Chapter 2

I lay in the freezing snow, clutching my stomach, my face twisted in pain.

When I didn't respond, Adrian grew more anxious:

"Say something, Luna!"

My voice trembled:

"I... I fell down the mountain."

"Which mountain?"

"The one you know."

Adrian suddenly went silent.

After a long pause, he asked:

"Luna, why did you suddenly come here?"

His tone couldn't hide his guilt.

I laughed, my eyes full of sarcasm.

"Because five years ago you promised me you'd propose to me at the mountain peak. Now that you're back, I wanted to familiarize myself with it in advance."

"I see."

Adrian let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief, then immediately said:

"Luna, wait for me. I'm coming right now."

By the time Adrian finally found me with Lillian in tow, I'd already been taken down the mountain by helpful bystanders to the emergency aid station.

I lay in the hospital bed, looking at Lillian hiding behind Adrian and asking pointedly:

"Why is she here?"

Since he was planning to dump me anyway, was Adrian not even bothering to pretend anymore?

Adrian said somewhat guiltily:

"We just happened to run into each other. When she heard you'd had an accident, she wanted to come see you with me."

I laughed coldly and pointed out the window toward the distance, in the direction of the cemetery.

"My brother is still buried there. How does she have the face to come here?"

At my words, Lillian's eyes immediately reddened. She pulled on Adrian's sleeve, her voice plaintive:

"Adrian."

Adrian patted the back of her hand soothingly, then turned around and self-righteously accused me.

"Luna, Lillian came here out of kindness to see you, but you're being so aggressive. Is this how your parents raised you? Apologize!"

Lillian sobbed quietly to me:

"Luna, I know you've resented me ever since what happened six years ago. Not only did I cause your brother's death, I also left you with a permanent disability in your right leg."

"But I've always regretted it. I really know I was wrong. Please, for the sake of us once being best friends, can you forgive me?"

Adrian watched Lillian's aggrieved tears and couldn't help but want to raise his hand to wipe them away.

But when his peripheral vision caught me, he could only stiffly lower his hand.

Seeing I remained unmoved, he quickly gave me a look, signaling for some kind of response.

"Ha."

I let out a cold laugh and looked at Adrian.

Even though I already knew he'd betrayed me, I still couldn't control my reddening eyes:

"Do you think I should forgive her?"

Adrian sighed:

"Luna, what happened back then was definitely Lillian's fault. But she was just confused for a moment—the main responsibility doesn't lie with her."

Momentarily confused?

I only felt how laughably stupid I was.

Back then, her father wanted to sell her to an old man as a wife. I felt sorry for her and begged my parents to take her in.

My family treated her like their own daughter in terms of food, clothing, and expenses, never showing any favoritism.

Whatever I had, she had too.

But she colluded with criminals to sell out my brother.

My brother was an undercover police officer. Six years ago, he'd infiltrated a criminal organization to collect evidence.

Just as he was about to gather all the proof and close the net, his identity was suddenly exposed.

The investigation revealed that Lillian had overheard my brother's call with his superior and sold that conversation to the criminals for a hundred thousand dollars.

And she wanted that money simply because she thought she wasn't pretty enough and wanted plastic surgery.

Because the information leaked, our entire family was targeted for revenge by the criminals.

To protect me, my brother was blown to pieces by a bomb.

Though I barely survived, my right foot was crippled. Even after recovery, I'd always walk with a slight limp.

Thinking of this, I shook off his hand forcefully, my eyes full of a strangeness I'd never shown before, as if I'd never truly seen him for who he was.

"Adrian, it wasn't your family who died, it wasn't your right foot that was ruined. What right do you have to tell me to forgive her?"

"She didn't do it with her own hands, true—but if it weren't for her, would any of this have happened?"

When I was kidnapped by the criminals, it was indeed Adrian who'd risked his life to save me.

At seventeen, he'd fought hand-to-hand with the criminals and spent seven days in the ICU before he was saved.

But I couldn't use his life-saving grace as an excuse to tolerate everything without limits.

Adrian's face darkened. Stung by my unfamiliar gaze, he said angrily:

"Luna, you bear half the responsibility for Lillian's mistakes."

"You did help her, but when you were being kind, you didn't consider her self-esteem because of your privileged background. That's what twisted her psychology and made her do wrong."

"When she had no money for food, why did you give her money directly? You should have secretly helped her in other ways without letting her notice, protecting her dignity."

"If you'd considered Lillian's feelings more back then, would things have turned out this way?"

And in Lillian's tear-filled eyes, there was now nothing but provocation.

Where Adrian couldn't see, she raised her middle finger toward the direction where my brother was buried.

I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed the water glass from the table and threw it at them.

"Get out! Both of you!"