"Nathan, are you really going to withdraw from next month's captain continuation selection?"

In the airport office, Nathan stood face to face with the director of Astralis Airport.

The man lowered his gaze to the message on his phone. In his social media feed, the two people closest to him were nestled together with his four rivals, all smiling brightly at the camera.

For a long time, he remained silent.

Just as the director thought he had made a hasty decision in the heat of the moment, Nathan finally looked away.

His gaze was firm. "I'm sure."

The director sighed, knowing that Nathan had made up his mind, so he no longer tried to persuade him.

"The application will be approved in a week."

After saying that, the director confirmed a few more details.

Nathan left the office.

The moment he opened the door, he heard music coming from the hall outside, along with confetti scattered all over the floor.

It was a celebration for Willy’s first flight, organized by Olive and Seraphine.

They had booked the entire airport just to make him happy.

Nathan lowered his head, intending to bypass the scene, but unexpectedly, Willy grabbed his arm head-on.

Lifting his gaze, he saw Willy grinning flatteringly, as if they were the twin brother.

"Nathan, come have some cake with us!"

Following Willy’s line of sight, he saw a luxurious fifteen-tier custom cake standing in the center of the hall.

People passing by looked on in admiration, their praises echoing in his ears.

"Willy is really lucky for having two heiresses showering him with affection like this."

"You wouldn’t believe how much that cake cost. I heard it was upwards of several tens of thousands!"

"But weren’t those two heiress childhood friends with Captain Sharlow? When did things change?"

***

Nathan knew that Willy wasn’t being kind. He was simply trying to use this opportunity to humiliate him.

His face was as cold as ice and his tone was devoid of any emotion. "No, I’m not free."

The smile on Willy's face immediately froze.

His hand lingered in mid-air and his expression turned wounded and dejected. "Nathan, I know you’ve never liked me and never thought much of me, so you don’t want to celebrate with me, right?"

Nathan continued to look at him without expression, his inner thoughts dripping with mockery.

With just a few words, Willy had managed to place all the blame on him.

What a big burden to carry.

"What's this? You didn’t get enough of performing in front of Olive and Seraphine and now you want to do it in front of me too?"

After saying that, Nathan couldn’t be bothered to continue the exchange and turned to leave.

Just as he was about to pass by the cake, someone suddenly shoved him hard from behind.

Nathan lost his balance and was sent crashing toward the cake.

With a loud crash, the towering fifteen-tier cake toppled over. Willy let out a muffled grunt as the entire cake fell on top of him.

He was buried under a mountain of cream.

Olive and Seraphine happened to witness the scene. Both of them rushed over in a panic, carefully helping Willy up.

Willy was in a complete mess and the sight of it made them both feel heartbroken.

Especially Olive, who had a temper. She pointed at Nathan and angrily scolded, "What do you think you're doing? Don’t you know today’s supposed to be a celebration for Willy? Why are you causing trouble?"

Seraphine, with her gentle personality, looked at Nathan, her eyes filled with reproach. "You're being too much. Willy had good intentions and yet you treat him like this."

Her tone was full of blame, as if it were all Nathan’s fault.

But he knew very well that there were no people around and the person who pushed him just now could only be Willy.

He did it on purpose.

Willy wiped the cream off his face and said in a trembling voice, "Olive, Seraphine, don't make things difficult for Nathan, he didn't do it on purpose."

Olive was visibly displeased when she saw him speaking up for Nathan. "He’s been nothing but trouble for you and yet you're still speaking for him?"

With a helpless sigh, she continued, "You’re just too kind, always avoiding conflict and never fighting for yourself. It makes you an easy target. But don’t worry, with Seraphine and me around, he won’t be able to hurt you again."

Olive shot a fierce glare at Nathan. Her eyes were full of warning.

Watching the three of them so closely aligned, Nathan felt as though he were a world away.

It was supposed to be him who had once been the one held so dearly by the two of them.

The Sharlow Family was a small, wealthy family in Astralis, located in the same district as the Thompson and Pangley family.

Nathan grew up alongside these two prestigious families. Because of his exceptional abilities, both Olive and Seraphine had secretly harbored feelings for him.

After Nathan was accepted into the Aerospace Academy, Olive and Seraphine followed him there. To stay close to him, they bought an apartment near the airport.

He had a congenital allergy and was particularly sensitive to starchy foods. Because of this, he had to be extra cautious about what he ate.

Olive and Seraphine spent a long time learning how to cook. Every day, they would wait for him to return from his flights, ready to prepare a meal for him.

Nathan repeatedly suggested that they leave and that he could manage on his own. But both of them, with teary eyes, begged him to let them stay.

Nathan had no choice but to relent, knowing that once they made a decision, it was hard for them to turn back.

He could only go along with their wishes.

People often said he was lucky. The Sharlow Family might not be considered a true aristocratic family, but with the backing of the Thompson and Pangley Family, their fortune was steadily growing.

The two heiresses had been his greatest support, shielding him from the world's troubles.

Nathan had lived in that warmth, believing it would last forever, until Willy appeared.

Willy was the true heir of the Sharlow Family. Years ago, a mistake by the nanny had led to him being switched at birth and raised elsewhere.

It was only recently that he finally returned home.

