated by their intense stares but managed to stammer out, "Good day. I'm an agent, and the owner wants to sell the place."

'Sell the house?'

Andrew and Stephen looked at each other, both floored.

They were about to kick the guy out when Chloe came downstairs.

"I'm the one selling the house," she said, her voice steady. "I was just about to talk to you both about it."

Hearing that, Andrew and Stephen's hearts skipped a beat, and they blurted out together, "Why sell it? Aren't we happy living here?"

Stephen, recalling that day's events, figured and asked straight up, "You're not still upset about what happened a few days ago, are you?"

He was obviously rattled and did something rare for him—he apologized, "We totally didn't mean to forget about your allergy to pollen. Does it really have to go this far?"

Chloe shook her head with a calmness that did not quite reach her eyes, "It's not about what happened before."

'It's about you guys. I just don't want anything to do with you anymore.'

She kept those thoughts to herself and said, "You both know I quit my job. When I find a new one, it won't make sense to live here anymore. Plus, we've been roommates for years, so we don't need to be joined at the hip."

Andrew's face was a mask of seriousness, and he was not budging.

"If it's about the job, Stephen and I can drive you. You don't have to worry. You said it yourself, we've been living together for ages. We're used to it. Why split up now?"

"Exactly, with Andrew and me around, we could even get a driver for you. I'm not on board with breaking up the band," Stephen chimed in, just as opposed.

Chloe, seeing she was not getting through to them, massaged her forehead, puzzled by their stubbornness.

She decided to lay down her ace. "Well, if that's how it is, let's sell this place and get a bigger one. Then we can have Helen move in with us too."

The mention of Helen's name did the trick, their eyes lit up, and they wavered.

Finally, Stephen caved to the idea. "If that's the plan, I guess I'm in."

Andrew's gaze was deep and troubled as he watched her, a storm of emotions swirling in his eyes. "Would you really be okay with Helen moving in?"

He could not shake the feeling that there was more to it than met the eye.

However, before he could figure it out, Chloe's laughter cut through his doubts.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be? We're friends, aren't we?"

With her mind made up on the spot, Chloe declared, "That settles it, then. We'll sell this place and find a new one."

Her words left Andrew and Stephen speechless, neither of them finding the words to argue.