Part 2

There was a knock on the bedroom door. It was Frederick.

"Sophie, what trouble are you causing again? I know you're in there—open the door!"

"When did you become so petty? Why are you ignoring me like this? I know it was wrong to leave you behind back then, but I couldn’t just let Lucia die! And can you stop being so difficult? If you don’t like Lucia, I’ll see him less, okay? Eight years of being together and you want to break up just like that? What do you take me for?"

The more Frederick spoke, the angrier he became. His blindness and arrogance left me too tired to argue. I dragged my barely healed leg and opened the door.

“Frederick, I’m not messing around. I really want to break up."

He looked stunned for a moment, then said, "You’re still saying you’re not causing trouble? You’ve never mentioned breaking up before! Do you need me to admit I’m having an affair with Lucia just to make you happy?"

I laughed bitterly. He truly believed I couldn’t live without him, that I'd never dare to break up. In his eyes, everything I did was to get his attention—nothing like his perfect Lucia.

I was exhausted. My voice was calm.

"I’m done, Frederick. I know you’re innocent. If you had anything with her, you’d have been together already. I trust you. But I don’t love you anymore."

He looked shocked, confused. Just then, his phone rang. I caught a glimpse of the caller: Lucia.

Frederick hesitated for less than a second before answering, his face turning tense. "Okay, I’ll be right there."

He glanced at me before leaving. "We’ll talk about this breakup when I’m done."

I went downstairs and poured myself a glass of water. To my surprise, Hugo, my junior brother, was there.

"How did you get in?"

He held up a small package of medicine, looking embarrassed. "I came to bring you medicine. The door was open, so I came in to check."

I wondered how much he had heard.

"You’ve caught me at a bad time," I said, while rubbing my forehead.

Hugo shook his head. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you."

I nodded for him to continue.

"The war between Country Y and Country B has dragged on with so many casualties. Our boss wants to send a two-person team to report from the front lines as a war journalist. Would you consider joining the project, Senior?"

He rushed on before I could answer. "There aren’t many who can speak three languages like you and no one else has your resilience. Boss really wants you to go. Will you consider it?"

His words stirred something deep inside me—memories of my younger self. I once vowed, "If I can’t stop the war, then I’ll at least tell the truth to the world."

But when I told Frederick my dream, he dismissed it. He hated the idea of me becoming a war Journalist, he said it was dangerous and pointless. He wanted me to stay safe, said he could provide for me. Because of him, I gave up my dream and became just another entertaiment Journalist.

Now, looking back, I felt a bitter amusement. I had thrown away ten years of passion for a man who didn’t value it. This avalanche accident had shaken me awake.

I nodded. "Yes, I’ll go."

Hugo beamed with excitement. Before he left, he promised to tell the boss about the good news himself.

"Thank you, Hugo."

He waved it off with a smile. "It’s nothing."

But I meant more than just his help today. If not for him, I wouldn’t be alive. After the avalanche, it was Hugo who found me in time and brought me to the hospital. Without him, I wouldn’t have survived.

Part 3

When Hugo brought me some medicine, he had forgotten some vitamins, so I had to take a taxi to the hospital to retrieve it. I didn’t expect to run into Frederick and Lucia there. Lucia looked at me with an innocent, aggrieved expression.

“Sophie, Frederick told me about your breakup. Please don’t be angry with him—it’s all my fault. I didn’t mean for my asthma attack to cause problems in your relationship. If it weren’t for the avalanche, I wouldn’t have gotten sick. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Before I could respond, Frederick quickly jumped in to comfort her. “It’s not your fault. No one can control when they get sick.”

I couldn’t help but scoff. “Not on purpose, huh?”

Frederick turned on me. “Sophie, what are you implying? You think Lucia faked her illness? You saw how serious it was—she was barely breathing! How could that be fake?”

Lucia began to cry as if Frederick’s defense had given her strength. Watching them together took me back to the day we climbed the snowy mountain.

It was supposed to be a special day—our eighth anniversary. Frederick promised it would be just the two of us, that we’d finally go to the snowy mountains I had always dreamed of. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. But when he arrived to pick me up, I saw Lucia sitting in the car. Frederick gave me an apologetic look.

“Lucia’s mom asked me to bring her along. She hasn’t traveled far because of her health, so...”

I stared at him, my face darkening. “Did you forget our agreement?”

He fumbled for words. “I know this was wrong, but if you don’t like it, I’ll send Lucia back right now. After I apologize to her mom, it’ll be just the two of us.”

He knew how much I’d been looking forward to a trip for just the two of us. And he knew that if I insisted, he would have to apologize to Lucia’s family, something I didn’t want him to go through. So, I grudgingly agreed to let her come along.

Back then, everything was according to Lucia’s whim. She sat in the front seat, ate the snacks and picked the hotel restaurant—her favorites, of course. To an outsider, it would have looked like I was the one tagging along.

The night before the avalanche, I mentioned that the weather didn’t look great and we might not be able to climb the next day. Frederick snapped, accusing me of targeting Lucia, knowing how much she wanted to see the sunrise over mountain.

Then the avalanche hit.

Now, at this moment, I couldn’t stand watching them any longer. I turned to them, my patience gone.

“You two should just get together already and stop dragging others into your mess.”

I looked straight at Lucia. “I told Frederick that you couldn’t handle climbing the snowy mountains that day, but he insisted on taking you. So, if you’re looking for someone to blame, start there. And aren’t you happy now that we’ve broken up? He’s all yours.”

I then faced Frederick. “And you, Frederick, you’ve been terrible. Our trips never went as planned. The ‘two-person’ trip always became a three-person trip. Beside the trip, you were never on time to pick me up, and every time Lucia called, you’d run off and leave me alone. On top of that, you catered to her every whim—she chose the front seat, the snacks, the hotel. You even cooked for her while your own girlfriend went hungry. Don’t you understand boundaries?”

Lucia’s face turned pale and Frederick froze, speechless. I wasn’t done.

“Have you seen the posts she’s made on Instagram? I can’t believe you still don’t know how she feels about you. Are you pretending not to see it or are you really that clueless?”

I pulled out my phone and sent him screenshots of Lucia’s posts. Then, without another word, I turned and walked away. Frederick didn’t even try to follow.

As I reached the nurse’s station to collect the medicine, a nurse noticed me.

“Ms. Sophie, how’s your leg? It was in such bad shape. Is that your boyfriend back there?”

I smiled faintly. “No, just a friend.”

The nurse nodded knowingly. “I thought so. If he was your boyfriend, you should’ve broken up long ago. You were in the ER for several days and no one visit or looked after you.”

After the nurse left, Frederick approached me, his voice quiet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were really hospitalized.”

“I told you, but you didn’t believe me. Do I need to remind you of everything? You were too busy defending your “beloved” Childhood friend.”

He reached out to me. “I swear, I won’t see Lucia anymore. Can you forgive me this time?”

I looked at him seriously. “Frederick, I’ve given you too many chances. You didn’t take any of them.”

“There won’t be a next time. This time, we’re really over.”