Skye's POV

“Derick, I don’t like you having a female assistant.” And just like that, he replaced all his secretaries with men.

“Derick, I want to eat Parisian pastries.” He’d wake up at dawn to stand in line and buy them for me.

“Derick, I wish I could see you as soon as I leave the lab.” The next day, he was at the school gates waiting to pick me up.

My classmates envied me. To them, I had the perfect boyfriend who always knew how to take care of me.

But when it came to marriage, that one request suddenly made me "unreasonable."

For the first time, I saw annoyance flash in Derick’s eyes when he looked at me. I realized then—I had made a mistake.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “Derick, I was joking. I just graduated! I still have so much I want to do. Marriage? I’m not ready either.”

He exhaled slowly, his shoulders relaxing, and cupped my face gently with his warm hands.

“Skye, don’t worry. I’ll keep my promises to you.”

I nodded, and we silently agreed to drop the topic.

But I knew. Seven years had passed, and he’d endured it all. Once his little first love returned, he could cast me aside without hesitation.

What can I do, though?

Derick, this time, I’ll leave you first.

We sat together on the couch in silence for a long while, the tension between us hanging heavily in the air.

All of a sudden, his phone rang, breaking the stillness.

Startled, he glanced at the screen, then smiled warmly and walked into his study to answer.

Quietly, I followed and stood outside the door. For the first time in seven years, I heard a woman’s voice on one of Derick’s calls.

“Derick, I’m coming back.”

“Derick, do you blame me for leaving all those years ago?”

“I still love you. Do you still love me?”

The man inside stayed silent for what felt like an eternity. At that moment, I was more nervous than Derick himself. I found myself praying—begging the heavens—for him to reject her.

But fate had other plans. Even the gods must have grown tired of my foolishness.

His answer finally came, shattering me completely.

“I love you.”

Those three words—what I had longed to hear for seven years—were not meant for me.

Derick had never said “I love you” to me. The closest he ever came was, “Skye, I like you.”

Even in our most intimate moments, when I whispered, “Derick, I love you,” all I got in return was his raspy, “Skye, I like you too.”

I had once argued with him over it and moved back to my dorm in a fit of fury. That night, he stood outside my dorm building, waiting for me until dawn. Looking haggard, he begged me not to leave him and also said he liked me a lot.

Looking at the man who seemed so heartbroken, I couldn’t bring myself to leave him.

Now, it finally hit me. Derick was capable of loving someone. But not just me.

When he came out of the study, I was already lying in bed, pretending to be asleep.

He leaned down and whispered softly in my ear, “Skye, Paris has some new pastries. I’ll go get them for you.”

Half-asleep, I mumbled my agreement.

When I heard the door close behind him, I sat up instantly, fully awake. I then quickly got dressed and followed him.

He drove to a five-star restaurant, where his friends were already waiting at the entrance. When they saw him, they couldn’t resist teasing.

“Derick, have you already tuck Skye in?"

"You're now planning for Miss Alanna’s birthday party, huh? You sure have the energy to spare.”

“Miss Snee is coming back soon. Better hide Skye before she finds out!”

“Derick, treating Skye like this—do you think Piers will let you off the hook?”

Derick’s expression darkened with irritation. “Enough. Stop wasting time and get to work. Skye’s been acting crazy, insisting on marriage. It took me forever to shut her down. Don’t let anything slip, got it?”

Skye's POV

"In just two days, Alanna will be back. Seven years of waiting are finally coming to an end—we can’t afford any mistakes now."

Laughter erupted among the group after Derick’s announcement.

“Marriage? Bro, when Miss Alanna left for abroad all those years ago, you were bawling like a kid at the airport, swearing you’d marry her as soon as she came back.”

“Yeah! Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for the little one now.”

“Seriously, man, jokes are fine, but don’t mess around with marriage. If you do, you’ll have to grovel in Alanna’s ‘hell hath no fury’ zone.”

Derick smirked, unbothered. “Didn’t I already reject her? The only person I’ve ever wanted to marry is Alanna. She’s my dream.”

Hiding in the shadows, I felt tears blur my vision.

So, I had never been a part of Derick’s future—not from the very beginning.

I stumbled away from the scene, the cold night air hitting me like a slap in the face.

'Skye, if love isn’t yours to have, let it go,' I thought to myself in resignment.

Derick didn’t come home until the next morning but left warm Parisian pastries on the table, just like he always did.

When he saw me barefoot, he immediately rushed over and scooped me up, placing me on the couch.

“You never wear shoes. If your stomach cramps up during your period, don’t expect me to help,” he scolded lightly.

I laughed, tucking my feet under a cushion.

Derick knew my cycle like clockwork. Every time the pain made me pale, he’d hold me close, keeping my stomach warm.

But in two days, the person in his arms wouldn’t be me anymore.

When he held out a pastry to me, I shook my head.

No matter how sweet, love that doesn’t belong to you is just an illusion. Like pastries that taste overly sugary, they leave only bitterness behind.

“Derick, my advisor just called for a meeting, and I’m already running late. I’ll eat it when I get back.”

