The room fell silent.

I felt the air pressing in on me, making it hard to breathe.

No one could possibly understand what I was feeling.

Lila peeked out from behind Landon and thanked me.

"Thank you, Ms. Vance."

I snapped back to reality. Landon was staring at me. I didn't say another word.

I forced a bitter smile, stepped forward, took the glass, and drained it in one gulp.

Instantly, my stomach clenched violently. The pain was so sharp I couldn't hold it back.

I bolted from the room, rushing to the bathroom where I began to vomit uncontrollably.

A moment later, Landon followed me.

He handed me a glass of warm water, his tone surprisingly annoyed. "It was just a polite gesture. You didn't have to actually drink it."

My face was pale.

Hearing his words, I let out a hoarse laugh. "Then why did you have to say it?"

Making me take Lila's place, making me lose so utterly and completely.

Landon's expression faltered, his voice turning stiff. "Commander Peterson thinks of you as a daughter. He wouldn't have forced you."

My eyes were red as I stared at him. Suddenly, I said, "Your Miss Monroe is coming to find you."

Landon turned his head and saw Lila walking over.

He felt an inexplicable twinge of guilt, and his irritation grew. He frowned. "Don't talk nonsense."

I just smiled faintly, a serene look on my face. I didn't take his water, simply walking past him. "I have something to do. I'm leaving first."

"As for Commander Peterson, just make up any excuse for me."

This time, it was Landon's turn to watch a retreating back.

I thought to myself, I can't keep watching him walk away from me over and over again.

...

Leaving the restaurant, I walked home step by step.

By the time I reached my apartment building, it was already dark.

I turned my head and heard someone from across the street at Fort Irwin say,

"Captain Rexford and Miss Monroe are so sweet. He always buys her flowers."

*Always?*

I felt a little dazed. I didn't understand why Landon always had time to buy flowers for someone else.

I felt a surge of resentment, or perhaps it was just competitiveness.

I walked back to that patch of wildflowers and picked a full bouquet for myself.

These were just common flowers, but where I grew up, we didn't even have flowers like these.

Because of my mother's gambling addiction, my sister and I spent our childhood in a cardboard shack.

Worse, we lived near an abandoned chemical plant. There was no way such beautiful flowers could grow nearby.

The only time I saw such vibrant colors was on my way to school, walking down a street lined with flowers.

It wasn't until I met Landon that I told him, "I love the flowers here. They're so beautiful and full of life."

Landon wasn't good with sweet words back then. He only knew how to win people over with sincerity.

He replied, "Then I'll give you beautiful flowers like these from now on."

Ten years had passed. I thought I had gained more and more.

Now, I suddenly realized I had nothing at all.

Reflected in the window, I saw myself crying silently.

*How pathetic...*

I wiped away my tears and went home.

The small radio station that had a channel dedicated to me suddenly went on air tonight without any announcement.

After humming a short song, I said softly,

"Perhaps we were never meant to have a future. I was just the only one who couldn't see it."

Then I turned it off.

I had no idea that, in places I couldn't see, this audio clip was already being passed around by countless newspaper editors.

Not long after, Landon suddenly came back.

He turned on the light and saw me curled up on the sofa. The wildflowers in the vase on the table were no longer fresh.

Landon stared at the bunch of flowers, which he didn't find particularly pretty, his voice calm but laced with a commanding tone. "Elara, what did you mean by that?"

I played with the petals, staring at the wildflowers as if I hadn't heard him.

Landon suddenly raised his voice. "If you're sick, take your medicine! Do you have to push me like this?"

I paused, my voice tinged with sorrow. "I just... suddenly felt like saying it."

The room was empty and vast. He and I were locked in a silent standoff.

Landon felt a surge of extreme frustration and took a deep breath. "Are you angry about Lila? It's not what you think between us."

*Not what I think?*

Giving flowers, wiping sweat, taking a drink for her... none of these were things friends did.

I suddenly looked up and smiled. "I'm afraid we're not what I thought either."

That one sentence ignited Landon's anger.

He couldn't take it anymore and spat out, "Unreasonable!" before turning to leave.

I instinctively stood up and grabbed him.

"CRASH—"

The vase fell to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces. A flying shard cut my leg.

Landon stopped.

The next moment, he slammed his fist against the door, his face dark. He turned back, scooped me up into his arms, his jaw tight.

As he lifted me, a gilded business card fell out of my coat pocket.

Landon and I both looked down. On the card was a single sentence.

"Tomorrow night, eight o'clock, the Grand Hyatt. Don't be late. —Your Corbin."

Corbin Nash was a notorious tycoon, constantly embroiled in scandals.

But how did his card end up in my pocket?

I looked up in a panic. Landon met my gaze, his expression terrifyingly dark.

"Elara Vance, you have no shame!"