Gemma's parents passed away when she was very young.

An old, tattered newspaper still bore the tragic headline: "Socialite Suffers Mental Breakdown, Stabs Husband Over a Hundred Times While He Sleeps, Then Hangs Herself—Leaves Behind a Five-Year-Old Orphan."

She was that five-year-old orphan.

On a freezing winter night, she hid in a wardrobe wearing only her pajamas. The cold seeped into her small body until she was nearly numb, but she did not dare come out.

It was Murphy who eventually found her and carried her out.

"Be good, Gemma. Don't be scared. I'm here. As long as I'm around, no one will ever hurt you," he said gently.

She nestled in Murphy's arms, feeling safe for the first time in what felt like forever.

Murphy took her home. Perhaps he pitied her tragic circumstances, but he spoiled her endlessly. Whatever she wanted—no matter how impossible—he would give it to her, even if it meant reaching for the stars.

In fact, he truly did reach for the stars for her. The horrific death of Gemma's parents left her with severe psychological trauma.

During her early days living with Murphy, she clung to him desperately, unable to be apart from him for even a minute. If she lost sight of him, her anxiety attacks would spiral out of control.

One quiet night, Murphy carried her onto the rooftop, pointed to the brightest star in the sky, and said, "Gemma, do you see that star? I bought it for you."

He handed her a certificate of ownership for the star, then gently tapped her nose and said, "From now on, this star is yours. When I'm not around, the star will watch over you instead."

Now, as she stood by the window, Gemma pulled back the curtains, hoping to catch one last glimpse of her star. However, the sky was blanketed with thick clouds, and her star was nowhere to be seen.

…

The next morning, the head of the cryogenic research team, Andre Freeman, called, asking Gemma to come in for a physical examination.

"There's no need for that," Gemma replied with a faint, sorrowful smile.

She was already on the brink of death. What good would another examination do? No number of tests would make the cancer disappear.

"Ms. Kirk, we need to assess your physical condition to determine the freezing process and the optimal freezing time," Andre explained. "It's also to improve your chances of survival. Please cooperate."

Gemma had no reason to refuse, so she got in her car and drove to the facility.

After a long day of tests, the physical examination was finally over. Before she left, Andre handed her a thick stack of documents.

"The shape of the cryo-casket and its future storage location are customizable. Here's the relevant material for you to review," he explained.

Gemma nodded, softly thanked him, and carried the documents back home.

When she stepped inside, she noticed that the living room lights were on. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought, 'Is Uncle Murphy back?'

Despite how cruelly he had treated her, she still wanted to see him. How pathetic was that?

Trying to steady her racing heart, Gemma quickly walked into the living room, only to find Evangeline dressed in a silk slip dress.

"Gemma, you're back!" Evangeline greeted her warmly. "Have you eaten dinner yet? Your Uncle Murphy is busy in the kitchen. Let me know what you'd like, and I'll have him make it for you."

Her demeanor was every bit that of a lady of the house.

A wave of bitterness surged in Gemma's chest. She shook her head and was about to say she was not hungry. Just then, Murphy emerged from the kitchen carrying a freshly prepared dish.

"You're just in time," Murphy said. "Eva and I are engaged. Starting today, Eva is the lady of this house. So, from now on, she'll handle everything—big and small."

Lowering her head, Gemma replied quietly, "I understand."

He had expected Gemma to lash out, but to his surprise, she accepted his words calmly. This unexpected reaction even brought a rare flicker of astonishment to Murphy's usually dark, inscrutable eyes.

"Don't be so stern. You're scaring Gemma," Evangeline said playfully. "Come on, Gemma, ignore him. Let's eat."

With that, Evangeline grabbed Gemma's arm to pull her toward the dining room.

Caught off guard by Evangeline's sudden gesture, Gemma fumbled, and the stack of documents in her arms scattered to the floor.

Murphy frowned as he bent down to pick up one of the papers. It was a design sketch of a cryo-casket. His tone turned cold as he demanded, "What's this?"

Though her heart pounded in panic, Gemma kept a calm exterior. She casually explained, "It's a cryo-casket design. I'm researching it for a summer project. Before the break, my professor assigned us to freely design a product, so I've decided to create a crystal coffin that can preserve bodies. I printed some materials from the internet as references."

She was currently a freshman studying design, so the excuse sounded plausible enough.

However, Murphy's expression remained grim. "Gemma, are you insane?" he snapped.

Gemma's parents were also buried by Murphy. On the day of their burial, Gemma locked herself in the wardrobe again.

Murphy found her but did not force her to come out. Instead, he opened the wardrobe door and climbed inside to stay with her.

"Uncle Murphy, is it as dark and cold inside a coffin as it is here?" she asked with reddened eyes. "I dreamed that Mom told me to join her in the coffin. She said it's cold and lonely being in there all by herself…"

"That was just a dream," Murphy reassured her. "Don't be afraid. You're not going anywhere. I won't let anyone take you away from me."

She wrapped her arms around Murphy's neck and softly whispered in his ear, "As long as you're with me, I wouldn't even be scared of being in a coffin."

…

It seemed Murphy still remembered that moment.

He had misunderstood. He thought Gemma was using the cryo-casket project as a subtle way to confess her feelings to him again.

"Uncle Murphy, if you don't like it, I'll change my design," Gemma said quietly. "It's just a summer project. Don't be upset."

Murphy's expression remained cold and silent, but Evangeline chimed in with a smile to ease the tension, "Yes, change it. Coffins are so morbid. You're a young girl, so don't involve yourself in such grim matters. Be more cheerful!"

