Chapter 16
Under a sky strung with countless stars, Adam sat curled up on a stone bench, bathed in soft moonlight. His forearm rested on Gianna’s lap, yet his gaze remained fixed on her face, unable to look away.
The moonlight cast a silver frost over her smooth skin, making her radiant even in the dark. Only when the cool ointment touched his burn did he inhale sharply, snapping back to reality.
“It’s a pretty bad burn. If you don’t treat it properly, it’ll leave a scar, You’re a medical student. How could you be this careless?”
“It’s nothing, really. I’m a guy, so who’s gonna care about a little scar on my arm–”
“I care.”
Gianna sighed, and for a moment, Adam was completely stunned.
After applying the medicine, she looked at him seriously. “Adam, go back to school tomorrow. I understand how you feel, but I don’t have the time for romance right now, and I don’t want you wasting your youth here because of me.”
Adam parted his lips, as if about to protest. Yet before he could speak, Gianna continued, “Next year, get into the top 50 when the medical academny holds its entrance exams. I’ll be waiting.”
She had long noticed Adam’s feelings for her, and she didn’t dislike him. But she refused to let him throw away his future over a fleeting crush. With her words as a promise, Adam finally agreed to return to school.
The next day, Gianna accompanied him to the airport.
“Can I hug you, Gianna?” Just before boarding, Adam turned back, his eyes filled with hope.
When Gianna gave him a nod, he stepped forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Gianna, from now on… Let me be the one to protect you. I want to be your pillar.”
Ezra’s words left Gianna momentarily dazed. Then, slowly, she buried her face against his chest and gave a faint nod.
It was a long time before Adam reluctantly let her go. Even as he watched his plane ascend into the clouds, Gianna could still hear the lingering echo of his racing heartbeat in her
ears.
By the time the magnolias sprouted the following year, the new drug research had reached a major breakthrough. The celebratory coffee from the banquet was still warm, yet Gianna suddenly froze in front of the laboratory building.
She saw Ezra, who was wrapped in a faded gray trench coat. He stood like a weathered pine, drained of all life, shivering in the lingering chill of early spring.
After being apart for a year, he had changed. He looked worn down and hollowed out. Yet the moment his eyes landed on Gianna, the dark abyss in them erupted with light.
His lips trembled as he struggled to form her name. But before the sound could fully escape, she took a step back. The warmth in his voice froze into ice.
“Don’t touch me,” she spat.
Her hand cut through the air between them, forming an invisible wall of glass. Ezra’s heart shattered. He shook his head while biting his lower lip so hard it nearly bled.
Tears welled up, and his voice was barely a whisper as he said, “Do you… really hate me that much?
“I’m not here to disturb you. I just… I just wanted to see you, Can you talk to me, just for a little while?”
He wanted to tell her how much he had missed her. That every single day she was gone, he had hated himself.
That if he could, he would tear open his chest for her to see—so she could witness how the thorns of regret had grown wild as they pierced through his insides, tearing him apart.
But when he met Gianna’s cold, unreadable gaze, every word he had held in his heart lodged in his throat, unable to escape.
Between them, the red maple trees shook their new leaves loose. Their soft rustling was like the snowfall of a decade–long winter that had never melted.
“Go back. I don’t want to see you,” said Gianna before she turned.
“Don’t go “Ezra reached out helplessly, fingers grasping at nothing but the bitter wind rushing past.
The security guards, who were as silent as stone, immediately stepped in to block his path. He watched her silhouette disappear through his tears, like the last handful of sand slipping through his fingers.
After searching for her through more than 300 sunrises and nights, he had lost her once more.
