Right when Martha wanted to say something, Joy suddenly changed the topic. “It’s nothing. Welcome back, Sammy.”

When he heard the nickname Joy had not used for him for years, Samuel froze for a moment before he gave her a meaningful look.

When had Joy stopped calling him Sammy?

Was it since she was eighteen, fifteen, or earlier?

When she stopped, he thought she had grown up and no longer wanted to be close to him, only to learn later that it was because she had fallen in love with him.

But she was calling him Sammy again. Samuel stared at her for a long time with a profound look in his eyes.

Something about Joy seemed to have changed.

After some time, he looked down and went over to put the gifts he had brought on the table. He said, “Dad, Mom, these are Yelena’s gifts. She said it’s just a small gesture from her, and she hopes that you’d like them.”

Martha beamed at that. “Of course I’d love them. Yelena always gives us great gifts. Have you thanked her for us?”

Francis Foster also stood up, and a smile appeared on his usually stern face. “Samuel, when you visit Yelena’s family next, bring them the can of Earl Grey tea leaves in the cupboard.”

Francis and Martha were always satisfied with Yelena being Samuel’s fiancee. Once they got excited talking about her, they started talking nonstop about asking Yelena’s parents to come over when Samuel was free during the weekend.

It was clear that they wanted to talk about their wedding.

Joy just sat where she was and observed them quietly. Loneliness bloomed in her, and she dug her nails into her palms, but soon, she unfurled her fists.

At that time, she could clearly sense once again that she was the outsider in the situation.

But she would never have to feel frustrated anymore.

With that thought in mind, she calmly got up and went to her room.

Samuel heard the sound of her getting up. He looked up in the midst of talking to his parents, but all he saw was Joy vanishing behind her door.

Was he imagining things?

Ever since he came back, Joy had only spoken to him once. That was highly unusual for her.

…

That afternoon, Joy decided to go to the immigration department to get her visa.

When she went downstairs, she saw Yelena sitting beside Samuel. He was peeling an orange for her while smiling.

Samuel deftly peeled the orange, then peeled off the white bits on it before delivering a segment to Yelena’s lips.

Yelena’s cheeks slowly turned red. She gave him a look before she obediently bit down on the orange in his hands.

Samuel chuckled and took a piece of tissue from the tissue box beside him before dabbing it against Yelena’s mouth.

“Was it sweet?”

Yelena nodded. She picked up a segment of the orange and gave it to him.

“Why don’t you try it too?”

As she watched them flirt, Joy quietly turned away and wanted to head out.

“Joy!”

Suddenly, Yelena called out to her. When she turned around, she saw her beckon her over.

“Samuel is on break today, and we decided to go play at the park. Would you like to join us?”

Joy shook her head. “I don’t want to bother you on your date.”

Yelena smiled. “You’re my sister-in-law. You wouldn’t be a bother.”

She stressed the word “sister-in-law” as if she were reminding Joy of her status.

If she heard that word in the past, Joy would feel like a hand squeezing down on her heart, and it would hurt so much that she could not breathe.

But at present, he only treated Samuel as her brother, so her heart was as calm as a lake.

“I have certain things to take care of. I’ll join you next time.”

When she heard Joy refuse her again, Yelena’s smile instantly stiffened, and her voice trembled with sadness. “Joy, are you blaming me for stealing your brother from you? Is that why you won’t join us on our outing?”

Samuel hurriedly hugged Yelena and frowned. “I’ve always liked you. How can you say that you stole me?”

Those romantic words made Yelena’s ears turn red, and she punched him in the chest.

He just chuckled and hugged her before kissing her crown. “If she doesn’t want to go, let her be.”

Joy smiled.

Yes. That was indeed the case.

In the future, they were also going to go their separate ways.

She politely bade them goodbye and headed out.

Once she was done applying for her visa, Joy walked out of the immigration department and headed to her dance troupe.

One wall of the leader’s office was filled with the dance troupe’s achievements and photos. Joy touched them with great sentiment. She did not want to leave.

She once thought she would spend her entire life in this dance troupe, but who would have expected her to leave so suddenly?

“Joy.”

Helen Quinn, the leader, came in and patted her shoulder.

As she stared at Helen, she was reminded that Helen had guided her for ten years. Her reluctance to part filled her heart again, but she barely managed to suppress it.

She clenched her fists and sucked in a deep breath.

“Helen, I’m resigning. My birth parents found me, and I’d like to live with them abroad.”

Helen’s eyes flew wide open. Her surprise was quickly replaced by happiness. She was delighted for Joy. “That’s great. Are you going to keep dancing after you leave?”

Helen had watched as Joy turned from a timid and shy girl into an elegant woman. She also knew just how much effort Joy put into dancing. Dancing was the one thing that let Joy show herself off and gain confidence, so she did not want Joy to give up dancing.

