Her eyes shrank tight. "As for using power to press others down…"

I let my foot drop and took the sanitizing towel offered by the housekeeper, slowly rubbing my palms.

"You said one thing wrong."

"In Phoenix City, I am that power."

When the surgery lamp came on, the disinfectant smell made me blank out for a breath.

Right then, I clearly pictured Luther at eighteen.

He always chose the front seat, back straight.

The neckline of his shirt was bleached pale, threads sticking out fine.

Once, he burned with fever and skipped class for three days. When I found him, he was hauling cement at a building site.

I slipped five thousand dollars into his backpack.

He chased behind me across three streets to return it, voice rough. "Classmate, Vera, please leave me some dignity.”

After that, I just "accidentally" carried extra breakfast, and "casually" loaned him review notes.

During the Winter Solstice evening, he held two baked sweet potatoes, stood out in minus ten degrees until dormitory lights-out, and once he saw me, the first line he spoke was, "Vera, can you wait for me?"

Years later, he rose from nothing until his company got listed.

He held me close the entire night, voice tight.

"In those times, I slept only three hours each day, scared I couldn’t stay beside you, scared you’d notice I needed a whole week just to manage one cup of coffee with you."

One day, when he visited my parents, the moment he spotted my dad in the living room, he finally realized.

The "Kelly" in Vera Kelly was the Kelly of the Kelly family.

Luther told me afterward, at that second, his thoughts were full of. "So the goal I chased with everything I owned, couldn’t even touch your starting place."

After knowing my background, he became known for his harsh ambition.

He pushed himself near collapse to grab deals and funding, to squeeze into Phoenix high circles.

He later used ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine gold roses to build a rose field to ask me to marry him.

Back then, what line did he speak?

He said the purpose of his life was to grow good enough for me.

As anesthesia faded bit by bit, a prick spread across my chest.

The affection Luther once gave me was grand and shining.

Sadly, it was quick to vanish.

Vows were only most lovely right when they were spoken.

The talk of “forever” didn’t last past seven years.

"Miss?"

I jolted awake, fingertips brushing the wet edge of my eye.

My chest ached endlessly.

The housekeeper spoke softly, "Mr. Campbell has come back."

Head lowered, the skin over my chest had been neatly changed.

Slightly pink, but smooth and clean, no sign left behind.

Luther walked in holding shopping bags, his face wearing that once-gentle smile.

He set the brand-marked bags aside and reached out toward my cheek.

"Vera, Faye crossed the line today."

"I bought you a fresh necklace. Don’t bother fighting her, okay?"

The surgeons had already gone; only a few guards stayed.

Luther noticed nothing strange.

He smiled while opening the jewelry case; the stones shone brightly. "I swear she won’t pull nonsense again."

When he said Faye’s name, even he didn’t hear the softness in his tone.

Quietly, I stared at him.

The Luther standing here wore a watch priced in tens of millions.

The shirts, once worn thin, now had pearl-like buttons.

Even the light gardenia smell on him matched the scent in Faye’s hair.

Seeing the upscale air settled around him now, I suddenly recalled that Winter Solstice when he was eighteen.

He stood under snow, the cuff of his padded coat leaking cotton, yet he hid the roasted sweet potatoes inside his jacket to keep them hot.

"Vera?"

Seeing that I stayed quiet, he moved one step nearer.

The gardenia smell became thicker.

Faye suddenly dashed out, stumbling as she fell into Luther’s arms.

"Brother Luther!"

"Her people had held me down and forcefully sliced off skin from my body…"

"Didn’t you say you would guard me forever? It hurts so much…"

Luther’s breath clearly paused.

He stared at the wrapped spot on her chest, then at the smooth surface on mine, his throat bobbing hard.

His tone sank, heavy and cold. "Vera, how did you turn into this?"

"So… heartless?"

Faye quietly cried in his embrace, yet the look she threw at me was bold, proud.

"She’s so young, leaving such a large wound on her body, how will she manage later?"

His voice grew harsher. "Do you need to break her before you feel satisfied?"

