Chapter 3

I struggled to suppress the sadness in my heart, forcing a smile.

"When did you get a lily plant? It's beautiful."

Ivo hastily picked up his phone.

"It was sent by that girl I rescued before. You like flowers, don't you? So I kept it."

So he still remembered I liked flowers,

But too bad, I stopped liking lilies a long time ago.

"Where's the cactus I gave you? Let me see it."

Ivo picked up his phone, suddenly remembering something.

"Aria, that cactus died, so I threw it away."

My face felt itchy,

I touched it,

Oh, it was tears.

Ivo saw me cry.

A flash of concern crossed his eyes, but it quickly turned to resignation.

"It's just a cactus, what's there to cry about?"

My personality has always been like this, wanting to cry over everything.

In the past, every time I cried, Ivo would do everything to cheer me up.

Last Christmas, my favorite handbag was sold out.

To make me happy, Ivo ran all over the city in heavy snow.

He came home hugging the last bag.

Red-faced Ivo held the bag in his hand, with roasted chestnuts tucked in his coat.

"As long as my Aria is happy, that's all that matters."

I tried to wipe away my tears,

But why couldn't I stop them? They kept coming, more and more."All right, I need to get to work now. If you really like the cactus, I'll buy you a new one when I get home."

Ivo, do you know? I've never really liked the cactus.

That evening, Ivo came home and brought me a cactus.

"Aria, let's take good care of this cactus together."

He hugged me as we looked at the plants and flowers on the balcony.

Recently, there have been more and more rape cases in the city.

Citizens are becoming increasingly anxious.

I've been working overtime for three days straight, trying to find traces of the suspect as quickly as possible.

"I'm heading out now."

At 7:30 PM, I grabbed my bag.

"Have fun!"

My colleague called out to me.

Tonight is Ivo's 28th birthday.

I ordered the cake in advance.

I picked up a gift from his favorite store.

"Beautiful lady, your boyfriend was here this morning. He went next door, definitely buying you a gift. How lucky you are!"

I looked up. Next door was my favorite makeup store.

Ivo has always been a romantic person.

Back home, I started preparing the surprise.

At 9 PM, Ivo still wasn't home.

"Ivo, are you still at work?"

The background noise was chaotic, but I thought I heard a woman's voice. No, wait—it was Meadow's voice."I had something come up unexpectedly. Go ahead and eat without me, don't wait."

I opened Meadow's social media page.

"Celebrating a birthday with my lifesaver."

There was a photo of a restaurant.

Across the table sat Ivo, wearing the watch I had given him.

Ironically, this was my favorite restaurant.

I lay on the couch.

What exactly had changed?

My blood sugar dropped, and I collapsed on the floor.

My hand was bleeding.

Crying, I called Ivo.

"Ivo, I'm in so much pain..."

On the other end of the line, there was a clatter.

"Don't move. I'm coming right away."

Half an hour later, Ivo rushed back.

He looked at the surprise I had prepared and my injured hand.

While grumbling, he took out the first aid kit.

"Aria, you're so careless. Next time, let me handle it."

I pulled out my gift.

"Ivo, happy 28th birthday."

Ivo still loved me the most.

We sat together, eating cake.