I relaxed my hand, took the cleaning cloth passed over by the servant, and slowly wiped my hands.

“You’re wrong about one thing.”

“In Nashville, I am the power.”

The second the surgery light turned on, the sharp scent of cleaner made me dizzy for a brief moment.

I suddenly saw eighteen-year-old Rosalie clearly.

She always sat in the front row of the classroom, spine straight like a ruler.

Her collar had been washed until it faded, worn down into tiny loose threads.

Once, she ran a high fever and skipped lessons for three days. When I finally found her, she was sorting trash by the roadside.

I pushed five thousand yuan into her bag.

She chased after me across three streets to give it back, voice rough. “Kaegan, please let me keep some pride.”

After that, I only “by chance” brought an extra breakfast, and “along the way” lent her study notes.

On the night of the Winter Solstice, she carried two roasted sweet potatoes in her pocket.

In the minus-ten cold wind, she waited outside the dorm until the lights went out, and the first line she spoke when she saw me was:

“Keagan, can I ask you to wait for me?”

Many years later, she rose from nothing and brought her company to the market.

She held me close through the night, voice breaking. “Those years I slept only three hours a day, scared I couldn’t keep pace with you, scared you’d notice I had to save a whole week just to buy you a coffee.”

Until the day she met my family, when she saw my father in the living room, she understood that the Foster in Keagan Foster was that Foster.

Later, Rosalie told me that at that instant her head held only one thought. “So the finish line I chased my whole life, couldn’t even reach your starting line.”

After learning my family roots, Rosalie became known for pushing herself too hard.

She fought for deals and projects without rest, burned down her health, and forced her way into the highest circles of Nashville.

Then she laid out a rose manor with 99,999 gold roses and asked me to marry her.

What did she say at that time?

She said her purpose in living was to become someone good enough for me.

As the anesthesia slowly wore off, a light ache rose from my chest.

The love Rosalie gave me was vast and shining.

Pity, brief.

Promises shine brightest only when they are spoken.

The forever we promised did not last past seven years. “Young sir?”

I snapped my eyes open, fingertips brushing the cold wetness at the corners of my eyes.

The ache pressing on my chest would not ease.

The butler spoke quietly, “Miss Rosalie has come back.”

I dropped my eyes to my chest; the skin there had already been fully changed.

Fresh flesh, faintly pink, smooth and even, no mark left.

Rosalie walked in holding bags, warmth familiar on her face.

She set the jewelry-brand bags aside and reached out to touch my face.

“Keagan, Fritz went too far today.”

“I bought you a new watch, don’t be angry with him, hm?”

The medical staff had already gone from the old house; only a handful of guards stayed behind.

Rosalie noticed nothing strange. She smiled and opened the jewelry case, diamonds shining brightly.

“I promise I won’t let Fritz stir up trouble again.”

When she spoke Fritz’s name, warmth slipped into her voice without hiding; even she failed to notice it.

I stood still, watching her quietly.

Now she wore a necklace worth tens of millions.

The collar, once worn thin by washing, now held smooth mother-of-pearl buttons.

Even the gardenia scent on her body was exactly the same as the smell in Fritz’s hair.

I looked at her graceful appearance and suddenly thought of that Winter Solstice long ago.

She stood in the snow, the cuffs of her down jacket leaking cotton, yet hugged roasted sweet potatoes to her chest, afraid they would turn cold.

“Keagan?”

She noticed my silence and moved closer again.

That gardenia smell grew even heavier.

Fritz suddenly dashed out, staggering as he fell into Rosalie’s arms.

“Sister Rosalie!”

“He had people hold me down and cut skin straight off my body…”

“Didn’t you say you would keep me safe forever? It hurts so badly now…”

Rosalie’s breathing clearly broke.

She looked at the bandage wrapped around his chest, then at the smooth skin on mine, and her eyes chilled.

Her voice dropped low.

“Keagan, how did you turn into this?”

“So… heartless?”

Fritz cried softly against her shoulder, but the glance he sent my way carried nothing but challenge and pride.

“He’s still so young, with such a large mark on his body, how will he live later?”

Rosalie’s voice grew cold. “Do you need to ruin him before you feel content?”

I watched the way she blocked Fritz behind her.

