After Leona was discharged from the hospital, the class organized a graduation party. Leona didn't want to attend, but she couldn't resist her friends' persuasion.

As soon as she entered the private room, she saw Sebastian and Maureen sitting close together. Maureen was feeding him a piece of fruit, and he didn't refuse.

The moment their classmates saw Leona, they all looked a little awkward. They gathered around her, whispering, "Leona, what happened? Did you and Sebastian argue again?"

Leona shook her head calmly. Her voice was soft, but clear enough for everyone to hear. "We didn't argue. We broke up."

"What? You broke up?"

They were all shocked. "Why? Sebastian treated you so well!"

"Yeah! In the third year, when you got sick, he almost fought with the homeroom teacher just to get you a long leave!"

"And we were all so jealous of the surprise gifts he got you every holiday!"

"You two were the perfect couple that everyone believed would last forever and eventually get married after graduation. Why did you break up right before graduation?"

As she listened to them recount all the good things Sebastian had done for her, Leona felt her heart sink.

Yes, he had treated her so well before, so well that she thought he would be hers forever.

But it was precisely because he had once done all those things for her that his later coldness toward her and favoritism toward Maureen felt all the more hurtful.

She was silent for a moment before speaking softly. "If it doesn't work out, it's better to break up. No one is indispensable."

Her gaze swept over to Sebastian, who was pouring drinks for Maureen not far away. "Besides, he seems to be doing just fine with her now."

Sebastian, who had overheard, frowned and glanced at her with a complex expression.

For the rest of the evening, he seemed to intentionally provoke her, showering Maureen with even more attention, being overly considerate, and hardly ever leaving her side.

He expected Leona to be jealous, angry, or, like before, come over and interrupt them.

But she didn't.

She simply sat quietly in the corner, speaking occasionally to the people around her. Her gaze remained calm, as though he were a complete stranger with no relevance to her.

Her indifference stirred an unfamiliar and uneasy panic in Sebastian.

He instinctively wanted to walk over to her, but was stopped by Maureen, who grabbed his arm.

Maureen stood on tiptoe and whispered something in his ear. Sebastian's footsteps faltered as his brow furrowed deeply, and he finally sat back down.

Soon, someone suggested playing a game of Truth or Dare.

After a few rounds, Maureen lost and drew the dare card. She had to kiss the tallest guy in the room for three minutes.

All eyes immediately turned to Sebastian.

Maureen's face flushed red, but her gaze was provocative as she walked straight up to Sebastian.

The classmates around them gasped and whispered amongst themselves."This isn't appropriate. Leona's still here…"

But Maureen deliberately looked at Leona in the corner, her voice sweet as she asked, "Leona, you and Sebastian broke up, right? So, I guess it's fine if I play this game and kiss him, right?"

Her best friend chimed in immediately, "Exactly! You're his ex. What right do you have to stop him from kissing anyone else?"

In an instant, everyone's attention was on Leona as their gazes locked onto her, including Sebastian's.

His eyes were deep, and there was a strange, oppressive force in his gaze, as if he were waiting for her reaction.

Leona lowered her head, her long eyelashes hiding the emotion in her eyes. Her voice was so soft it could barely be heard, yet it sounded clear to everyone. "Indeed, this has nothing to do with me."

Her words drew a firm line between her and Sebastian.

Sebastian's face darkened instantly, his eyes flashing with anger and fierce resentment.

He gave a cold sneer before suddenly pulling Maureen into his arms, kissing her passionately in front of everyone.

The room quickly filled with muffled gasps before settling into an unsettling, suffocating silence.

Leona stood frozen, her heart hammering in her chest as she watched them kiss under the light, with Maureen's hands wrapping around Sebastian's neck.

Her heart felt as if it were being tightly squeezed, the pain so intense it almost made her collapse. She dug her nails into her palm, forcing herself to suppress the overwhelming anguish and despair that threatened to destroy her sanity.

After what felt like forever, the long kiss ended.

Maureen's best friend deliberately spoke loudly. "How did it feel, Sebastian? Is kissing Maureen better than kissing someone else?"

Sebastian's eyes flicked over to the pale-faced Leona, a cold smirk curling at the corners of his lips.

His voice was low but cruel and clear. "There's no comparison. Maureen wins hands down."

Maureen's smugness was practically radiating off her.

After a few more rounds of the game, she lost again.

This time, the dare was to sit on a guy's lap and complete a designated task.

Without thinking, Maureen once again looked toward Sebastian.

Leona could no longer stay in that suffocating room. She suddenly stood up, whispered to a friend beside her, "I'm going to the restroom," and quickly fled the room.

Inside the restroom, she splashed cold water on her face over and over again, but her tears still flowed down uncontrollably. After what felt like an eternity, she finally managed to calm herself down. She decided to leave early and head home.

Just as she reached the corner of the hallway, she heard familiar voices from the terrace. It was Sebastian with his best friends.

"Seb." One of them spoke up.

"Didn't you go overboard earlier? I saw Leona's face turn so pale. Aren't you going to comfort her?"

Sebastian's voice was cold as he scoffed. "Comfort her? A few days later, she's going to break up with me again. Am I supposed to keep putting up with that?"

"Yeah… It's your fault. You spoiled her too much before, so she's always bringing that up. Maybe it's time to take this opportunity and teach her a lesson."

"That's true. When she gets to Northsea University and doesn't know anyone there, she'll definitely come crawling back to you. At that point, you can throw her a bone and make her beg to get back together with you. Having experienced that, I'm sure she'll never use breakups to threaten you again. It'll be a perfect plan."

