As the words fell, the room fell silent.

The butler stared at Cassia in astonishment. “Miss Shaw, what… what are you saying? Leaving? Where are you leaving to?”

Cassia lowered her gaze, silent for a couple of seconds.

She wanted to go to a place where she would never see Damian Blackwood again. But she knew deep down that there was no place in the world Damian couldn’t go.

All she could do was run as far away as possible.

Seeing the butler’s probing gaze still on her, Cassia smiled. “I was just kidding.”

But from that day on, she began her final preparations for departure.

Countdown: 7 days. Cassia burned every photograph Damian had taken of her from childhood to adulthood.

Countdown: 6 days. Cassia deleted all the ‘friends-only’ posts on her social media, all the girlish confessions written for Damian.

Countdown: 5 days. Cassia donated all the clothes Damian had ever given her to a children’s charity.

Countdown: 4 days. Cassia bought a late-night plane ticket from New York to Port Sterling, for a flight three days from now.

Countdown: 3 days. Cassia went to the Serenity Monastery for one last farewell to her mother.

Countdown: 2 days. Cassia erased the last remaining trace of herself from her room.

Countdown: 1 day. Damian and Vivienne returned.

The moment they walked in, Vivienne held up a red dress against Cassia. “Cassia, I’ve never seen you wear red. This dress would look amazing on you.”

“Why don’t you wear this to my wedding with your uncle?”

Cassia’s body went rigid, her hands clenching into fists.

The red was not a vibrant crimson, but a dark, blood-like maroon—

Just like the shirt she had seen her father wearing when she was seven, stained red with his blood.

She had told Vivienne she hated red…

She had told her she was terrified of this color!

Cassia’s entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Before she could react, Damian, who had just stepped inside, his eyes darkening, snatched the dress away. “Didn’t you say you bought this for yourself?”

Vivienne looked completely innocent. “I saw Cassia was still wearing dresses from a few years ago, so I just wanted to give her…”

Damian glanced at Cassia, seeing the color drain from her face.

But he didn't say a word of comfort, nor did he reprimand Vivienne. He simply took Vivienne by the arm and led her into her room.

Only after they were gone did Cassia feel like a drowning person breaking the surface of the water. She collapsed onto the sofa, clutching her chest and gasping for air.

It seemed that in her short twenty-five years, she had made not one, but two terrible decisions: falling in love with Damian, and becoming friends with Vivienne.

The two people she had once relied on the most were now the ones stabbing her deepest, causing her the most pain.

Cassia closed her eyes, forcing down the turmoil in her heart.

But a suffocating tightness remained in her chest. She got up and walked into the courtyard, hoping the cool air would help.

The next second, her eyes were drawn to the bedroom she used to watch for countless nights.

The lights inside were dim. Two figures were pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window, their intertwined silhouettes a dark, moving shadow on the curtains as they kissed deeply.

A shiver ran through Cassia, and the autumn wind felt suddenly, bitingly cold.

She tore her gaze away, a bitter smile on her lips, and walked back to her room.

She didn't want to say goodbye to them at all.

Her room, aside from the single bag she had packed, was identical to any other guest room.

Even Cassia herself felt a sense of disorientation.

Her flight was in three hours. She picked up her bag, walked down the hallway she had known for fifteen years, crossed the courtyard where she had laughed for fifteen years, and headed toward the heavy main door.

Just as her hand touched the door knocker, the butler’s voice called out from behind her. “Miss Shaw, it’s already dark. Where are you going?”

Cassia looked back and smiled, a smile that held no emotion at all.

“I’m just going out for a look.”

Because she didn’t need to say goodbye to anyone. She would never see anyone in this house again.

*Thump.* The door closed behind her.

Cassia walked step by step into the darkness. But at the end of the night was the dawn, and she knew she was walking toward the light.

*Dad, Mom, you’ll be proud of me, right?*

A star in the night sky seemed to flicker, as if in answer—

*Yes, Cassia. Go forward. Don’t look back.*