All at once, I remembered Rosalie at eighteen, careful, restrained, not even daring to wrap her arms tightly around me when she held me.

Back then, she made her first promise, saying she would stay by my side for life.

I gently brushed the fresh skin on my chest, holding back the ache rising in my heart.

“Have you considered what I’m meant to do with those words carved on me?”

“He tattooed me with those words. I took a piece of his skin. Even.”

Rosalie parted her lips, yet nothing came out.

Seeing her fall silent, Fritz suddenly screamed wildly. “Sister Rosalie! You’re already carrying my baby!”

“You can’t let him treat me this way! Take me away! Please, take me away!!”

It felt like lightning struck me, leaving me frozen in place as I watched the burst of happiness in Rosalie’s eyes.

She carefully held Fritz’s hand, gentle as if holding something precious.

Joy spilled from her brows and eyes.

“Don’t worry, we’re leaving right now.”

Rosalie rushed out with him pulled along, her steps never slowed even for a moment as she passed me.

She only tossed back one line. “Keagan, you need to calm yourself and learn how to be my husband properly.”

After that, Rosalie did not come home for three months.

She took Fritz to Switzerland to see the snow.

He casually mentioned liking the Alpine snow views, she immediately purchased a hillside vacation home, and the ownership papers carried only his name.

After that, they traveled to Venice.

Fritz shared a photo online of Rosalie’s specially ordered watch, an eighteenth-century sapphire face glowing brightly on his wrist.

[There is always someone who quietly grants every wish you have. So this is how it feels to be treasured.]

Rosalie’s preference had always been obvious and direct, just like when she chased after me.

Never understanding restraint.

I stared at that image for a very, very long time until a sharp ache spread through my eyes.

Dropping my eyes, I rotated the band on my ring finger, the small diamond ring she purchased using her very first month’s internship pay.

“Uncle Teddy.”

When the butler poured tea, I asked quietly, “The Snyder family’s long-term investment fund has always depended on Grandfather’s backing?”

The butler quickly unlocked the safe and removed the papers.

“Young Sir.”

“The elder prepared all of this for you before he died.”

I studied the terms, thought about the Alpine snow edge, the reflective canals of Venice, and that vintage watch.

Then I called Rosalie.

After three ringing tones, I switched to a video call, and the face on the screen was Fritz’s.

“Brother Keagan?”

“Rosalie is showering.”

A faint mark showed along his collarbone, and his face carried the content look of a man fully indulged.

He no longer resembled the shy, thin boy he once was.

“Honestly, there’s something I’m unsure whether I should mention, but I think you’ll learn it sooner or later.”

“Do you know?”

“Rosalie said the thing she dislikes most about you is your always-calm manner.”

“She’s obsessed with me in bed. She says she loves how young and untamed I am, that I make her feel so good she almost loses control.”

Fritz paused, then continued, pride clear in his voice.

“Oh, and back when you arranged for someone to take a piece of skin from me, leaving that large mark…”

“Rosalie felt bad for me, so she willingly had part of her own skin taken to be grafted onto mine…”

The video cut off without warning.

I gripped the window ledge to keep myself upright.

After waiting for my pulse to settle, I called another number.

That same night, the charity auction Rosalie organized for Fritz rose to the top of the trending searches.

The screen overflowed with posts saying “Mr. Porter makes his first public appearance as the male host.”

Guests stopped bringing up his past as a tattoo worker, instead politely addressing him as “Mr. Porter.”

Some overly flattering attendees even lifted their champagne glasses, praising, “The two of you really make a perfect pair.”

Beneath the bright lights of the banquet hall, Rosalie led Fritz toward the auction platform.

Their fingers were tightly linked under the cameras like newlyweds standing on a grand wedding stage, and applause burst out the moment they appeared.

“Taking this opportunity tonight…”

Rosalie gently adjusted Fritz’s tie, “I want to formally announce—”

The carved doors of the hall suddenly flew open with a loud crash, and more than a dozen lawyers in suits strode in quickly.

The leading middle-aged man set a stock freeze notice in front of Rosalie.

“Miss Snyder.”

“According to the terms arranged by Mr. Foster before his death…”

Rosalie was about to call for security when she realized every staff member had disappeared.

The man pushed the document closer. “All Snyder-held shares under your name have been fully frozen.”