I couldn't believe it. To appease Claire, Caleb had extinguished my mother's Everlasting Lamp.

We had lit that lamp together. He had even paid for half of it, telling me, "Don't worry, your mom will live a long and healthy life, long enough to see our wedding day."

My sanity snapped. Forgetting the sanctity of the temple, I rushed forward.

"Caleb! That's my mother's lamp! What gives you the right to put it out?"

They both turned, surprised to see me.

Claire smiled sweetly. "Oh, Lena, what are you doing here? I thought you said your mother was seriously ill?"

Her words instantly made Caleb's face turn to stone.

"Lena, I can't believe you. To trick me into coming back, you'd even stoop to a lie like that?"

And I couldn't believe he would distrust me this much.

He'd rather believe I would use my mother's health to manipulate him than believe she was actually on the brink of death.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

Perhaps the tears welling in my eyes were too obvious, because his tone softened slightly.

"Fine. I'll just assume you missed me so much you came up with this crazy idea."

"I put out your mom's lamp for you. This is all just superstition anyway. With me around, your mom will be perfectly fine. Lighting a lamp is just a waste of space. It's better to give it to someone who really needs it."

Someone who really needs it. Did he mean Claire?

I swallowed the dull ache in my chest and spoke, each word heavy.

"You are not touching that lamp. Don't even think about it."

A triumphant smirk played on Claire's lips, but her voice was pitiful.

"Caleb, if Lena doesn't want to give up the lamp, let's just forget it. She must be angry that you didn't come back for her mother's surgery the other day."

"I'm so sorry, Lena," she said, feigning remorse. "I'll apologize on Caleb's behalf. It's all my fault for being so clumsy and messing up in the OR. I had to beg him to come clean up my mess."

She stuck her tongue out playfully.

Caleb immediately jumped to her defense.

"Claire is my mentor's daughter. Can you stop being so petty?"

Claire's father was Caleb's professor, a man to whom he owed a great debt.

I knew Caleb valued loyalty. I had once magnanimously told him I wasn't the jealous type and that I'd treat Claire like a little sister.

But Caleb took that as a free pass. He started doting on Claire without any restraint, assuming I'd always be fine with it.

Everyone at the hospital knew how close they were, practically inseparable.

After he missed yet another dinner at home to be with her, I stayed up late, wanting to have a serious talk.

All I got was his angry denial, insisting she was just a sister to him.

But I'd never heard of a brother and sister who shared the same fork, or a sister who needed to sit on her brother's lap whenever she was upset.

I couldn't help but sneer.

"I don't care if you're her dear brother or her lover. It has nothing to do with me anymore. But right now, you are not touching my mother's Everlasting Lamp."

His voice was tight with suppressed fury.

"Lena, this is a temple. Can you stop acting like a shrew? There is nothing going on between Claire and me!"

"I only see her as a sister! It's your own small-mindedness that's making you imagine things!"

"If you keep acting this irrationally, I might have to reconsider our engagement!"

In the past, that threat would have made me back down instantly.

But now, all I felt was a mix of rage and ridicule.

I laughed coldly.

"You don't have to. I already called it off."

"If you two don't leave now, I'll start recording and post this online. Let everyone see how you steal an Everlasting Lamp from the dead."

Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted.

"Lena, can you please be rational?"

In front of the shocked monks and visitors, I grabbed a lit candle from the incense burner and waved it at them.

"You want me to be rational? Haven't I been rational enough? Caleb, I was with you for eight years! Claire came back less than two years ago, and every single time you chose her over me, wasn't I rational then?"

"Everyone said you two were a perfect match, that I wasn't good enough for you. Do you have any idea how much that hurt?"

"Actually, you do know. You knew all along. And you agreed with them. You think I'm not good enough for you, but you also think I'll never leave you. That's why you felt so free to hurt me again and again!"