It struck me that Damian was capable of worrying for someone else.

When news of his frontier assignment arrived in my past life, Rosalyn had fainted from worry. Anxious and helpless, all I could think of was praying for his safety at the church.

I climbed over 1,000 stone steps on my hands and knees, bowing every three steps until my knees were permanently ruined.

On the day he left, he saw me leaning on a crutch. Not only did he show no concern, but he also snapped, "What's the point of this superstitious nonsense? You'd be more useful keeping your limbs intact so you can actually make my parents a couple of decent meals.

"You're not a young lady anymore, Carla. It's time you learn to be a decent daughter-in-law."

Now, all Heidi had was just a tiny nick on her finger. It wouldn't even leave a scar, let alone a permanent injury, yet Damian made it seem like the sky was about to collapse. He sucked on the wound as if terrified that she might feel even a trace of pain.

"You knew 'Drift' is Heidi's favorite book, Carla. What were you trying to do by hiding a razor blade in it?"

Damian's eyes were bloodshot. He scooped up Heidi and headed straight out. Each of his firm footsteps landed like a hammer blow to my chest.

Heidi blushed and made a show of struggling, only to cling tighter to him. Her eyes were full of open provocation.

Before I could say a word, Damian kicked the door shut with a loud bang.

I stood frozen in place with my fingers tightening around the book.

"Carla! Your hand!"

Blood was gushing out. It turned out that my favorite book held an even sharper razor blade.

Like before, Heidi still saw me as her rival in love, but it was so unnecessary. This time, I wouldn't fight her for Damian.

After Damian's scene, the book club was dismissed on the spot. Ryder carefully bandaged my fingers and wrapped them in so much gauze that he meant to turn me into a mummy.

"Are you sure you're not going to the hospital? Then I'll just have to use everything I know to wrap it up nicely for you."

As he spoke, he leaned closer. His breath feathered against my ear with every word he said.

"Tell me, sweetheart. What would you do without me one day?"

I turned my head, and my nose accidentally brushed against his cheek. "Just stay stuck to me like a bandage. It's not like I'm driving you away…"

Ryder stared at me in surprise before a sudden flush crept up his neck. Then, he laughed quietly at himself. "Nope. I'm not being a third wheel."

He shot me a quick, indignant glare and turned away.

I found that behavior a little weird.

…

The next morning, with one hand bandaged, I was sorting through Mom's keepsakes with the other when Damian started pounding on my door in rage.

"You had someone revoke Heidi’s competition spot, didn't you?"

His collar was loose, and his usual composure was nowhere to be found. I had never seen him act so unhinged for anyone.

"It wasn't me."

I pushed at his shoulders and tried to get him to leave, but Heidi ran over and dropped to her knees in front of me with a thud.

"Carla, I know that your aunt is someone in charge of the program. I'll tell everyone that I cut my hand by accident, and it has nothing to do with you at all.

"I'll clear your name… Could you please just give me back my slot?"

She wiped her tears as if I had backed her into a corner.

"You didn't have the talent to keep your spot, so why are you blaming me after losing it?" I couldn't help but snap back.

Then, a deafening ring erupted in my ears. The world went silent for a heartbeat, and my left cheek flared with a searing pain.

Damian's hand, which he had just used to slap me, was still shaking. "You've gone too far, Carla. Does someone's future and dreams mean so little to you? Did you sabotage Heidi just because I gave you a little teaching?

"We grew up together. Was it really necessary to go this far?"

I shot him a cold look.

If there was one person in this world who had no right to preach about going too far, it was Damian.

Hadn't he gone too far by abandoning his bride on their wedding night to flee to the frontier with his mistress?

Hadn't he gone too far by faking his death and tricking me into caring for his parents for the rest of my life?

Hadn't he gone too far to visit my grave for the first time, 40 years after I died, just to beg me to stop haunting them?

His eyes fell on my bandaged hand, and he gave a short scoff. "Heidi hurt her hand, so you wrapped yours up too.

"Are you trying to win my pity? Too bad your acting is overdone."

"Get lost!" I screamed and ruthlessly shoved him. The sudden exertion of force caused blood to seep through the gauze.

Damian froze at the sight. "Carla, you—"

All the strength drained from my body. I should have listened to Ryder yesterday and gone straight to the hospital.

The wound was probably infected now. Otherwise, why would my head feel so heavy, and my thoughts so blurred?

For a moment, the world spun into darkness.

"Carla!"

When I opened my eyes again, there was a mop of messy, tousled hair right beside my hospital bed.

"Da… Ryder?"

"Y-Yeah, it's me."

Ryder's voice was hoarse. When he looked up at me, his eyes were full of exhaustion.

I glanced at the calendar on the wall and realized I had slept for an entire day.

When he saw me looking around, he sighed and said, "Don't bother. That jerk isn't here."

Janell entered the ward carrying an aluminium lunchbox. "Damian is really something else. He looked pretty worried about you at first, but the second Heidi said she felt dizzy, he ran straight to her.

"Do you have any idea that if Ryder hadn't insisted on getting you to the hospital to change your dressing, you'd have burned up with fever right at home?"

Ryder turned and shot her a look, telling her to stop.

Just like that, all my memories of him came flooding back as I stared at the familiar back of his head. I remembered him stripping off his shirt to cover the stain on my skirt and him pedaling his old bicycle for miles just to take me home.

I remembered him perched on my backyard wall at midnight, whistling just to make me smile while I was grounded.

Then, heavier memories of him surfaced. He had carried Dad's casket and knelt by my grave for a whole night before finally leaving in helplessness. Even after he found fame and fortune, he had kept my portrait by his bed.

For 40 years after I died, he had secretly left supplements at the Conrad family's door with my name on them and bought me birthday gifts every year.

Suddenly, I had this desperate urge to rush home and wait for Ryder's parents to come and formally ask for my hand.

The day felt unbearably long.

By the time I was discharged and returned home, it was midnight. After Dad took two phone calls, he was formally dressed up and sitting in the living room the next morning.

I didn't expect Rosalyn to be our first visitor.

She showed up at our door carrying two tins of milk powder. "How's your hand, Carla?"

My mind went blank for a second. Behind her, Damian stood looking ashamed. There was a gauze on his forehead like he had suffered a beating.

Ryder, who had been coming to our house morning and night like clockwork, let out a cold, disdainful snort.

After a round of small talk, Rosalyn rubbed her hands together and said, "Don't hold a grudge, Carla. Once you marry Damian, I'll treat you like my own daughter.

"The kids are such a good match, Colonel West. Why don't we make this official and let them marry each other?"

As she spoke, she withdrew a jewelry box from her purse.

Damian frowned, but when he caught sight of the dejected Ryder sitting nearby, he couldn't help but puff out his chest.

While I was taken aback, there was commotion outside the door. A crowd of our childhood friends arrived just in time. Countless boxes of wedding gifts were carried into the yard.

"Carla's lovely. We'd love to have her as our daughter-in-law, too."

Ryder's parents, Hawken Maverick and Sofia Burton, came over from next door. "Ryder might not always know when to keep his mouth shut, but his heart has always been with Carla.

"Carla, would you consider Ryder?"

Ryder dropped his usual playful demeanor and looked dead serious. "Mom, Dad… Carla doesn't actually—"

Damian let out a cold, mocking laugh before he could finish. There was a smug look in his eyes as he radiated the pride of a man waiting for his prize to crawl back to him.

For a moment, the air stilled. Only my footsteps could be heard in the silence.

With every step I took forward, the look in Damian's eyes shifted from haughty arrogance to disbelief. "Carla, you—"

"I, Carla West, would like to marry Ryder Maverick!"