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.

The new month was approaching quickly, and Gemma's time was running out.

There was still so much she needed to do, and she refused to waste her precious remaining days confined to her room.

So, the once-proud young woman lowered her head. She approached Murphy, biting her lip as she apologized, "Uncle Murphy, I've thought it through. It was all my fault. I'm sorry."

However, Murphy's expression remained cold. The tender indulgence he once held for her was gone. "I'm not the one you should apologize to—it's Eva."

Her lip bled as she bit down harder, and the metallic taste filled her mouth. In that bitter moment, she realized the warmth and affection he used to reserve for her had long since been given to another woman.

"Fine, I'll apologize to her!" she said, her voice trembling as her entire body shook with emotion.

She turned to Evangeline and choked out, "I'm sorry, Aunt Eva."

The term "Aunt Eva" made Murphy freeze for a moment.

His dark eyes flickered briefly, as though he could not believe what he had just heard.

"Is that enough now, Uncle Murphy?" Gemma asked with a self-deprecating smile. But as she forced herself to smile, tears welled up in her eyes. "Are you satisfied?"

Murphy should have felt content, but for some reason, hearing his cherished rose apologize and call Evangeline "Aunt Eva" left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He responded with cold detachment while avoiding her gaze. "From now on, you'll move downstairs."

Gemma was momentarily stunned but quickly understood his reasoning—he believed Evangeline's accusations.

She thought to herself, 'Uncle Murphy, do you really think I'm the kind of person who would stand outside your bedroom door to eavesdrop on you and another woman? Is that how you see me?'

A wave of cold swept over Gemma again. Her vision spun, and she nearly collapsed, but she steadied herself against the wall. She bit her lip to keep from falling. "Fine," she said quietly.

If Murphy wanted her to move downstairs, she would. After all, she only had a few days left to live.

…

Later that evening, Gemma drove to the cryogenic experiment lab. She needed to discuss where her cryo-casket would be stored after the procedure.

"I read in the materials that you have cryo-casket storage facilities under the sea. Is that true?" Gemma asked.

"Of course," Andrea replied. "In fact, most of our cryo-casket storage facilities are underwater. Maintaining the sub-zero temperatures necessary for long-term storage requires enormous energy on land. But under the sea, the naturally low temperatures significantly reduce energy consumption."

"That's perfect," Gemma said with a smile. "I want my cryo-casket stored at the bottom of the sea."

"May I ask why?"

Still smiling, Gemma replied, "Because the stars can't find me there."

Murphy had gifted her a star. He once told her that no matter where she went, the star would follow her, always watching over her in his place. Yet now, Murphy did not care for her anymore.

Plus, she was about to die. It was too sad to let the star guard an unloved corpse. So, she decided to give the star its freedom—by sinking to a place where it could not see her. She would quietly disappear without burdening anyone or anything.

To avoid seeing Evangeline, Gemma deliberately stayed out late, only returning home when she thought everyone would be asleep.

However, when she arrived, the villa was brightly lit. Murphy sat in the living room, his face full of anger as he waited for her.

"Uncle Murphy, what's wrong?" Gemma asked, feigning confusion. She had no idea what she had done this time. She had spent the entire day away from the house.

Murphy threw a stack of documents onto the floor in front of her, barely containing his fury as he demanded, "Gemma, explain to me what this is!"

Gemma looked down, and among the scattered papers, she saw her cancer diagnosis.