“I’ve made up my mind, I’m going to leave the Emersons and move overseas to live with you.”

Cecil Miller’s aunt, Dianne Miller, was thrilled to hear this. She then thoughtfully advised Cecil.

“Alright, Cecil, I'll help you with the immigration right away. It will take about a month so you should use this time to get together with your friends since it’s not very likely you’ll see them again once you come to Vinland. Make sure you say your goodbyes.

“Don’t forget Cleo especially. He raised you since you were a kid, so you should thank him for everything he’s done for you.”

Cecil gave Dianne her word.

After hanging up, she left the balcony. As she was heading to the living room, she caught herself sneaking a glance at the picture set on the table.

“I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to leave the Emersons and move overseas to live with you.”

Cecil Miller’s aunt, Dianne Miller, was thrilled to hear this. She then thoughtfully advised Cecil.

“Alright, Cecil, I'll help you with the immigration immediately. It will take about a month, so you should use this time to get together with your friends since it’s not very likely you’ll see them again once you come to Vinland. Make sure you say your goodbyes.

“Don’t forget Cleo, especially. He raised you since you were a kid, so you should thank him for everything he’s done for you.”

Cecil gave Dianne her word.

After hanging up, she left the balcony. As she was heading to the living room, she caught herself sneaking a glance at the picture set on the table.

Inside the picture, the sky as well as the faces of the people were lit auburn from the glow of the sun.

It was a picture of seventeen-year-old Cleo Emerson standing under the frame of a swing. He was smiling and pushing Cecil, who was only seven years old at the time. Her skirt fluttered in the wind and briefly grazed the tulips in the garden.

Even though it was so many years ago, Cecil could still recall how happy she was on the day the picture was taken.

It was such a shame that both she and Cleo could never go back to the way they were in the past anymore.

The thought of it made her feel rather sad. She quickly looked away and banished the memory into the distant past.

The Miller and Emerson families had always been very close across the generations. Cleo was ten years older than Cecil, so Cecil had always addressed him as Uncle Cleo.

When Cecil was seven years old, both of her parents died in a plane accident. It was Cleo who brought her back to his family and raised her.

He must have done it because he felt sorry for her, having tragically lost her parents at such a young age. Since then, he has kept her by his side at all times and taken care of her.

He would tell her bedtime stories at night and make sure to send her to school every day, regardless of the weather.

He would buy her all sorts of interesting toys and just like that, the young man raised the little girl and watched as she grew into a fine young lady.

Cecil had always been very clingy, partially because of Cleo’s gentle and attentive nature.

When she eventually reached her teenage years, she could not help herself from developing a crush on the man she had grown up with.

When she was seventeen years old, as usual, Cleo threw a grand birthday party for her.

He ended up drinking too much at the party, and it was Cecil who led him away to get some rest.

When she looked at the man that she had long had feelings for, she could not resist the urge to lower herself and plant a kiss on his lips.

Within seconds, Cleo had snapped his eyes open and shoved her to the other end of the couch.

Cecil could not understand his reaction. All she thought was that it was the perfect chance for her to confess her feelings for Cleo.

To Cleo, every word that came out of her mouth was scandalous and completely unacceptable.

He was infuriated by what he heard and became very upset.

“Cecil! Don’t you realize that I am your uncle?”

“I know, but we’re not related by blood! You are an Emerson while I am a Miller!”

Cleo frowned at how insistent she was being.

“I am ten years older than you! You are only seventeen, you’re too young to know the difference between familial affection and love! You don’t even know what love is yet!”

Cecil had always listened to him, but she was particularly stubborn concerning the matter.

“Is that why you’re rejecting me? Because you think I am too young for you? It doesn't matter. When I am older, I will prove that I know what love is!”

She could no longer remember how they wrapped up the argument.

Regardless, she started confessing her feelings for him every year on her birthday.

He would always reject her, but that was not enough to get her to stop.

It was going to be her twenty-first birthday next month.

However, she no longer planned to confess to him.

Only a month ago, Cleo came home with his girlfriend, and he introduced her to Cecil.

Although Cecil was distraught, she held back tears and asked through clenched teeth if he was intentionally doing it to rile her up because he wanted her to give up.

Cleo cast her an indifferent look and spoke in a rigid tone.

“Have some self-awareness, it’s normal for me to have a girlfriend at my age.”

Cecil was hurt by the completely still look in his eyes as he said that.

She spent that night crying.

Her mind was completely frantic, and she would not stop thinking about the past.

When morning came, Dianne, who lived overseas, suddenly texted her.

“Cecil, would you like to come live with me in Vinland?

“See, I already thought about raising you here with me when your parents passed. But my career was unstable at the time. And after I gave birth to Reya, I'd dealt with postpartum depression for a long time, so I decided to give up on the idea.

“Now that you’re a grown-up, I don’t think it’s proper for you to stay with the Emersons anymore. Since my situation is much better now, would you like to consider moving here and living together with me?”

