That night, Iris dreamed about her childhood when her parents hugged and doted on her. Their eyes were filled with love.

Keith, who was just two years older than her, pinched her cheeks, calling her adorable.

The dream felt like a warm, cozy bath—one that she didn't want to leave. However, Erica's arrival in her dream turned everything into a nightmare. Her parents' face took on a devilish look as they yelled at her. Meanwhile, Keith slowly pulled away.

In her dreams, she had tearfully begged them not to leave her behind. She ran after them like crazy, but beneath her feet was an abyss. Once she lost her footing, she found herself trapped in a pool of despair and pain.

But her parents and Keith did not even turn around. They surrounded Erica. Together, they walked into the distance, leaving Iris behind in the eternal darkness.

…

Finally, Iris stirred awake from the noise of the fireworks outside. Her eyes fluttered open. Tears had stained her pillowcase.

At first, she thought that she wouldn't feel sad about her family and Keith, but deep down, she still craved love and approval. Fortunately, it was all but a dream.

A jeep drove into the garden. When Iris saw the tall man emerging from the car, she hurried down the stairs.

"Iris, I heard you got accepted to Bellevue University. That's great." The tall man, Marcus Brownstein, was a family friend of the Burnetts. Thomas had saved his life once, which led to the marriage arrangement between Iris and Keith.

Marcus was the only person who treated Iris well. He caressed her head and looked at his son, nodding approvingly. "Good for you. At least you're celebrating Iris' success with the fireworks show."

Keith frowned. "Dad, I didn't release these fireworks for Iris. She said she didn't want to advance her studies and gave her spot to Erica instead. Erica will study hard. She won't let us down."

Marcus' expression shifted a little. He was about to scold Keith, but Iris stopped him.

She forced a smile and said, "Marcus, you just got home. You should take a rest. I'll explain everything to you another day."

She didn't want Marcus to dig deeper, or she might accidentally let slip the fact that she had signed up to study cryptography at National Defense University.

All she wanted was a quiet departure without fuss.

Marcus' expression had changed. He glared at Keith before storming away, leaving Keith and Iris behind.

Keith's face was devoid of expression. "Do not tell my dad about our marriage and the fact that you gave up your spot at Bellevue University to Erica. You'd better come up with a reasonable explanation. Got it?"

Head hung low, Iris grunted without much reaction.

How self-sacrificing was Keith to marry a woman he didn't love so that Erica could attend university?

"Erica is younger than you, and she's sensitive. You'd better not bring up our marriage before her. By the way, why haven't you apologized like I asked yesterday?"

Keith sounded demanding before Iris could even speak.

"Erica is going to Bellevue University soon. Just offer her some cash and meal coupons to show your blessing."

Iris felt a weight on her chest when she saw how thoughtful Keith was toward Erica.

"Do you think I still keep those coupons on me? She has my parents' and your love. She's not going to lack anything at all."

Stunned, Keith finally remembered the situation Iris was in. Complicated feelings flashed across his eyes.

"Don't worry. I will not walk back on my promise of marrying you." He could only comfort Iris with the promise of marriage.

"Keith, are you really going to marry Iris?"

The question made Keith panic. He turned to the entrance and saw Erica standing there with a pale grimace.

"No, that's not—" Before he could explain himself, Erica repeatedly banged her forehead against the wall, pain written across her face. "I don't want you to marry her! I love you too…"

Erica's crushing pain sent him into a panic. He quickly shoved Iris aside and went up to hug Erica.

Thomas and Rosanne showed up when they heard the commotion. Their faces fell when they saw Erica crying.

They hurriedly put Erica into the car and left for the hospital. Before that, Keith glared coldly at Iris. His voice was unfeeling as he said, "See that? You provoked Erica on purpose, didn't you? That's very crafty of you."

The disgust and resentment in Keith's gaze was a stab to Iris' heart.

Erica only had to feign sadness to get whatever she wanted. The Burnetts would then drop everything to pacify her and blame everything on Iris.

Iris couldn't shake off the memory of the anger on Keith's face. She told herself not to be sad over a man, but tears kept falling down her cheeks.

Anyone could tell that Erica was pulling tricks if they looked harder.

At first, Keith was unhappy at the Burnetts for being biased against Iris. At the depth of her despair, he was the one who broke into her house and took her out. He even publicly threatened everyone from ever bullying her.

Keith was really good to her at that time. He showered her with gifts.

But at some point, he changed. His distaste for Erica slowly turned to empathy.

Erica was like a curse to Iris, always managing to take whatever was hers.

Tears fell down Iris' cheeks when she stared at the car that drove away. This would be the last time she cried for Keith and mourned over her heartless family.

She had decided to live for herself and give up her youth to defend the country.