Leona's blood seemed to freeze in her veins, and her limbs turned cold when she heard that.

To Sebastian, all the breakups she had initiated out of pain and disappointment were just "tantrums" that were "mere attempts to threaten him".

As for his idea of "teaching her a lesson", it was to publicly humiliate her by kissing another girl!

She silently turned and went downstairs alone.

The summer night breeze blew against her, yet it was cold enough to make her shiver.

As she walked, memories from the past replayed in her mind like a silent film.

There was a time when all it took was for her to furrow her brow, and he would instantly ask if she was okay.

Back then, when other girls gave him love letters, he would reject them and proudly come to her, saying, "Nana, I rejected another one today. Praise me."

She had long grown accustomed to his affection and the feeling of being cherished as his only treasure.

When had it all changed?

It all started when Maureen appeared.

He had broken his own principles for her and even repeatedly neglected Leona's feelings.

Leona wasn't blind to the way Maureen looked at him, nor was she oblivious to the way he treated Maureen differently. But she had clung to the last shred of hope by testing him with breakups and trying to hold onto him, only to be met with his annoyance and dismissal.

It dawned on her that when she was no longer his only priority, even her tears seemed to be an inconvenience.

Somehow, she found herself standing outside her apartment building. Her eyes locked on a familiar figure standing by the mailbox. It was the mailman.

It seemed her college acceptance letter had finally arrived.

She drew in a steadying breath and was about to move forward when she saw another familiar silhouette standing in front of the mailman.

It was Sebastian!

He was holding the letter clearly marked with the logo of Southsea University, and he was just about to open it…

Leona's heart skipped a beat. Almost instinctively, she stepped forward and snatched the letter from Sebastian's hand.

"What are you doing?"

Her voice trembled just slightly, but it was mostly cold and wary.

Sebastian's hand froze in mid-air as he was clearly taken aback by her sudden reaction.

Then his gaze turned icy. "The mailman said there was no one at your house. Your emergency contact is me, so he gave it to me to sign for you."

Emergency contact…

Leona's chest tightened, and a dull ache spread through her at that.

She had set him to be her emergency contact a long time ago. It was so long ago that she had almost forgotten about it. Back when he was her whole world, she had naturally entrusted such an important thing to him.

Leona lowered her gaze, hiding the turmoil in her eyes. "I forgot to change the emergency contact. I'll update it later."

She didn't look at him again and quickly grabbed a pen from a nearby table. With deliberate precision, she signed her name on the receipt—Leona Langham.

From now on, she would have nothing to do with him.

After signing, she turned to go home.

But then she heard Sebastian ask the mailman behind her, "Is this the only letter? There's no letter for me? We're going to the same university, so they should've arrived together."

The mailman confirmed, "Yes, this is the only one."

Sebastian furrowed his brow and called out to Leona, who had already taken a few steps away. "Leona, open yours and check. Maybe my letter is with yours."

Leona stopped, but she didn't turn around. Her voice was firm with no hesitation. "It's not here."

Her certainty caught Sebastian off guard, leaving him uneasy. "How can you be so sure?"

Leona took a deep breath, ready to reveal the decision she had kept buried for so long. Just as she was about to speak, Sebastian's phone rang.

It was Maureen.

As soon as he answered, Maureen's tearful voice came through. "Sebastian, where are you? I'm scared… I think someone's following me…"

Sebastian's expression instantly changed, his focus immediately shifting to Maureen. His voice was filled with the urgency and worry Leona used to hear so many times. "Don't be scared. Stay where you are and don't move. Send me your location. I'm coming now!"

Without sparing Leona another glance, he turned and quickly walked toward his car. He didn't even hear her quietly say, "I changed my college application, so we didn't apply to the same university."

Soon, the engine roared to life, and the car sped away.

Leona stood still, watching the car disappear into the night, and the last ripple of emotion in her heart finally faded into silence.

In the days that followed, Leona quietly made preparations for her journey.

Southsea University was a long way from here, so she knew she would need to start everything from scratch.

On the other hand, Sebastian's social media was unusually active.

Every day, she saw updates with photos and videos of him, and he always had Maureen by his side. They hiked together at sunrise, with Maureen resting her head on his shoulder as the clouds rolled beneath them. They went camping and sat by a bonfire, while Maureen fed him skewers of grilled food. They checked off countless popular tourist spots, posing for intimate photos at each landmark…

In every photo, Sebastian's gaze was relaxed, and his smile was warm.

Their classmates commented on his posts.

"Seb, is this official now?"

"Please be together forever!"

"Maureen, you're so cool to win Seb over!"

Leona swiped through the screen, looking at those vibrant but blinding images. A heaviness settled in her chest, like a rock weighing her down, but strangely, the sharp pain that had once taken her breath away did not arrive as expected.

This was what it felt like when her feelings had completely shut down.

The sun was shining brightly the day she went back to the school to pick up her documents.

As soon as she entered the gates, she saw Maureen, arm-in-arm with Sebastian, posing for photos in front of the bulletin board and making cute faces for the camera.

Sebastian still wore a slightly aloof expression as usual, but his lips were curved into a small smile as he went along with her antics.

Leona stood at a distance, and at that moment, she was flooded with memories of herself and Sebastian.

They had walked hand-in-hand down every tree-lined path in this very school. He had once pinned her against a wall for a secret kiss. They would spend hours lying on desks, making plans for the future, swearing to go to Northsea University together, and getting married after graduating from there…

Those beautiful moments seemed like a distant, blurry dream to her now.

Since Maureen appeared, everything had changed.

As for Leona and Sebastian, they no longer shared a future.