Cecil did not reply at the time.

She did not want to leave Cleo and was determined to try again.

However, her resolve wavered over the last month.

Cleo had been bringing his girlfriend, Amelia Wright, all the time as if he was eager to show her off.

They held hands, hugged, and kissed. They had practically done everything a normal couple would do.

Last night, he even let Amelia stay for the night and sleep in his room.

Cecil stayed downstairs until three o’clock. Around that point, she heard suggestive sounds coming from inside Cleo’s room, even though the lights were switched off.

She covered her mouth tightly and let her tears fall, soaking the pillow on the couch.

That was when she finally decided to give up.

She was going to give up on her affection for Cleo.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted Cecil's stream of thought.

She looked up and immediately met Cleo’s eyes.

When he noticed Cecil sitting all by herself at the dining table, he darted a glance at the clock mounted on the wall.

It was almost eleven o'clock.

He frowned faintly before heading upstairs without saying a word.

He never bothered to greet her the entire time. It was as if they were strangers.

Cecil felt bitter about it and could not hold back from calling out after him.

“Uncle Cleo, dinner…”

Cleo kept walking up the stairs while remarking in a cold voice.

“I’ll have dinner with Amelia. How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t have to wait for me?”

Then, it was followed by the sound of the door closing with a thud.

Cecil felt something stir inside her. The edges of her eyes welled with tears.

Cleo would never have spoken to her in such a dismissive tone in the past.

He was sympathetic to the fact that she was afraid of being alone after losing her parents and would never let her eat by herself.

Even if he was busy with classes or with work later on, he made a point of rushing back home to dine with her.

Whenever he went overseas, he would return as soon as he could because he was worried about Cecil losing her appetite and getting sick while he was away.

It had been that way for a decade, and he had made no exceptions.

Then, everything changed after the first time Cecil confessed her feelings.

He started to keep his distance from her and frequently worked overtime or went on business trips to minimize the time he spent with her.

Furthermore, he stopped surprising her with gifts and even withheld his affection.

Ever since Amelia had shown up, there was an increasingly sharp look in his eyes when he looked at Cecil. It was as if he had turned into a stranger.

Cecil understood the reason. There was nothing she could do about it.

She grabbed her spoon and finished the food that had gone cold. It felt like chewing on candle wax.

There was a large variety of dishes, but they all tasted bitter to her.

After the meal, she packed up everything and went to knock gently on Cleo’s door.

Cleo opened the door with a sharp frown. His voice sounded disgruntled.

“Didn't I tell you to not bother me if there’s nothing important?”

Cecil pursed her lips and twisted her fingers into a knot.

“Uncle Cleo, I was thinking I’d like to change my room.”

A strange look flashed across Cleo’s eyes, but he did not seem to think much of it.

“Do whatever you want.”

With that, Cecil nodded and silently returned to her room.

She stared at the French window and all kinds of exquisite furniture in the room. Then, she regarded the dresser stuffed with her clothes, shoes, and bags.

It all filled her with a sense of loss.

The bedroom was the largest in the villa, with a lot of natural light.

It used to be Cleo’s bedroom.

When he first brought Cecil in, he was the one who made a point of yielding his bedroom to her.

She remembered the way he gently touched her head and told her that she was a little princess who deserved the best room in the house.

Now that Cecil was leaving, Amelia was going to move in soon.

She was only an adopted girl at best and a guest at worst.

What right did she have to take the master bedroom?

That was why she proposed the idea of ​​changing rooms. It was mainly to yield the space to Amelia and also to help with her packing up.

By the next afternoon, she had moved all her belongings into a smaller room at the end of the corridor.

The room used to be Cleo's study.

After cleaning the room, she gathered her documents and prepared to head out to sort out her visa.

When she passed the living room, she made a very faint nod in Cleo’s direction to acknowledge him.

She no longer greeted him with the same amount of warmth she used to.

Cleo was not used to how quiet she was.

When he observed the way she was slithering out of the house, he could not shake off the feeling that she had changed.

With a slight frown on his face, he called out to her before he thought better of it.

“Where are you going? It’s snowing too much out there. Need a ride?”

It was a long time since he offered to drive Cecil anywhere at all. She was a little too stunned to react.

“It’s going to be Christmas tomorrow. Aren’t you going on a date?”

She murmured in such a low voice that Cleo could barely hear her.

“What did you say?”

Cecil clenched her hands into a ball and dropped her eyes.

“I saw the news yesterday that mentioned something about you buying a diamond necklace that cost almost ten million dollars at the auction house. You’re going to give it to Amelia, aren’t you?”

Cleo was taken aback and blurted out sheepishly, “I was going to…”

Then, his voice was interrupted by the doorbell.

Shortly after that, Amelia showed up wearing a knitted mini-dress. Her long and curly hair was draped down to her waist, and her makeup made her look very delicate.

She immediately took Cleo by his arm when she walked in and spoke in a flirty voice.

