"I just wanted her to stay with me for a few more days. Just a few days, that's all!"

By the end, Philip's voice was cracking, and he was close to tears.

I stood there quietly, listening. My eyes, however, drifted past him and landed on Anastasia.

She was staring straight at me; her whole body was tense, and her eyes were dark and stormy. It looked as if something was about to break loose inside her.

The woman who once followed me everywhere had become Philip's "guard dog" now, ready to attack the moment I so much as looked at him the wrong way.

I didn't know exactly what I felt. I just knew that this time around, I couldn't be selfish and keep her chained to me again.

I forced a faint smile and said to Philip, "You don't have to be scared. I'm not here to break you two up. I came to take both of you back to the Kains'."

Philip froze, wide-eyed. "Both of us?"

"That's right." I nodded. "You're the man she loves. If I tried to leave you behind, she wouldn't come with us anyway.

"Go pack up your things. Both of you are coming with me."

My voice stayed calm and even. "Her parents already know about you. They're okay with you being together."

Philip let out a huge sigh of relief, and his face lit up with joy. He grabbed Anastasia's hand, grinning from ear to ear, then he hurried off to get their stuff ready.

Only then did Anastasia realize I had no intention of hurting Philip. Her shoulders relaxed a little, and she pursed her lips.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I thought you were going to do something to him."

Her moods rose and fell with Philip's, as if she were tethered to him now.

Back then, when Philip wouldn't stop pestering her, she would run straight into my arms, acting all pitiful. She would insist that I claim her as mine in public.

"Tell them I'm yours, and say it like you mean it."

She would even scrunch her face into a fierce little scowl and make me mimic her.

In the end, we would always end up in fits of laughter and roll across the couch, making a ruckus.

But that was all gone now. Anastasia didn't belong to me anymore.

With a forced smile, I brought them back to the Kains' villa.

When it came time to introduce myself, everyone hesitated, unsure what to call me.

So, I stepped in. "Hi, Anastasia. I'm Mason Beck. We grew up together, and I've always treated you like a little sister. You even promised to set me up with someone, but then you lost your memory, so I'm still single now."

The people who knew the truth exchanged awkward looks, but Anastasia only laughed. "Alright, Mason. Once everything settles down, I'll play matchmaker and find you a girlfriend."

That night, I woke up to the smell of smoke.

When I walked out, I saw a pile of flames in the backyard. The fire was devouring every trace of the life I had shared with Anastasia.

Childhood photos, certificates we'd won together, even the little wooden puppet she had given me when she first told me she had feelings for me… Everything was burning, crackling as it turned to ash.

A sharp pain seized my chest. It felt as if something inside me had been ripped apart.

Right then, Anastasia turned and looked at me. "Back then, neither of us had anyone else, so being close didn't seem wrong.

"But now, Philip lives with me, and it bothers him to see these things, so I burned them. I hope you don't mind."

I clenched my fists hard, trying to keep my composure so that she wouldn't see how much it hurt.

"It's fine," I said softly. "You might as well burn the stuff in my room, too."

I gathered up Anastasia's old belongings in my room and tossed them into the fire.

The flames roared, sending waves of heat over me, but I felt as if I were standing in freezing water.

For the next few days, the courtyard was alive with the clanging and scraping of demolition.

The garden of gardenias that Anastasia had planted with her own hands was dug up and replaced with roses, which were Philip's favorite.

The glass greenhouse where we once played piano and watched sunsets together was smashed and converted into a swimming pool for Philip.

Even the clematis trellis where we had first confessed our feelings was torn down and replaced with a garden pond that Philip loved.

On the day they planted the water lilies in the pond, Philip suddenly blocked me in the courtyard.

He lifted his chin high and deliberately showed off the ring on his ring finger.

"Anastasia found this design in the room," he said, shaking his finger. "She said she could tell it was meant for her future husband. She stayed up several nights making it herself and used it to propose to me."

He wiggled his hand. "Do you like it?"

It was the sun and the moon, the design I had loved the most.

I nodded sincerely. "It's beautiful. It suits you very well."

But Philip's face darkened instantly. "I don't like it.

"We both know who this design is meant for," he said, staring at me sharply. "You always say you don't care about Anastasia, but her past feelings for you are a ticking time bomb. I can't relax with you around."

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Well…"

Before he could finish, Philip suddenly lunged sideways and plunged straight into the recently dug garden pond, which was full of murky water.

A strong force shoved me to the side. I stumbled and hit the ground hard.