Gemma gathered the scattered documents from the floor. Then, in front of Murphy, she threw them all into the trash. Only then did his expression soften slightly.

…

Late that night, once everyone was asleep, Gemma crept out of bed and retrieved the documents from the trash.

As she returned to her room, Evangeline stepped out of Murphy's bedroom wearing a silk slip dress. Her shoulders and back bore unmistakable marks of intimacy. It was not hard to imagine what she and Murphy had been doing in that room.

Gemma forced herself to look away and silently reminded herself over and over, 'Don't look. Don't think about it. She's Uncle Murphy's fiancée. Whatever they do, it's only natural.'

Murphy loved her, and she could make him happy. That was all that mattered.

"Gemma, why won't you look at me?" Evangeline's eyes glinted with provocation, a stark contrast to her earlier demeanor. "Are you still unable to accept that Murphy loves me and not you?"

Gemma lowered her gaze. "No, I've accepted it."

"Stop pretending. Do you think I can't see through you?" Evangeline sneered. "The way you look at Murphy is not normal at all. Even though you call him Uncle Murphy, he raised you. Technically, he's more like your foster father. And yet you've fallen in love with your foster father… Gemma, are you mentally unwell?"

Gemma bit her lip hard, refusing to respond.

Was she… truly broken?

It was no wonder Murphy had grown so disgusted with her after learning about her feelings. To the world, this love was nothing but shameful.

"I heard the reason you're an orphan is that your mother lost her mind, grabbed a knife in the middle of the night, and stabbed your father over a hundred times—killing him on the spot."

Evangeline stepped closer, her words deliberately cruel. "Well, it's no wonder you're mentally unstable. It's hereditary. Your mother was a deranged lunatic, and you're just like her."

Gemma could endure Evangeline's insults toward her, but she could not tolerate anyone speaking ill of her deceased parents.

"Shut up!" she shouted, lunging forward and grabbing Evangeline by the throat. "You don't know the whole story! You have no right—"

Before she could finish, a cold, sharp voice cut through the air.

"Gemma, what are you doing?!"

Murphy had woken up at some point. He stood in the doorway, his face filled with fury as he glared at Gemma.

Evangeline stumbled weakly, collapsing into Murphy's arms as though she could not stand on her own. With tears brimming in her eyes and a trembling voice, she said, "Murphy, don't blame Gemma. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have come out dressed like this to get some water.

"I just thought that it was so late and Gemma would already be asleep, so I didn't bother putting on a robe and just stepped out in my slip dress. But as soon as I opened the door, I ran into Gemma. She saw these marks on me and called me shameless, saying that a woman as indecent as me has no right to be with you."

With just a few words, she painted Gemma as a mentally twisted troublemaker who stayed up in the middle of the night. Evangeline said Gemma had eavesdropped outside Murphy's door and, after getting consumed by jealousy, resorted to attacking his fiancée.

"She's lying. I didn't insult her," Gemma said with slightly reddened eyes. "She deliberately provoked me by bringing up my parents… And… And she even called my mother mentally deranged!"

Back in elementary school, Gemma was bullied by her classmates because of her mother's story. They surrounded her in a circle, throwing trash at her while calling her the child of a madwoman.

Murphy had been the one to step in and resolve it back then.

Gemma thought that Murphy would surely remember and know she would never lie about something that had caused her so much pain.

"Mentally deranged? Gemma, what are you talking about?" Evangeline asked with a bewildered expression. "What happened to your parents? All I know is that they passed away when you were very young. I don't know anything else."

Murphy offered Evangeline a few soft words of reassurance before turning to Gemma with a cold, piercing stare.

"Gemma, I never thought you'd stoop so low as to say such things just to slander Eva." His voice carried a sharp edge of disappointment. "Eva doesn't know anything. I've never told her about your past."

"You didn't tell her, but couldn't she have looked it up online?" Gemma said defensively. "It's not exactly hard to find—"

"Enough!" Murphy interrupted her harshly, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Do you think everyone has a malicious heart like you? Always stirring up trouble?"

Gemma froze.

Malicious heart and constantly stirring up trouble? So, this was how he saw her?

At that moment, any explanation she might have offered felt meaningless.

"Apologize to Eva. Now," Murphy commanded. His expression was cold and unyielding.

Gemma bit her lip and stayed silent. She would not apologize for this. After all, she was not in the wrong. The one who owed her an apology was Evangeline.

"I've spoiled you too much," Murphy said, his tone growing colder. "But this time, I won't let it slide. Starting today, you're confined to your room. You won't step out until you've reflected on your behavior and are ready to apologize."

For as long as she could remember, Gemma had always been the one Murphy favored and protected. But today, he chose someone else.

Locked in her room, Gemma curled up on her bed and hugged her knees to her chest. Even so, she could not shake the cold that seeped into her bones.

Her phone vibrated suddenly, breaking the silence. It was a message from the cryogenic experiment team:

[Ms. Kirk, your test results are in. Based on our analysis, your optimal freezing window is between the 7th and 21st of next month. Please select a date within this range for the procedure.]

Next month was December. Gemma's chest tightened painfully. December…

She sat in the darkness for a long time, her hands trembling as she typed in her chosen date: [December 12th.]

December 12th was her birthday. It was also the day Murphy would marry Evangeline.

She decided she would not attend their wedding. Murphy was already so tired of her presence, so going would only make things worse for them.

Instead, she would leave quietly without disturbing anyone ever again.