Watching him shield Faye like that, I suddenly recalled the eighteen-year-old Luther.

Back then, he was careful; even when he held me, he never dared squeeze his arms tight.

Yet he made his first promise, saying he would guard me for all his life.

I lightly ran my hand across the fresh skin on my chest, pressing down the sharp ache in my heart.

"And have you ever wondered what I should do, walking around with lines like that carved on me?"

"She inked that on my body. I take some of her skin. It’s equal."

Luther parted his lips, yet nothing came out. He fell quiet.

Seeing this, Faye curled deeper in his arms, then suddenly shrieked wildly, "Brother Luther! I am already carrying your baby!"

"You cannot let her treat me like this! Take me away! Please take me away!!"

I froze like being hit by thunder, staring as happiness clearly lit up in Luther’s eyes.

He gently lifted Faye into his arms sideways, moving softly like holding something precious.

His brows and eyes were bright with open joy. "Don’t fear, we will go to the hospital right now."

He rushed past me without even slowing, only throwing back one line. "Vera, you should cool down and learn how to act as Mrs. Campbell properly."

From that second on, Luther didn’t step home for three full months.

He brought Faye to Switzerland to watch the snow.

She casually said she liked the Alps, and he soon bought a mountain house, ownership written only under her name.

Then they headed to Venice.

Faye shared pictures online, wearing the vintage jewelry set Luther ordered for her, an eighteenth-century sapphire necklace shining bright on her neck.

[There is always someone quietly making every wish happen. So this must be how it feels to be valued.]

Luther’s preference had always been open, just like when he chased me before, never knowing how to hide it.

I stared at that photo for a long while, until my eyes stung and went blurry.

Head bent down, I turned the ring on my ring finger, the tiny diamond ring he paid for with his first month's intern pay.

"Uncle Jovan."

The butler walked over holding tea.

I quietly asked, "Isn’t the trust fund that keeps putting money into Campbell Company still leaning on Grandfather’s backing?"

The butler right away pulled open the safe and took out the papers.

"Young Miss, your grandpa set everything for you before he left this world."

Reading the terms, I thought about the Alps' snow edge and the Venice water shine, and that antique jewelry piece, then I dialed Luther’s contact number.

After three back-to-back busy beeps, I changed to a video call.

At last, Faye’s face came up on screen.

"Older sister Vera?"

"Brother Luther is showering."

The kiss spots along her collarbone showed faintly, her skin soft and bright from being spoiled, nothing like that shy countryside girl before.

"There’s something I’m unsure if I should speak, but you’ll find out soon anyway."

"Do you know?"

"Luther said he dislikes your always calm, slow style most."

"He holds me like crazy in bed, says he loves this young, bold side of mine, it drives him wild with joy."

She stopped a moment, then started again, unable to hide her smugness.

"Right, when you sent people to press me down and cut a bit of my skin and left such a huge mark on me..."

"Brother Luther hurt me so much that he even cut a bit of his own skin to patch onto mine."

The video call ended right away.

I gripped the window edge until my pulse eased, then rang one more contact.

That night, the charity auction Luther held for Faye blew up across a hot search.

Screens flooded with, "Miss Faye first shows up as a hostess."

Attendees no longer spoke of her history as a tattoo worker, instead shifting their words to call her “Mrs. Campbell.”

A person lifted a champagne cup and praised, “Such an ideal pair, a gifted man and a pretty woman.”

Under bright chandeliers, Luther guided Faye toward the auction platform.

Their hands laced together in front of reporters, like new spouses at a large event, drawing cheers once they stepped out.

“Using this moment tonight…”

Luther bent his head to fix Faye’s ear jewelry, “I want to officially say—”

The carved gates of the party hall swung apart.

Over ten attorneys in formal clothing walked in.

The one ahead placed a stock-freeze paper before Luther.

“Mr. Campbell, based on the rules left by the late Mr. Kelly…”

Luther reached to call the guards, only to see that all the workers had quietly gone.

The man pushed the file nearer. “All stock under your title in Campbell Corporation is now frozen.”