The plane landed in Frostfang Ridge, where the wind howled like it had teeth.
I tightened my cloak against the cold and spotted Amy waving excitedly from the terminal. The moment I stepped out, she rushed over and pulled me into a big hug.
“Congrats! You finally ditched the past. Time for a new life.”
Smiling, I gave her shoulder a playful punch but said nothing.
Her expression quickly turned serious. “Come on. Our lab still needs a ton of work. Oh, and this is the assistant I picked out for you, Jason Conrad.”
Just as she finished, a quiet young man who had been walking behind her stepped forward.
We exchanged a quick hello before heading straight to the lab.
From the moment I saw Amy, life shifted into full speed.
That day, we worked deep into the night before I finally returned to the cottage I was renting. The next morning, I was out again before sunrise.
And so, it went nonstop for seven full days.
By the time the herbal remedy lab officially opened, I was beyond exhausted. But a peace I had never known before bloomed quietly inside me.
For nine years, every day of my life had revolved around Ryan. I didn’t even have a single moment to call my own, let alone
the time to chase my dreams.
Meanwhile, Ryan was a stark contrast to the joy and celebration on my side.
The day I hung up on him, something in him shifted. He started to dial again, but Clare’s voice rang out beside him, “The
ceremony’s starting.”
Reluctantly, he slipped his phone away.
After the bonding ceremony, Clare suggested a long trip abroad.
Ryan looked at her face, which was so similar to his childhood sweetheart. Though part of him wanted to say no, the words
wouldn’t come.
So, he gave in. He booked the tickets and took her on a getaway.
A week later, Ryan returned home. He stepped through the front door and called out instinctively, “Daisy?”
When no one answered even after a few tries, his expression darkened at once.
Every small change he had noticed in me over the past few months rushed back all
chest.
once, stirring a strange panic in his
He grabbed his phone and dialed my number, but every call was met with the same cold, mechanical voice. “The number
you’ve dialed is unavailable.”
