Kieran froze when he saw me, his eyes widening for a moment before he gently set Nadia down.

Nadia, pretending to hold her stomach in pain, weakly said, "Yara, don’t misunderstand. My stomach was really hurting, so... so Kieran had to carry me."

I gave a cold, indifferent response, "Mm."

Their actions were no longer any of my concern, but Kieran seemed to have an issue with my attitude.

"Yara, if something’s bothering you, just say it. Don’t look down on me by ignoring me. I’ve always carried Nadia like this since we were kids."

I had no interest in hearing their story, but since he insisted, I let him talk without interruption.

But Beatrice couldn’t stand it anymore. "Kieran Fairfax, you can’t be serious—acting like this in public, pulling another woman around like that. Anyone who sees you might think you’re dating her."

Kieran, caught off guard by Beatrice’s confrontation, awkwardly explained, "Beatrice, Nadia and I aren’t like you think. I’ve always seen her as a sister."

I immediately tugged at Beatrice's sleeve, signaling her to stop pressing the issue.

How Kieran chose to handle his relationship with Nadia was no longer my concern.

Nadia, misunderstanding that I had assumed the worst, quickly added, "Yara, really, Kieran and I are completely innocent. If something were to happen between us, he would’ve been my boyfriend by now."

Heh, sure. Kieran used to say the same thing, claiming that if he and Nadia weren’t pure, I wouldn’t have mattered to him anymore.

"Mm, I get it. I’m leaving now."

At this point, I had no more words for Kieran. If he wanted to care for anyone else, that was his choice.

When I got back to Beatrice's house, I hadn’t even sat down when Kieran called me.

"Yara Hollister, were you doing that on purpose? Hiding the lady’s nurse facial cleanser and all that? What’s Nadia supposed to use? After all this time, I didn’t know you were this petty."

I listened to his complaining tone with indifference.

"Mm."

Then it hit me. I had cleared the room for him, and he hadn’t even bothered to ask. So, I had always been an afterthought to him.

Hearing silence on the other end, I hung up.

To my surprise, Kieran called again almost immediately, and this time, his tone was somewhat softer.

"Yara, I need to tell you something. Nadia is moving in with us. We have an extra room since we’re not using it, and her place next door is being renovated, so the noise is keeping her up at night."

"Mm. You can handle that. I’ll hang up if there’s nothing else."

I waited for three seconds, but he didn’t respond, so I hung up.

As I stared at the red goldfish lazily swimming in the tank, I suddenly felt lighter—letting go of someone really did set you free.

Beatrice, worried I might be overthinking things, had prepared a fruit bowl for me. Just as I was about to eat, Kieran sent me a video call invitation.

Beatrice scowled, clearly annoyed. "What a jerk. He’s with someone else now, yet he can’t let you go! Answer it, make it clear once and for all, and tell him not to bother you again!"

Beatrice seemed angrier than I was, but I just smiled and answered the call.

Kieran pointed the camera at the empty house, his voice full of frustration.

"Yara Hollister, what’s your deal? You emptied out the whole place. Do you really hate Nadia that much? She just started working and needs care, and here you are, slapping her in the face. Have you even thought about how she feels?"

I sighed and put my phone down. Even now, Kieran still thought my decision to leave was a matter of being petty and narrow-minded.

"Kieran, I’ve already cleared the room for you. What more do you want?"

On the other end of the line, Kieran was clearly caught off guard for a moment.

“Kieran... I’m so sleepy,” Nadia murmured, her voice lazy and worn with fatigue. At once, Kieran’s breathing turned tense.

“Hmph. It’s fine if you don’t come back. That just means there’s an extra spot for Nadia. She hasn’t been resting well these past few days, and now she can finally get a good night’s sleep.”

With that, Kieran hung up in a hurry.

Even though I kept telling myself I had already let go, the way he rushed to make room for Nadia still left a dull ache in my chest.

That night, I lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep, so I scrolled through my phone to distract myself.

Then Facebook suddenly notified me that someone had tagged me.

When I opened it, I saw it was Nadia.

She had posted a nine-photo collage of Kieran cooking for her. In one of the pictures, the two of them were leaning against each other, looking perfectly matched.

A few of Kieran’s close friends quickly flooded the comments.

“So Kieran can cook after all. He just only cooks for Nadia.”

“Congrats. After all the twists and turns, you two still ended up together.”

...

Buried in the long comment thread, Kieran had replied to one of them.

“I’m going to protect Nadia for the rest of my life.”

That one reply had ninety-nine likes.

That kind of blatant favoritism was something I had never once received from him.

I remembered the last time Kieran celebrated his birthday at home. One of his buddies had called me his girlfriend, only to be corrected immediately—he said we weren’t in that kind of relationship.

So that was how obvious the difference was between being loved and not being loved.

Casually, I tapped like and left a comment.

“Congratulations to both of you. Wishing you happiness.”

After posting it, I deleted every last one of them.

From now on, Kieran and I would be nothing but strangers.

But just a few minutes later, my phone rang again.

It was Kieran.

At this hour, shouldn’t he have been by Nadia’s side, telling her stories and coaxing her to sleep? How did he still have time to call me?

I had meant to hang up, but somehow my finger slid across the screen and answered instead.

The moment the call connected, Kieran’s furious voice exploded through the phone.

“Yara Hollister, who the hell told you to comment on Nadia’s post? Because of you, people are mistaking her for a mistress! Nadia’s crying and falling apart right now. Do you have any idea how much damage your recklessness and impulsiveness have caused her?”

Listening to Kieran fire off accusation after accusation like a machine gun, I found it almost laughable.

“Kieran, Nadia tagged me on purpose so I would see it. Wasn’t she just fishing for blessings? If everyone else can congratulate her, why the hell can’t I?”

“You—”

Kieran paused for a second before snapping, “She’s still young. She doesn’t know any better—she was just fooling around. Don’t tell me you don’t know better either. You’d better call her right now and apologize!”

Nadia was only two years younger than me.

And yet Kieran used her age as an excuse to shield her. That kind of indulgence, that kind of bias, was something he had never once given me.

It hurt to think about, but at the same time, I felt lucky.

At least now, I could finally see exactly where I stood in Kieran’s heart.

“Kieran, let’s end this.”

The moment I said it, I felt an immense sense of relief.

When you love someone, your whole heart, your whole world, is filled with them. Every little thing they do can pull at your emotions.

But once you let go, you no longer have to live in fear of losing them.

Kieran, however, flew into a rage.

“Yara Hollister, don’t you dare use a breakup to threaten me! This time, I won’t hold it against you. But next time, don’t hurt Nadia again. She’s innocent.”

Then he hung up in a rush.

He never even heard the last thing I said.

“We’re over. There won’t be a next time.”