During the long three-hour flight, the one chattering away with Julian was Sloane.

And I was completely shut out of their world.

I jammed in my noise-canceling earbuds, blocking out their piercing laughter, and stared down at my phone, casually chatting with the AI.

"Will you really show up?" I typed, a sliver of absurd anticipation rising in my chest.

"Whenever you want me to, I'll be there."

Seeing the instant reply, my heart skipped two beats, and my cheeks flushed uncontrollably.

"Aria? What's wrong?"

Julian's voice suddenly rang in my ears, laced with rare urgency.

I looked up to meet his furrowed brows. He stared hard at my flushed cheeks.

"Are you having another panic attack?"

Before I could answer, he started frantically digging through his carry-on.

He used to always, without fail, carry my anxiety meds in that bag.

Ever since I watched my parents get gunned down, being in enclosed spaces triggered my panic attacks.

For twelve years, whenever we went out, the meds were always in his bag.

But after rummaging for a while, his movements slowed down. His face dropped.

The meds weren't there.

When he packed, his head was probably so full of this thrilling trip with Sloane that he had completely forgotten about me.

"I didn't bring them..." He looked at me, a flash of genuine panic in his eyes as he gripped the empty bag, at a loss.

To cover up his guilt, his tone instantly hardened, as if blaming me for having an attack now. "Why didn't you check your own stuff before we left? I can't be expected to remember every little thing for you!"

"I'm fine." I coldly looked away, staring at the clouds out the window. "Besides, you won't need to carry them for me anymore."

After being abandoned by him over and over again, I had long been forced to handle my illness on my own.

Julian opened his mouth to speak, but Sloane suddenly screamed.

"Ah! Julian!"

A glass of champagne had spilled right onto Sloane's pale thighs.

Julian whipped his head around. His earlier panic over me vanished in a second.

He pulled out some tissues and patiently wiped her legs.

"It's okay, don't move, I got it." His voice was dripping with tenderness.

Sloane leaned back in her seat with a fake pout, but her eyes looked past Julian, staring directly at me.

"Oops. Sorry, Aria." She drawled in her signature mean-girl tone. "Did Julian used to take care of you this carefully too? I feel a little bad being the third wheel between you two."

I didn't know how Sloane always managed to make the air so incredibly toxic.

I smiled, didn't reply, and stood up to go to the restroom.

Suddenly, the plane hit turbulence. I lost my balance and fell backward.

A ringing filled my ears. Just as I thought I was going to hit the floor, a pair of strong hands caught me steady.

In that split second, I remembered what the AI had said.

"I'm right here. I won't hide. I won't run. When you fall, I'll catch you."

I turned around, still in shock. The person holding me was a muscular bald guy, smiling warmly at me.

"Thank you..." I breathed a sigh of relief, but a deep, inexplicable wave of disappointment washed over me.

What was I even expecting? It was just a damn app.

I stood up straight. Before I could thank him again, a sharp pain shot through my wrist.

A strong force yanked me into the camera's blind spot by the restroom.

It was Julian. He looked furious.

"You're not a kid anymore, Aria! Do you know how dangerous that was? Did you think you could get my attention with a cheap trick like pretending to fall? What if you got hurt!"

I looked at him in disbelief, like I was staring at a complete stranger.

"You think I did that on purpose?"

"Didn't you?" He ran a hand through his hair in sheer frustration. "I'm going to say this one last time: drop the act. I want a free life. I don't want to walk on eggshells every day, holding a glass doll that could shatter at any second! Would it kill you to stop relying on me?"

With those few words, he burned my world to the ground.

A wave of humiliating shame, mixed with bone-chilling cold, shot from my toes straight to my head.

I looked at the man who had been by my side for twelve years.

So, in his eyes, all my pain, my fragility, and even my accidents weren't just shackles holding him back. They were cheap tricks to beg for his pity.

I gave a bitter smile. The last shred of hope in my heart turned to dust.

I suddenly felt so exhausted.

"Understood."

I turned around and locked myself in the restroom.

Splashing freezing water on my face, I looked at my pale, empty-eyed reflection.

Ten minutes.

In this tiny space, I finally figured one thing out.

I would never love Julian again.

During the hour-long drive to the beach villa after landing, Julian ignored me completely.