Before he could respond, I darted into the elevator, unable to bear sharing the same space with him any longer.

The moment I realized he didn’t love me, I should’ve understood—I didn’t belong here anymore.

For the first time, I lied to him. The truth was, there were no meetings. Apart from tomorrow’s graduation ceremony, I had nothing left at school.

At the café, I video called my brother.

His job was highly restrictive, and calls or video calls were always strictly scheduled. When he saw me, his first words were: “Are you and Derick now over?”

My brother had strongly opposed my relationship with Derick from the start, though he never told me why. Over time, as I gushed endlessly about Derick’s many virtues, he reluctantly came around.

Years ago, when Alanna invited me to study abroad, I chose to stay in the country for graduate school, unwilling to endure a long-distance relationship.

But I had always dreamed of working in an international lab.

This time, there was nothing holding me back. I was finally free to spread my wings and fly.

“Yeah, Alanna’s coming back,” I murmured, a silent understanding passing between us.

My brother, Piers Alvarez, stared at me through the screen, his expression somber. After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“I'll buy you a ticket for tomorrow, okay?”

Tears streamed down my face as I nodded.

Within three minutes, a flight confirmation appeared on my phone: [July 7th, 12:12 a.m.]

It wasn’t just any date. It was Alanna’s birthday.

Derick was meticulous to a fault. He even marked Alanna’s birthday down to the minute.

I’d once found those numbers written on the cover of a locked journal while tidying up the house. Back then, I thought they were scribbled absentmindedly.

Now I knew—the faded numbers represented seven years of his devotion to Alanna.

From the café window, I watched Derick’s car speed past before I returned home.

Once there, I pulled out my suitcase and started packing.

Skye's POV

Seven years was enough to fill this space to the brim.

It felt like everything here should come with me, yet none of it felt like mine.

But when I opened Derick’s journal, the truth became painfully clear.

The couple’s mugs on the table? They were something he promised to buy for Alanna. The cushions on the couch? They were Alanna’s favorite pattern. The gardenias in the corner? It was Alanna’s favorite flower. Even my toiletries were the same brand Alanna had always used.

I used to think Derick loved me so much that he cared for me in every possible way. But now I realized that all this time, he had only been loving me as if I were Alanna.

I shook my head silently.

If everything belongs to someone else, I might as well leave it all behind.

As I was gathering my documents for leaving the country, Derick came home. He looked exhausted with dark circles under his eyes, his whole body weighed down by fatigue.

Instinctively, he pulled me into his arms, resting his head on my shoulder.

“Skye, what are you looking for?” he asked softly.

“My passport,” I replied without much thought.

Before I could figure out how to explain, he straightened up, went to a drawer, and handed it to me.

“Silly girl, I always keep your things organized. Here.”

In Derick’s mind, I was supposed to stay by his side forever, so it had never occurred to him that I might leave.

I placed the passport into a folder, gently patting his hand.

“You’re already so busy. I feel bad making you help me even more.”

He closed his eyes and buried his face in the crook of my neck, murmuring, “It’s okay. I like doing things for you.”

I smiled faintly, looking at the reflection of this devoted man in the mirror.

Seven years of feelings deserved a proper goodbye. The beginning should always had an end.

“Derick, can you come to my graduation ceremony tomorrow?”

His hands loosened from around my waist, and then, in a sudden move, he pinned me against the dresser.

“Of course. I’ll take you there tomorrow morning,” he replied, his voice filled with affection.

Before I could respond, he leaned in to kiss me.

But I skillfully slipped out of his arms, laughing playfully. “Wait, let me take a shower first.”

Knowing Derick didn’t love me, there was no point in indulging his tenderness any longer.

By the time I came out of the bathroom, he was already fast asleep, snoring loudly. It seemed planning for Alanna’s return had completely drained him.

The next morning, Derick was up early.

When I was ready, I found the breakfast table covered with all my favorite dishes.

As I watched him bustling around the kitchen, I noticed a hint of nervousness in his movements.

Of course, he was nervous—today was the day Alanna, the person he’d been waiting for, finally returned. Who wouldn’t be?

Seeing me frozen in place, he walked over and tapped my forehead lightly.

“Silly girl, hurry up and eat, or you’ll be late.”

I nodded, sitting down to quietly share what I knew would be our last breakfast together.

When we stepped out, Derick grabbed my hand.

Before I could react, a diamond ring slid onto my finger.

“Skye, congratulations on your graduation,” he said with a smile.

The diamond sparkled brilliantly under the light, but I didn’t feel a thing. I simply said, “Thank you,” with polite indifference.

I wasn’t going to keep playing the role of the devoted couple with him anymore.

Because once again, he wasn’t proposing to me—he was practicing for Alanna.

Last night, I’d seen the messages in his “proposal planning” group chat.

[Derick, if you’re nervous, practice with your girl at home a few more times.]

[Yeah. After all, those two seemed to have the same taste in everything.]

[Derick, do a trial run with Skye tomorrow morning. You can’t mess this up—especially after buying a diamond worth a fortune. But if Alanna rejects you, don't worry, it won't be a total waste as your girl would surely love it.]