“I’ve got a Christmas gift for you, Cleo. Do you want to guess what it is?”

It was just as Cecil had expected. She lowered her head and smiled bitterly.

Perhaps because she had made up her mind on leaving, it no longer hurt as much to know that they were going on a date.

She quietly withdrew to make room for them.

It helped that Cleo had dismissed their previous conversation as well.

Just as she was about to leave the house, he suddenly called out after her.

“Hold on, where were you going? I’ll drive you.”

Cecil was briefly taken aback by the gesture but still accepted it timidly.

“Thank you, Uncle Cleo.”

This time, she thanked him sincerely.

She was especially sincere in addressing him as her uncle.

Cecil rarely went out on weekdays. Usually, she spent most of her time in her studio, which was why Amelia was intrigued that she was going out on such a snowy day.

“Cecil, you don't have a boyfriend, so why are you going out in this weather?”

Cecil did not know how to tell them about her plans to leave and ended up saying vaguely, “I… I just need to get something done.”

Either way, they would be able to connect the dots when they arrived at the visa office.

Amelia did not continue pressing for answers and instead turned to Cleo to ask about their plans for the day.

The two were chatting away enthusiastically and seemed to have completely forgotten about the presence of Cecil in the back seat.

When they reached a red light, Amelia produced a lipstick and asked Cleo to help her touch up her makeup.

Cleo was very receptive.

He cupped her face in his palms and was very gentle with her.

When it looked like their faces were drawing closer, Cecil quickly turned away to look at the snow wafting out of the sky.

When they were about to reach their destination, Amelia suddenly mentioned that she needed to head back home to get a coat.

The navigation screen showed that they were only two kilometers away from their destination.

Without even thinking about it, Cleo mentioned that he would have to take a detour and so beckoned for Cecil to hail a ride to get to her destination.

Cecil smiled bitterly and did not protest as she got out of the car.

Cleo’s car sped away after that, its wheels tossing up a large mass of snow.

There was not a single soul anywhere along the side of the road, so Cecil walked for the remainder of the journey to the office and handed in her documents.

When she left the office after sorting out the paperwork, she bumped into one of her teachers back when she was in high school.

The two chatted briefly.

Upon hearing that Cecil was going to move overseas, the teacher seemed taken aback.

“Are you not going to come back after that? Is your uncle okay with that?”

Cecil did not know why her teacher suddenly brought up Cleo and briskly made up something on the spot.

“Yeah, he’s okay with that. Besides, we’re not related by blood, and now that I am of legal age, I can’t keep troubling him anymore. It’s good for me to go overseas and see the world anyway."

The teacher nodded solemnly.

“It may be true that you two are not related, but still, Mr. Emerson has been nothing but wonderful to you.

“There was once when you attended a competition and were accused of plagiarism by the other teams, and Mr. Emerson was having surgery for his appendicitis at the time. He rushed to the competition venue immediately after the surgery to vouch for you.

“This other time, when you had a fall at the school, Mr. Emerson sped to school and took you to the hospital right away. I heard he was in the middle of negotiating a deal worth several millions of dollars, and he just walked away from it!

“There’s also that time when some punks were trying to bully you, and he had someone teach them a lesson…”

Cecil found herself thinking about the distant past as well when she heard her teacher recounting her stories.

Towards the end of their conversation, the teacher held her hand tenderly and earnestly advised her to remember Cleo’s kindness and to repay him.

Cecil nodded silently.

She had been thinking about repaying him for all the dedication and kindness he had shown her.

She wagered that the best way she could repay him was to tell him she was leaving.

That way, he no longer had to worry about her holding onto him.

When she got home, she changed out of her clothes soaked by the snow and sat at her desk to make some calculations.

She had been living with the Emersons for many years and had been paying attention to the household expenses. She had managed to arrive at an approximate sum.

Apart from the general expenses, there must have been plenty of other hidden expenses over the years.

To be on the safe side, she decided to triple the tallied amount.

Around noon, she sorted out all the gifts Cleo had given her in the past and listed all of them on an online market site.

Then, she contacted a real estate company and put the Millers’ family home on sale.

After everything was done, she felt like a weight was lifted off her chest. As soon as she lay down on the bed, her phone vibrated.

It was a stream of messages from Amelia.

There were dozens of pictures followed by a brief text.

[Cecil, I’m going to be in Hawaii with Cleo for a few days. Make sure to be good at home by yourself!]

She did not need to open the pictures to know they were pictures of the couple boldly displaying their affection for each other.

Ever since they had become official, Amelia would send her dozens of such pictures after their dates.

In the past, she would become so upset at seeing these pictures that she would lose sleep over them. She would even sometimes cry until her eyes became red and swollen.

Now that she had decided to see Cleo as nothing more than a family member, such pictures no longer affected her the same way.

Furthermore, she was no longer interested in deducing Amelia’s intentions. All she did was send a brisk reply.

[Sure. Have fun.]