Pain shot through my ankle, and my palms scraped against the gravel, the burning sting running up my arms.

I hadn't even stood up yet when Anastasia dove in after him like a madwoman.

By the time she dragged Philip to shore, both of them were soaked and covered in stinky mud, looking utterly miserable.

But Anastasia didn't care about herself. She frantically wiped the dirt off Philip's face, her voice tense with worry.

"Philip! Are you okay? Did you choke on water? Are your eyes hurting? Did you get hurt?"

It took him a moment to shake his head. He looked at Anastasia, tears streaming down his face. "I'm fine… Someone threw the ring you gave me in the water, and I fell in trying to get it back."

He held out his hand. The ring was gone.

"The Kains don't really welcome me," Philip said to Anastasia, his eyes reddening. "Can we just go back to our apartment? At least no one's bullying me there…"

His pitiful expression made her heart clench.

Her expression hardened. "Who threw your ring? Who bullied you?"

Philip pursed his lips and stayed silent. He just glanced at me, his gaze full of fear and grievance, making it obvious who he thought was responsible.

I clutched my swollen ankle, incredulous. "It wasn't me—"

But Anastasia shot me a cold, icy look that made me shiver.

"I had no reason to steal the ring…" I croaked, my voice hoarse.

"You know exactly what you did," Anastasia spat. She helped Philip to his feet and gave a signal to the bodyguards.

"Whoever threw that ring can get it back himself."

The bodyguards immediately understood Anastasia's order. They hoisted me up and threw me into the water.

It was winter, and the pond was freezing. I shivered violently the moment I hit the water. I scrambled for the shore, but a firm hand shoved me back down.

"Mr. Beck, we can't let you up without the ring," one bodyguard said, his voice flat and cold. "If you want this to end soon, you'd better find it fast."

I bit my lip and resigned myself. I floated and fumbled in the icy, murky water, my fingers probing the dirt over and over.

Dirty water seeped into my sleeves, numbing my fingertips until they almost lost all feeling.

From dawn to dusk, I kept searching. I only managed to find the ring just as Anastasia's parents were about to return.

Clutching it tightly, I made my way step by step to Anastasia's room and gently knocked on the door.

Anastasia opened it, her gaze heavy. "I'm gonna let it go this time, but you'd better stay away from Philip from now on."

She flipped her palm, and the ring I had worked so hard to retrieve floated lightly out the window of the hallway, vanishing into the dark night.

"Philip doesn't like this design. I'll make him a new one."

I watched the ring disappear into the darkness and forced a small smile.

That made sense. She had already decided that the past was a burden, and there was no room for a ring marked by old memories.

Despite Anastasia's parents' lingering reservations about Philip, they couldn't go against her insistence.

Reluctantly, they began meticulously planning the engagement party. It was an extravagant affair, every detail designed to impress.

During the event, guests kept sneaking glances at me.

"Tough luck for Mason. The woman he worked so hard to get back is marrying someone else."

"They grew up together and were perfect for each other. Everyone thought they'd end up together. I honestly never saw this coming."

"If I were Mason, I'd slap that cheating couple instead of attending their engagement party."

Meanwhile, Philip, dressed in a top-tier designer suit, strolled toward the center of the ballroom.

Anastasia held his hand, the love in her eyes almost spilling over.

She cleared her throat. Her usual casual tone faded into one of composed seriousness as she announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to formally introduce—"

Before she could finish, the lights in the ballroom flickered twice and went out completely.

In the darkness, the sharp clatter of chairs mixed with screams, turning the scene into utter chaos.

I instinctively stepped back into a corner, but a hand suddenly clamped onto my wrist, and a foul-smelling handkerchief was pressed over my nose and mouth.

A dizzying, spinning sensation hit me instantly. I struggled desperately, and in the last moments before consciousness slipped away, I could only hear the deafening screams around me.

After God knows how long, I heard Philip's intentionally low growl through the chaos.

"Damn it! Who told you to make a move at the engagement party? Besides, I told you to kidnap me and blame it on Mason. Why did you take him, too?

"You bunch of idiots! It doesn't matter how realistic you act now. You can forget about the final payment! You've ruined my whole plan!"

My awareness slowly returned, and I immediately pieced things together.

It was another one of Philip's schemes, though this time, it didn't seem to go as he expected.

During the struggle, I had felt a gun holster on the other person's waist. These weren't the small-time goons Philip had hired.

What made my stomach drop further was that the voice of the leader sounded disturbingly familiar.