Joy looked at the photos of the dancers dancing. Determination shone in her eyes. With a faint smile, she nodded. “Dancing has always been my dream. I won’t just give up on it. In the future, I’ll continue dancing.”

Helen nodded. She had always admired Joy’s determination. That was why she was willing to give Joy the troupe’s lead dancer position and wanted to make her take over in the future.

But fate had thrown a wrench into her plans. Joy was going to resign to reunite with her parents. Helen could not say no to that, but she still asked tentatively, “Are you leaving right away? The dance you choreographed for a year is about to debut. You’ve spent so much effort and time on it. You should show it on stage at least once.”

Joy nodded. “I’ve already talked to my parents. Once I’m done tying up loose ends here, I’ll go to them. I still have half a month before I leave. It’s enough time for me to perform the dance.”

Helen felt at ease then. She patted Joy’s shoulder. They then chatted a little more before Joy went to the studio to dance.

Joy grabbed her bag and headed home when the sun had long since set.

When she pushed the door open, Yelena was still around.

After listening in on the conversation, she realized they were talking about her wedding dress and jewelry.

“Martha, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed from all the dresses and jewelry. I want Joy to help me make a decision. No matter what, we’ve been best friends for years. She knows what I like too.”

When Yelena said those things, Joy stepped into the house. Martha quickly beckoned her over. “Joy, Yelena is having some trouble with this. Why don’t you help her pick what she’ll need for her wedding?”

Joy stared at Yelena. She was smiling, but when she met her gaze, her smile revealed provocation.

Joy looked down. After some thought, she still decided to say no. “Sorry, I’m not free. I still have something to do at the dance troupe.”

She only had half a month left and was about to perform. Before she left, she still had plenty of loose ends to tie up. She was not lying when she said she did not have time to help Yelena.

But right after she said those things, the atmosphere turned gloomy.

Samuel glared at Joy, and his gaze was cold. “Your best friend is about to get married. Can’t you set aside your own things? It’s settled. You’re helping Yelena, and I’ll apply for leave on your behalf tomorrow!”

If he was going to force her to take leave on the excuse that he was her guardian, then she had no right to refuse.

Joy gave a wry smile and said nothing else.

Over the next few days, Joy set aside everything else and helped Yelena choose the things she wanted for her wedding.

Originally, she thought Yelena only needed to pick her stuff from the department store.

But Yelena brought her from the south of the city to the north, and she kept asking Joy’s opinions on everything, from her wedding dress to her hair accessories.

Whenever Joy asked her to ask Samuel, she would pout. “Why should I ask Samuel? He’s a man. Aside from giving me money, he knows nothing about such things. You’re the one who understands me.

“When I asked him to help me pick our wedding rings, he delivered the entire shelf of wedding rings to my house and asked me to pick one.”

While Yelena tried the various hair accessories in front of the mirror, she kept complaining. It was evident that she was boasting.

Joy just listened in silence and did not react as she expected.

Yelena bit her lip. Right when she was about to say something, she saw Samuel from her peripheral vision, and she cried out in delight, “Samuel, you’re here!”

Joy looked up and saw Yelena run over to throw herself into Samuel’s arms. She kissed his chin sweetly.

Samuel patted her hair and said dotingly, “Didn’t you say you were going to the church in the suburbs to pray? I applied for half a day’s leave to pick you up.”

They whispered to each other for a little longer before Yelena blushed and buried her face in his arms.

Suddenly, she remembered something and grabbed Joy’s hand. “Joy has been keeping me company over the past few days. Why don’t we go together?”

Samuel did not even look at Joy. He just picked up the stuff Yelena bought and headed out.

“We’ll do whatever you want.”

Church bells rang in the distance. The fog gradually disappeared to reveal the church in the mountains.

Joy ducked her head to look at the stone path underneath her feet as she continued upward.

“What’s this?”

Suddenly, a voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and saw Yelena standing before a tree as she observed the prayer ribbons tied on it.

“May Joy always be happy and successful in life. Samuel.

“May Joy always be successful and be filled with hope. Samuel.

“May Joy be blessed, and may no misfortune befall her. May the people she meet be kind. Samuel.

“May Joy always be safe.”

Yelena kept reading, and her jealousy grew.

As Joy stared at the prayer ribbons, her composure cracked, and her thoughts drifted.

Due to the earthquake, she had always been sickly and often fell ill.

In order for her to get better sooner, Samuel came over to the church every week to hang prayer ribbons for her so that she would be safe.

She never expected Samuel to have tied so many prayer ribbons to the tree over the years.

The ribbons were still on the tree, but things would no longer be the way they were between her and Samuel.

“Your relationship is so good. It makes me feel like I’m a third wheel.” Yelena stopped reading. With a long face, she turned around to leave.

