As I slid down against the elevator wall, my tears dripped onto my hand.

A month ago, Liam's long-lost stepsister, Christine, showed up at our door.

In the private room, Christine wore a white slip dress. She bit her lip while her eyes were red. "Liam, I'm sorry. I won't pester you anymore, but I desperately need that 300,000 dollars for an emergency. Just one month, I'll pay you back after one month! I can even write an IOU. I beg you…"

No matter how much Christine pleaded, Liam remained expressionless. However, I could sense something was unusual about him. Due to his restraint, his grip on my right hand tightened unconsciously.

The sharp pain in my wrist made me scream, "Ouch!"

Liam did not seem to hear me.

It was eventually Christine who lunged forward to grab Liam's other hand, making him loosen his grip slowly. However, he also angrily pushed Christine away. "Who allowed you to touch me?"

Startled, Christine stammered an apology.

Liam eventually blamed it on me. "You want to borrow money? Ask Evelyn if she agrees first! All of my money is with Evelyn."

He emphasized my name with such weight that I could see the pain and struggle in Christine's eyes. The moment Christine called out my name, Liam kicked over a chair and left.

That day, I took out 300,000 dollars from my savings to lend to Christine. Though I disliked her, she did seem to be desperately in need of money. I made sure she wrote an IOU before I gave her the money.

Liam knew I disliked Christine. She was brought into his family by Liam's stepmother and was the same age as both Liam and me. When we were 19, Liam and I finally confessed our feelings for each other and started dating. No one objected to our relationship, except Christine. It was because Christine was also in love with Liam, who was only her stepbrother in name. She even confessed her feelings to Liam in front of me, saying that she wanted to elope with him and ignore societal norms. However, Liam cruelly rejected her every time.

Liam had told me countless times how much he disliked Christine and how much he despised the hypocritical mother and daughter pair. After he took over the Sommer family, he immediately kicked Christine and her mother out.

After that, I never saw Christine again. The three of us were all 24 years old that year.

Liam never told me he kept Christine somewhere else. All I knew was that Liam had been busy since Christine borrowed the money. He often worked overtime and even stayed out all night. He also grew indifferent to me. Liam and I had not even been intimate this past month. Even when he was at home, he deliberately kept a distance from me. When I asked him why, he only said he was too busy and tired. It turned out...

It was a hot day, but I had chills. Feeling nauseous, I started retching on the roadside while holding on to the telephone pole. I had no idea how I got home. The chills only faded when I soaked in the bathtub filled with warm water.

Liam called, "Evelyn, your time is up, and you didn't transfer the money to me."

I smiled wryly. It had only been four hours since Liam asked me to pay him back, and he was already eager to move in with Christine. I was silent.

Liam impatiently announced the result. "I'll come back later to get my luggage. We won't see each other for three years. Evelyn, remember this lesson. If you still want to marry me, spend the next three years in the apartment and reflect on yourself. If you realize your mistake after three years, I may consider marrying you."

I forced a smile. "Okay, got it."

Liam probably forgot what I said to him on our tenth anniversary.

I hung up the phone and sank into the water, thinking, 'Liam, you didn't keep your word.'

When I woke up in the morning, Liam had already moved out with his stuff.

Half the house was suddenly empty, and I could not get used to it.

After finishing breakfast, I planned to visit my father at the hospital.

After a full day and night of persistence, my father was finally admitted to the intensive care unit. All I could do was look at his frail face through the glass.

A man said, "When his condition stabilizes, he can be transferred to a regular ward. After that, he can continue chemotherapy."

Not knowing how to respond, I only replied, "Thank you."

A warm hand landed gently on the top of my head. Before I could react, I found myself looking into a pair of deep, familiar eyes.

The man comforted me, saying, "Don't worry. Mr. Lancaster will be fine. Even though it's terminal stomach cancer, there's still a 30% to 50% chance of recovery. You need to have faith in him and in the doctors."

Strangely, I felt a sense of security.

I took the elevator downstairs and ran into Christine at the payment counter. She greeted me with a sweet smile. "What a coincidence. I didn't expect to see you here."

I did not want to talk to her, so I nodded and said nothing. I did not think there was anything worth saying between us. However, she seemed to feel otherwise. She grabbed me after I finished paying, and that was when I noticed the injury on her foot.

Following my gaze, Christine gradually blushed. "Oh, it's Liam's fault for pushing too hard. I lost my footing and almost fell down, so I sprained my foot. Evelyn, was Liam that hard with you?"

Her words made me feel uncomfortable. I knew she deliberately said that to anger me.

When I did not answer, Christine tilted her head and scanned my face. "Sorry, Evelyn. I forgot that Liam hasn't been intimate with you in a long time. Evelyn, don't blame Liam. He just took my joke to heart."

At that moment, I just felt extremely embarrassed.