With that in mind, she returned home and started to pack her stuff on the narrow balcony. She had a shabby case in which she kept the gifts from Keith—anything from a wooden doll to something small like a maple leaf.

She treasured all his gifts and couldn't bring herself to throw them out. But now, they were like trash to her.

After she packed all the gifts, she set them on fire in the garden. The items went up in flames, just like her love for Keith.

He happened to return to the garden when the gifts were nearly reduced to ashes. The sight of the wooden doll in flames made his expression fall, and an intense fear gripped him.

Keith's voice trembled as he stared at Iris in disbelief. "Iris, these are my gifts to you. Why did you set them on fire?"

The unexplainable loss of control made him panic.

She watched the burning doll turn into ashes. Then, she slowly turned around and calmly stared into his eyes.

At that moment, Keith had a bad feeling that she might leave him.

Iris took a deep breath. The moment his gifts turned into ashes, she managed to let go of her feelings. She no longer cared about her parents' favoritism or grieved over Keith's changed affection.

Those were none of her business anymore. She needed to walk her own path.

She said to him, "The gifts turned moldy. That's why I burned them all."

At first, she almost wanted to lay everything out with him, telling him that she no longer loved him.

Still, she had to bear with it for 20 more days, after which she'd be gone.

Feeling relieved, Keith nodded. "Well, better to burn them all. They're not that valuable anyway. We can always buy new ones after we're married."

Iris flashed a smile. After all, they'd never be married, and there would be no future between them.

Keith gave it some thought and decided that his worries were unfounded, as Iris had no better option than him. He was confident that she would never leave him.

He reverted to his haughty demeanor and frowned unhappily. "Smile, won't you? Erica became depressed after she lost both of her parents. She can't be triggered. You have everything, so do not try to fight with her."

Iris smiled mockingly. "Tell me. What do I have?"

She had lost the love of her parents, and Keith didn't care about her. She didn't even own proper clothes.

What else could she cede to Erica when the latter had taken away everything that once belonged to her?

Keith, oblivious to Iris' bitterness, grew impatient. "You have me and your parents! Erica is suffering in the hospital now. You should apologize to her."

Iris thought that she had misheard him. Erica had faked her depression, but her family and Keith feigned ignorance.

Her voice was devoid of emotions as she said, "My parents keep her company, and you take care of her, too. The medical staff attends to her. Do you still think I need to be there?"

Keith became enraged. "How could you be so heartless? Erica developed depression because of you! I don't care. As her older cousin, you need to be the bigger person.

"You haven't acknowledged your mistake until now. It looks like I have spoiled you too much. Iris Burnett, I'm giving you a chance now. If you refuse to go to the hospital, I'll need to think about registering our marriage."

With that, Keith left in anger. He thought that Iris would cave in if he threatened her with their marriage.

But Iris couldn't care less. She watched as Keith left in his car, her expression totally calm.

Iris returned to the house again, ready to pack up her stuff and leave, only to realize that nothing in that spacious house was worth bringing along.

At night, her parents gave her attitude, as though they blamed her for triggering Erica.

Rosanne went up to Iris, her expression stern. "Iris, you need to give up on Keith. Erica loves him, too, and she's threatening to take her life at the hospital over him. You're the older cousin, so you need to be more generous."

Even though Iris knew that Rosanne was hopelessly biased toward Iris, she never thought her mother could be this shameless.

Rosanne's words were like biting cold winds in the middle of the summer.

Iris stared into Rosanne's eyes numbly and croaked, "Mom, I'm your birth daughter. You asked me to give things up to Erica, which I did. I gave up many things to her over the years.

"I gave up the meat in my meals, my new clothes, my bedroom, and basically everything new in our house to Erica. I even gave up on Bellevue University. Now, you're asking me to give her Keith. Are you going to make me take my life if that's what Erica wants?

"Mom, am I your daughter or not?"

Iris could no longer keep her anger under control and confronted Rosanne with a piercing question.

Instead, Rosanne slapped her while looking disappointed. "Erica, your cousin, lost her dad because of you! You have enough blessings in your life!

"Your dad is right. You're indeed an ingrate. This time, you have no choice but to give up on Keith, or I'll disown you!"

She then left after making that cruel remark.

Iris leaned weakly against the doorframe. The setting sun shone from above, seemingly mocking her. Apparently, she was a blessed daughter in her family's eyes.

Not long after, Keith came back. He said frankly, "Iris, Erica's mental state is deteriorating. We need to postpone our marriage registration."

It wasn't a discussion but more like an order.

Sadly, Iris had been let down too many times to feel sad over his words.

She looked pale as she enunciated each word, saying, "Alright. Fine."

To Keith's surprise, Iris agreed to his suggestion without throwing a tantrum. Caught off guard, he stood there helplessly.