Samuel hurriedly grabbed her and patiently tried to calm her down. “Don’t get angry now. You’re not a third wheel. You’re my wife, and she’s just my sister. If you don’t like it, I’ll have someone remove the ribbons.”

With that said, Samuel had the church attendant remove all the ribbons on the tree.

The ribbons were removed one by one and stepped all over. They were stained with mud.

Soon, new ribbons were tied to the tree, all containing Samuel’s love for Yelena.

Yelena finally smiled, and she gave Joy a smug look, but she pretended to be worried. “Won’t Joy be mad if you do this?”

Samuel just smiled. “My sister can’t possibly be more important than my wife. You’re not mad at me anymore, are you?”

Perhaps Yelena was happy because of what Samuel did because she stuck herself to Samuel’s side when they returned to the city.

Joy sat in the back with her eyes shut. Just when she wanted to rest, the car suddenly sped up.

She opened her eyes and wanted to ask what had happened when she suddenly heard a loud bang.

The car suddenly broke down, breaking through the barricade before spinning a few times. In the end, it got stuck in the mountain valley.

Her head was slammed back against her seat, and it knocked her out. When she regained consciousness, she found that she was pinned to her seat. A tree branch had stabbed through her arm, and blood was flowing everywhere.

To her side was Yelena, who was unconscious. She seemed to be fine and had just fainted from shock.

Samuel reacted quickly. He first broke the car window and climbed out. After staggering a few steps, he finally regained his footsteps. After looking at the pained Joy and the unconscious Yelena, he hesitated for a moment before he picked Yelena up.

“I’ll leave with Yelena first and have someone pick you up later.”

Then, he did not even look at Joy anymore. With Yelena on his back, he hurriedly left out of worry about anything happening to her.

When he gave up on her, Joy told herself that she would never cry for him again and only live for herself.

But when she was pinned in the car and trapped in an empty mountain valley, she could not help but remember the earthquake all those years ago.

At that time, she was also trapped under debris. She was alone in the dark underground with nothing else around her. She had been trapped for three days and three nights, and she cried for the exact same amount of time.

Later on, the Foster family took her in, and she dreamed about that night every day. Then, she would wrap herself up in her blanket while crying so hard that she trembled.

At that time, Samuel would always rush into her room and hug her tight. “Don’t be scared. I’m here. I won’t let you get hurt anymore.”

But at that very moment, she could only watch him as he left. In the end, he vanished from her sight.

More blood showed up on her arm. As the sun set and the seconds trickled by, Samuel did not come back to pick her up.

With a bitter smile, she used the last shred of her strength and climbed out of the car regardless of the pain. Then, she gritted her teeth and pulled the tree branch from her arm. Finally, she started crawling out.

She did not know how long she spent crawling. Her blood mixed with her tears, but in the end, she managed to crawl to the road before she fainted.

When she woke up, Joy found herself in a hospital bed, and her arm was wrapped up in thick bandages.

The last thing she remembered was a kind passerby picking her up and sending her to the hospital.

Up to that point in time, Samuel never visited her.

The nurse told her that he was taking care of Yelena.

Yelena was only mildly injured, but he had reserved an entire floor for her to rest. He even had specialists take care of her.

Once she heard this, Joy instinctively looked at her bandaged arm and remembered how she was hospitalized for a minor cold in the past as well.

Just like how he was doing with Yelena at the moment, Samuel had made it seem like Joy was terminally sick and asked many doctors to examine her. He also stayed by her side at all times and even pushed back the time for him to return to his duties.

Tears fell from her eyes and wet the pillow.

Many of her friends came to pick her up on the day she was discharged. Among them was a boy who was once her admirer. When she saw the flowers in front of her, Joy instinctively wanted to reject them, but the boy interrupted her with a stammer, “J-Joy, you don’t have to read too much into this. These flowers are to congratulate you for being discharged. I know that you’re about to leave soon, and I want you to live your life well from now on.”

Joy was stunned momentarily before she thanked him and took the flowers.

But right when she turned around, she saw Samuel standing at the hospital entrance.

He seldom got mad, but his expression was dark at the moment. He glared at the flowers in her hands coldly before he left.

Joy was surprised and a little puzzled. She could not understand why he was angry, but she did not think too much about it. Once she got home, she put the flowers into a vase.

Suddenly, someone knocked on her door. While using the wall as her support, she walked over to open the door to see a well-defined face.

Samuel!

Ever since he learned of her feelings, their relationship had become sour, and Samuel never came to visit her again.

Why was he here?

When she was about to ask, Samuel hugged her. The sudden action made her stagger backward and they fell on the couch in her room.

She smelled the scent of alcohol from him and wanted to avoid him, but Samuel grabbed her chin and kissed her!