At night, Liam returned after being told not to see him. Without saying a word, he pulled me over to the stairs on the second floor with a grim face, and then...

"Evelyn, I told you not to give Christy trouble. Don't you understand English?"

Liam pushed me down the stairs!

I lost my footing and fell down the stairs. The wrenching pain in my ankles made me cry.

Liam walked right in front of me without even looking at me. "Does it hurt? It's good if it hurts! Christy sprained her ankle, and you threw her off. Did you know that your actions caused Christy to sprain herself a second time? I told you not to give Christy trouble, yet you insisted on messing with me."

I was trembling with pain, but I laughed out of anger. "I shook her hand off this afternoon, but nothing happened to her! There were not only doctors, but also so many other people at the payment counter. Ask anyone there and you'll find out whether what I said is true!"

Liam frowned, his eyes filled with anger. "You know that it's a corner where other people can't see, so you're shamelessly lying, aren't you? Did you know that Christy came up the corner stairs on a stretcher after you left?"

I was shocked, but then felt amused and sad. "So based on Christine's words, you assumed that I hurt her? She didn't fall down the stairs when I shook her off. It's up to you to believe it or not!"

My face was slapped, and it burned with pain. "I witnessed Christy being brought up! And the doctor said that Christy suffered a second sprain. Are the doctor and Christy both lying and falsely accusing you? Even if she offended you, there's got to be a reason, right? She treats you like her own sister-in-law. How could you do this to her? I knew her when I was 19. It's been ten years now! She has never been a liar in these ten years!"

"What about me? Am I a liar? Liam Sommer, we've known each other since we were 16, haven't we?" I retorted.

Thirteen years was three years more than ten, not to mention that I was in love with him for ten of those thirteen years. Thirteen years, and I had not even earned his trust. Thirteen ridiculous years.

I did not want to argue, so I answered hoarsely. "Leave."

Liam only paused for a second before opening the door and leaving without a word.

I was wheeled into an ambulance and taken to the hospital alone.

Liam had pushed me so hard and so suddenly that I not only sprained my ankle, but also broke my hand.

A week later, I dragged my exhausted body out of the hospital.

When I got home, I looked at where Liam and I had lived for ten years. We moved here after high school, which was also our first year of university. We selected and placed everything in the house together. Even the cross-stitched photo of us hanging on the wall was something we made together little by little in our spare time.

All of the wonderful memories in the past ten years had turned into a sharp knife piercing my heart.

I dragged out the two large boxes under the bed. Since my right hand was not fully healed, I could only clean the house with one hand. Liam had already moved out his belongings, making the cleaning process half as tiring.

Just as Liam had said, he did not return or meet with me in the next month. During this time, I moved into a small apartment my mother had bought for me when she was still alive. The house Liam and I had lived in was completely emptied. After hiring a cleaning service to clean the place up, all traces of our life together were gone.

Coincidentally, the hospital informed me that my father's condition had improved. I decided to take the doctor's advice and transfer him to a central hospital in another city.

I still wanted to see Liam one last time before leaving. I thought some things were better explained in person. I considered it a proper closure to our ten years together.

However, the moment I texted him, I realized that Liam had blocked me on WhatsApp. Having no choice, I opened Christine's social media. Previously, I had muted her posts. I knew Liam was likely with her. Sure enough, I spotted his silhouette in a post that Christine had uploaded just 30 minutes earlier.

I drove over to the bar and knocked on the door of a private room. The door opened from inside, and I instantly saw the couple sitting at the center of the room. They were passionately kissing amid the crowd's cheers. Once the kiss ended, a trace of saliva fell. Blushing, Christine buried her head in Liam's shoulder.

Seeing me, the two parted awkwardly.

Liam asked, "What are you doing here?"

I heard my voice trembling. "Liam, you're... brother and sister..."

Liam nonchalantly faked a smile. "We're not biological siblings, so what does it matter? What are you doing here? Didn't I say we wouldn't see each other for three years? Why do you come to me now?"

There was a momentary silence, and Christine's innocent eyes blinked. "You haven't run out of money, have you?"

I smiled wryly and suddenly felt that there was nothing wrong with leaving an incomplete ending. I left the bag of money I was holding and turned around to leave.

Early the next morning, I came to the hospital to escort my father. I discussed with the hospital to have the ambulance take him there while I follow them in a car. After wheeling my father into the ambulance, the doctor who had encouraged me that day stopped me.

I was so distracted that day that I did not see the doctor's tag pinned to his chest. Today, I saw it clearly. I did not know he was also a department head, and I certainly had no idea he was Andrew Jenkins, the neighbor I grew up with.

He smiled. "Evie, I wish you and Mr. Lancaster a new life."

The moment I left Oceania, I told myself I would, and every day that followed was a new life!