The next evening, George said he had prepared a surprise and took Cora out. When they arrived at the restaurant, the server led them directly to a private room on the top floor.

The moment the door opened and she saw the room filled with flowers and candles, Cora's eyes sharpened.

George smiled and pulled out a chair for her. "Cora, do you like it?"

She froze for a few seconds without speaking, then sat down silently. He picked up the menu and ordered a table full of dishes, all her favorites. When the food arrived, he even cracked crab legs and deveined shrimp for her.

Throughout the evening, he kept finding topics to talk about and even brought up memories from when they were dating.

"Remember when we first got together? You'd come with me to all my classes every day. My professor kept calling on you so often that he privately asked me why everyone else accompanies their girlfriends to class, but with you, it was reversed..."

Faced with this sudden warmth from him, Cora felt uncomfortable. "What's gotten into you today?"

"I just noticed you haven't seemed happy lately, so I wanted to cheer you up. There's another surprise coming soon."

As he spoke, he checked his watch, then drew back the curtains.

Cora turned to look and heard a series of loud booms. Over a thousand fireworks rose into the sky, bursting open in brilliant, dazzling displays. Watching the heart shapes blooming in the air, Cora was frozen in place.

"You arranged all this?"

Before George could answer, the door to the private room burst open. Kimberly barged in with a group of people. Someone was snapping several photos with a Polaroid camera.

"Cora, are you satisfied with tonight's date? This was my carefully planned surprise. Isn't it romantic?"

Hearing Kimberly's smug tone, Cora's face, filled with complicated emotions, went rigid. She turned to look at George and asked the question again, though her voice now trembled.

"You arranged all this?"

George did not notice the change in her tone. He shook his head slightly and smiled at Kimberly. "No, it was Kimberly's idea. Why?"

Kimberly looked triumphant. "That's right. I heard George stood you up on your wedding anniversary, so I came up with this idea. The restaurant, flowers, candles, dishes, and fireworks were all my recommendations. I wanted to make sure you had an unforgettable evening.

"Oh, and did you get that perfume? I spent forever picking it out. Do you like it?"

It turned out all of this was Kimberly's arrangement. No wonder George was being so proactive.

In an instant, Cora recalled all the things Kimberly had done in college to push them together. Kimberly had told George to buy flowers, take her to amusement parks, send her good night messages at the same time every day.

He had followed through like a robot. Even his tone during the confession had been stiff.

Hearing the group of people around them praise Kimberly's clever arrangements, a deep sense of powerlessness washed over Cora.

Kimberly had arranged all this just to prove one thing to her. No matter how hard she tried to hold onto the past, the beginning, the end, and even the middle of her relationship with George had never been in her control.

From start to finish, everything had been in Kimberly's hands.

Cora could only accept it, and George was perfectly content with that.

Seeing Kimberly surrounded by a crowd of people, Cora could not stand it any longer. She got up and headed downstairs.

Halfway down, Kimberly caught up and stopped her.

"What's wrong? Not happy? Ending this relationship with such a romantic candlelit dinner will leave quite an impression on your life, won't it? Here, I'll give you these photos as mementos."

Cora lowered her eyes and saw the Polaroid photos Kimberly held out to her. In the photos, heart-shaped fireworks bloomed behind George. His arm was around her shoulder, making them look intimate.

Cora noticed immediately that his gaze was not on the camera, but toward where Kimberly had been standing.

She did not take the photos. She simply looked quietly at the person before her, exhaustion in her voice.

"'I've already signed the divorce papers. I'm letting you have him. What's the point of all this?"

"The point? I thought you'd be moved. Well, if you don't like it, I won't play these games anymore. There won't be any more chances anyway."

Kimberly turned around with a grin, about to leave, when the light fixture above suddenly came loose. In an instant, the crystal chandelier weighing dozens of pounds plummeted straight toward them.

Cora instinctively raised her hands to shield her head, then saw George rush over.

The fixture crashed heavily onto Cora's wrist, shoulder, neck, and back, knocking her to the ground.

Tears from the pain rolled down her face in large drops. Agonized groans escaped her throat.

Her whole body trembled as she tried to call for help. Then she saw Kimberly crying as she helped George up. He was also bloodied from the impact.

"George, why are you so foolish? No matter what danger I'm in, why do you always appear first to protect me? Why do you insist on staying by my side? Why can't I ever drive you away? Why..."

It was because he loved you. Cora answered for him in her mind.

Her head grew heavier, and her vision blurred. Finally, she could hold on no longer and lost consciousness completely.

…

When she woke again, Cora saw Kimberly. She placed a birthday invitation on the table.

"Six days from now will be the last day of your divorce waiting period with George. It's also his birthday. I'm planning to confess to him that day. He likes me so much. Giving him such a huge surprise will definitely make him very happy.

"George hit his head and has a mild concussion. I'll take care of him these next few days. If you want to spend more time with him during these last few days, I can move you to the room next to his."

Cora closed her eyes. Her voice was completely flat.

"No need. The person he wants to see most right now is you. And I don't want to see him anymore."

Kimberly nodded knowingly and left, closing the door behind her.

…

During those final days in the hospital, George called several times and sent several messages. Cora did not respond to any of them.

On the day she left, she was discharged from the hospital and went to pick up the divorce certificate.

After returning home, she placed the divorce certificate, along with the divorce agreement both of them had signed, into a gift box and tied it with a ribbon.

She had just picked up her luggage to leave when she ran right into George coming home.

Seeing her with a suitcase, he looked somewhat surprised. "Cora, today's my birthday. I was just about to take you to the party. Where are you going?"

Cora lied smoothly, "I have to catch a flight back to my hometown. The ticket's for today."

She turned and picked up the gift box from the table. "I prepared a birthday present for you. Happy birthday. I need to hurry, so I'm leaving now."

Without waiting to see George's reaction, she walked out the door, hailed a cab, and headed straight for the airport.

Watching her leave in such a rush, George felt a sudden unease.

His instinct was to call her back, to ask her to change her flight, or at least stay for his birthday party. However, just as he took a step, Kimberly's call came through.

"George, the birthday party's about to start. Why aren't you here yet? I've been planning this party for you for so long. I even prepared a big gift for you. I can't wait to show you my surprise..."

After a moment of hesitation, he ultimately drove away.

As for the gift box Cora had given him, he casually left it in the car without opening it.

Pushing open the hotel doors, the banquet hall was crowded with people, glasses clinking, lively and festive.

Seeing him appear, Kimberly smiled brightly and hurried over to him. "George, you're here?"

George nodded, his expression gentle. "Yeah. Didn't you say you prepared a surprise for me?"

Kimberly smiled at his words. "George, you're definitely going to love this surprise."

With that, she quickly walked to the front of the room and picked up the microphone. Her voice echoed throughout the entire hall.

"Thank you all for taking the time to attend George's birthday party. Today is a wonderful day. Not only is it his birthday, but I also have two pieces of good news to share.

"The first piece of good news is congratulations to George on his divorce. He's leaving the past behind and embracing a brand new future.

"The second piece of good news is that I will be formally confessing my feelings to George right here, right now.

"George, you've liked me for so many years, but I've been selfishly taking advantage of your affection. Today, I've finally come to my senses. I want to be with you forever..."