Iris did not even look at Keith. Her attention was on the sycamore tree in the garden. The tree reminded her of a memory from when she was 11 years old.

That year, she was framed by Erica. Her parents beat her up badly and kicked her out of the house. When she was alone and despairing, she crouched under the sycamore tree, crying.

It was Keith who came up to her and extended a hand. Smiling warmly, he offered, "Come home with me."

Back then, Keith was a handsome, tall man who shone a light into her dark life. Since then, she had found hope and someone to rely on.

Keith had hoped that Iris could make it into Bellevue University and achieve her dreams.

That was why, in 1978, Iris tried her best and finally made it to Bellevue University. She had thought that she would chase after Keith's footsteps and be with him forever.

Looking back, Iris realized that everything was ephemeral.

The man before her eyes had changed. He forced her to compromise. To get Erica into Bellevue University, he'd rather marry Iris—a woman he didn't love. How touching was his love!

When Keith told Iris that they'd postpone their marriage registration, she felt calm. After all, she no longer had any expectations of him.

If he proposed postponing the marriage, he'd probably walk back on his promise. When that happened, not only would she lose her chance to enroll in university, but Keith would not marry her either.

She foresaw that happening.

Fortunately, she did not actually give up the Bellevue University offer to Erica. In 20 days, she would leave this sad place behind and depart for National Defense University. She would also cut all ties with her family and Keith.

Keith started to feel nervous when Iris didn't make a scene as he had anticipated.

He explained, "Iris, don't overthink this. I've made you a promise, and I will not walk back on it. The thing is, Erica is in an unstable mental state, and I don't want to trigger her."

Iris looked away from the sycamore tree. Suddenly, she asked, "Keith, do you remember the promise you made to me under the sycamore tree when I was 11?"

Keith's expression twitched a little. Something came into his mind, and guilt immediately colored his eyes. He was about to speak, but a guard suddenly approached them, looking concerned.

"Officer Brownstein, we've got updates from the hospital. Ms. Colton is self-harming again."

Brows furrowed, Keith ditched Iris and made a dash to his vehicle.

Iris watched his jeep drive away. Then, she went back to her room—the narrow balcony. There was nothing much on the balcony anyway.

After setting fire to Keith's gifts, she realized that she had nothing in her name except a few pieces of shabby clothing. Her parents had not given her anything apart from life.

Well, they had given her a lot in the beginning, but everything ultimately went to Erica.

…

Keith was gone for a week.

During these few days, he, Thomas, and Rosanne were busy looking after Erica at the hospital. Iris preferred it that way as she didn't have to put up with Erica's revolting acts or her parents' overt favoritism.

She met with Marcus, hoping to gain some physical training before attending National Defense University. Since she had decided to major in cryptography, she knew that she would face many dangers in the future.

Marcus didn't give it much thought. He merely assumed that Iris was a hardworking woman. Hence, he gave his all in tutoring her.

A week later, though Iris appeared all sweaty while training in the garden, she looked more energetic now. She had cut off her dark, long curls.

Keith once said that he preferred women who were traditional and demure, which was why she grew her hair out.

Now that she no longer needed to attend Bellevue University to be with Keith, she seemed to be a changed person who lived only for herself.

Marcus sighed in admiration. Iris exuded the air of a female soldier.

Although he was not told the reason behind her physical training, he had a guess. Nevertheless, he did not voice out his thoughts. He decided to leave the younger generation to resolve their conflicts.

He also thought that the Burnetts were unreasonably biased toward Erica.

Marcus often embarked on missions abroad, so he did not have a say in the Burnetts' family matters. However, he didn't mind offering Iris help if she needed it.

…

Iris' peace was finally shattered when Erica came home from the hospital.

At that time, Iris was practicing squats in the garden. When she looked up, she saw her parents and Keith joking around with Erica as they entered the garden.

Erica was leaning against Keith. They looked intimate. Occasionally, she would rub her head against him while Thomas and Rosanne feigned ignorance. In fact, they seemed fine with it.

Keith did not object, either. He had only hurriedly shoved Erica away when something came into his mind after sensing Iris' eyes on him.

Erica immediately teared up. "Keith, am I not good enough for you?"

Looking awkward, he had no choice but to allow Erica to lean on him.

Erica glanced at Iris provocatively after she stepped foot at home, but Iris kept her calm as though the four people before her were nothing. Instead, Iris focused on her training.

An hour passed, and Iris wrapped up her training. She let out a long exhale. A rare breeze swept past in the middle of the searing summer. Eyes closed, she enjoyed the rare relaxing moment in the garden.

"National Defense University?"

Keith broke the silence when he spoke in a trembling voice from behind.

Iris opened her eyes and saw him clutching a magazine, panic in his eyes.