That was when Nathan learned the truth that he was never truly the young master of the Sharlow Family. In fact, he didn’t even know who his biological parents were.

On the day Willy returned, he arrived wearing a faded, secondhand shirt, carrying nothing but a worn-out burlap sack, looking utterly alone and out of place like someone with no home to return to.

Nathan never resented Willy’s return.

On the contrary, he felt deeply guilty. After all, he had unknowingly taken someone else’s place for so many years. Even though he had earned his own living and never relied on the Sharlow Family’s wealth, he still felt indebted to Willy.

So, he personally brought Willy into the Sharlow Family.

He introduced him to Olive and Seraphine, guided him through high society and helped him integrate into their world.

Nathan genuinely hoped they could be like brothers. After all, the Sharlow Family had raised him and he felt a responsibility to repay their kindness.

But fate had other plans.

Before his very eyes, he watched as Olive and Seraphine grew increasingly fond of Willy.

Bit by bit, they pushed him aside until he was no longer the one standing by their side.

With just a few words, Willy could twist reality, turning truth into lies and right into wrong.

Olive and Seraphine had never hidden their feelings for him and the Sharlow Family did need a strong ally.

Countless times, the two had fought bitterly over him, hoping he would choose one of them to spend his life with.

Nathan had genuinely considered it. He had weighed his options, thinking that, eventually, he would choose the one most suited for marriage.

But now, he had made up his mind—he wouldn’t choose either of them.

Brushing the smeared cake and cream off his clothes, Nathan quietly stepped away from the commotion. Without a word, he left, vanishing into the night as he made his way home.

He entered the room and rummaged through to find a desk calendar. Each page of the calendar featured the daily lives of three cartoon characters.

It had been custom-made by Olive and Seraphine.

Nathan turned to the page for a week from now, the day he would be leaving.

A circle was drawn around that date. He then realized that it was also the 20th anniversary of the day they met.

Nathan pulled at his lips, giving a self-deprecating smile. It was the day they met, twenty years ago.

On this day, twenty years later, they parted ways. From that moment on, they would go their separate ways and no longer have any connections to each other.

They ultimately became strangers.

Nathan began to pack his things. He submitted the transfer report and had to buy his own apartment in Maple City.

When the time came, he would just move his luggage in.

While browsing single-room apartments online, his phone suddenly vibrated. It was a notification for an update on Seraphine's social media account.

The post showed Willy, his face full of happiness, standing between the two women, holding a bouquet of white roses.

"May you sail through the winds and waves, my boy."

The bold confession was completely out of character for Seraphine. Nathan could immediately tell that it was Willy who had posted it.

What confused him even more was that Seraphine, who had a cleanliness obsession, never allowed anyone to touch her things, yet now, Willy was the exception.

Nathan knew exactly what Willy's intention was. He was showing off in front of him.

As expected, a private message popped up immediately after.

“Nathan, tonight, Olive and Seraphine aren't coming back. They insisted on staying with me to continue the celebration. Sorry about that. Please don't be mad."

If this had happened before, Nathan would have felt deeply hurt or would have confronted them.

Now, he felt no emotion at all.

He glanced indifferently at the message from Willy. In the end, he blocked him.

From this moment on, Olive and Seraphine were no longer part of his life

He chose a one-bedroom apartment, paid the deposit and began packing his things.

The apartment was spacious, with four rooms. Nathan slept in the master bedroom, which was filled with the items Olive and Seraphine had bought for him.

From the smallest toothbrush holder to the bed he slept in and the clothes he wore, none of these things would be going with him.

As he sifted through his belongings, something caught his eye, a jewelry box. It was carefully wrapped and tucked away in the cabinet.

He opened it and found a finely crafted wristwatch inside. In an instant, Nathan remembered the story behind this watch.

It was one of a set of watches that Olive and Seraphine had made. His name was engraved on the watch. Each of the three of them had one.

However, Nathan had been so busy that he kept it safely stored, fearing it might get scratched or damaged.

The watch face was exquisitely detailed and because it had been well cared for, there wasn’t a single scratch on it.

Nathan carefully ran his fingers over the engravings on the watch. Since he was leaving, he knew he had to get rid of the things that weren’t his.

With that in mind, he was about to toss the watch into the pile of miscellaneous items. Just then, the door to the hallway creaked open.

Olive and Seraphine had returned and saw this scene.

Olive reacted first. She rushed over, trying to save the watch.

The watch flew through the air in a perfect arc before crashing into the pile of clutter, instantly shattering into pieces.

In that moment, Olive’s eyes welled up with tears. Her voice trembled as she asked, "What are you doing?"

Nathan’s expression remained emotionless. “It’s been sitting there too long. It’s broken.”

He walked over to the pile of broken pieces and there was still one intact watch face remaining.

Olive thought he was going to pick it up, but instead, Nathan forcefully slammed it down onto the ground again, making Olive utterly shock.

This time, there was no chance of repair.

“Even if it was broken, you could have fixed it. Why did you smash it like this?” Olive gathered the shattered pieces into her hands, her eyes already filled with tears.

Seraphine, standing beside her, also had red-rimmed eyes.

Nathan felt a wave of mockery rise within him. Hadn't they already stopped caring about him?