Ann walked toward a car by the roadside. It was the one she had rented, and her luggage was still inside.
She hadn’t planned to stay long in Landon. This trip was ant to be a final goodbye.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, her gaze once again shifted to the view outside the car window.
In the distance, the grass swayed gently.
Zaiden Santos’ grave stood there, solitary and quiet, surrounded by weeping willows.
When spring arrived, the willow trees would sprout anew, but he... would never return.
Before her eyes, Zaiden Santos’ figure appeared once more—
A tall fra, a crisp suit, striking features, and a refined smile.
He stood there as if gazing at her, or perhaps looking out at the far horizon.
"Zaiden..." Ann reached out, wanting to touch him. But her fingers only t the cold glass of the car window.
The chill jolted her back, and she quickly withdrew her hand. A shiver ran through her, and reality sank in: Zaiden Santos was no longer of this world.
Her eyes carried an indescribable sorrow, a misty pall constantly veiling her vision. Though her face was calm, her heart clenched so tightly it ached.
The pain seeped into every inch of her being, impossible to shake.
She could still recall that day when she brought pork bone soup to Zachary Santos, only to suddenly catch sight of Zaiden Santos’ death certificate on the table.
What had she felt at that mont?
Perhaps it was... as if her soul had been torn away.
After losing her parents, she had spent a long, long ti in a state of self-isolation, refusing others’ love and incapable of offering love in return.
Until that fateful year, at the ball, when Zaiden Santos appeared.
In their youthful days, ti seed serene and forgiving.
He was like the warmth of winter sunshine, stepping into her life and letting her once again realize that even a calm heart could race with excitent.
Her heart felt alive.
She began secretly crushing on him, chasing his shadow wherever it led.
She knew he was extraordinary, so she strove to make herself exceptional too.
It wasn’t about anything else—just so he might glance at her one more ti, just to hopefully leave a trace of herself in his heart.
But all of this was her own unrequited wish.
She lived inside her own one-person play, never realizing that she had unwittingly stepped into the role of a destroyer.
If loving soone was a mistake, then perhaps she had erred on an unforgivable scale.
The one Zaiden Santos loved, from beginning to end, was Harper Glorian.
Never her.
Ann quietly turned her gaze to the window.
She watched as Harper Glorian had already walked up to the gravestone and lit an incense stick for Zaiden Santos.
"Zaiden, I know you don’t want to see again. I won’t co back in the future." Ann looked at the gravestone, murmuring to herself, "If there’s a next life, let the heavens ensure we never et."
No beginning, no end.
No cause, no consequence.
"The best thing is never to et, so there’s no love to regret."
The sky was a spotless expanse of blue, the sunlight dazzling, yet the surroundings felt cold and solemn.
Ann withdrew her gaze and turned on her phone.
Only then did she notice calls from Evan Guerrero, Aunt Waverly, and Jasmine.
Looking at Zaiden Santos’ gravestone, she returned Aunt Waverly’s call.
"Miss Nolan, you finally answered! CEO Santos has been looking for you, searching everywhere," Aunt Waverly said anxiously on the other end.
"I’m sorry. I’ll call him back."
"Miss Nolan, where are you? You haven’t been back in two days. Little Candy has been crying a lot."
"How’s she doing?"
"She’s playing with her dolls."
"Let her get on the phone."
"Alright, alright."
The so-called phone call was rely the sound of Little Candy babbling on the other end, or perhaps crying for a mont.
Ann realized she missed the little one.
Not long after, a "thump thump" sound ca through the line, as if the little one was knocking on the phone.
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