He held Sloane's hand the whole way, turning a blind eye to my luggage.

I dragged two heavy suitcases across the cobblestone roads all by myself. The friction left red welts on my palms.

But I didn't whine about the pain like I used to, nor did I ask him for help.

The moment I dropped my bags inside the villa, Sloane sauntered over.

She rudely snatched the tablet from my hands. "Let's see what kind of itinerary our little princess made."

The screen displayed an incredibly detailed travel route for Amalfi.

It even detailed which table at which restaurant had the best sunset view, and which part of the coastline had the softest breeze.

The AI had mapped it out for me.

Sloane's face changed. She yelled out in an exaggerated, jealous tone, "Oh my God, Julian! You treat Aria way too well! This itinerary even says what time she should drink water. You can't even remember your own schedule, but you made something this detailed for her!"

Julian, who was replying to texts on the couch, jerked his head up.

He strode over, snatched the tablet from Sloane, and after a single glance, his brows locked into a hard frown.

The layout was completely foreign. The level of detail was foreign. It wasn't his work at all.

"Who made this?" He glared at me, his tone laced with inexplicable jealousy and caution.

"Give it back." I snatched the tablet back, annoyed. "It has nothing to do with you. You're invading my privacy."

I didn't mean any harm. I was just sick of these two ruining my graduation trip.

But Sloane twisted my words. She stepped back, her eyes going red.

"I'm sorry, Aria..." She bit her lip, looking utterly victimized. "It's my fault. A girl from a minor family like me just lacks manners. I don't deserve to look at a precious princess's things. I'll just leave, okay?"

With that, she pretended to run out.

"Sloane!" Julian pulled her into his arms. He turned back, his eyes bloodshot with rage, glaring daggers at me.

"Aria, what the hell is your problem? Over a stupid itinerary, you're going to force Sloane out? Since when did you become so unreasonable!"

He blamed everything on me out of habit. He trampled all over me for Sloane out of habit.

But this time, I didn't bow my head and apologize like before.

Looking at them holding each other so tightly, I suddenly felt that Sloane actually got one thing right.

"You're right." I met Julian's furious glare and fired back without hesitation. "It is a big deal. Someone put their heart into designing this for me. It's not just a 'stupid itinerary.' And honestly? Having you two look at it disgusts me."

"You..." Julian's face turned livid, probably unable to believe I would ever speak to him like that.

I ignored his shocked face, picked up my drawing board, and walked straight past him.

"Enjoy playing your little tragic romance. I'm going to see the ocean."

When I pushed open the villa doors, I didn't even look back once.

Following the AI's route, I walked alone along the cliffside path for an hour.

Until the deep blue Mediterranean Sea crashed into my view, wild and untamed.

I stood at the edge of the cliff, the sea breeze whipping my hair.

I'd always wanted to see the ocean.

The first time I ever wanted to was when I was eighteen. Julian got drunk and pulled me into his arms, and I smelled the salty sea breeze on his leather jacket.

His ears had gone red as he awkwardly promised me, "When you graduate college, I'll take you to see the sea."

But now, I was finally here, and I only had the wind to keep me company.

I held up my phone, snapped a picture of the sparkling water, and sent it to the AI.

"I'm here. It's beautiful."

The second I hit send, a reply popped onto the screen.

"Turn around."

My heart stopped, then began pounding violently against my ribs.

Those words carried some impossible magic, instantly shattering all my logic.

I gripped my phone and spun around.

And then, I froze.

In my line of sight, there was no mysterious figure.

There was only Julian and Sloane.

I took a deep breath, stood up, and looked frantically past them.

There was nothing.

Catching the naked disappointment in my eyes, Julian stopped in his tracks.

"Aria, you really haven't grown up."

He sighed. His tone held that awkward care and habitual compromise.

Then, he took off his custom suit jacket, stepped forward, and threw it over my shoulders without asking. His movements were a bit stiff, but he pulled the lapels tight around my neck.

"Stop looking at me like that, and stop throwing tantrums." He softened his voice but still couldn't drop his ego. "The wind is strong. Wear it. If you catch a cold, I'll just have to take care of you again."

He was pacifying me like a child who was used to clinging to him, but was now just pushing him away out of spite.

But I didn't need this pathetic pity—a slap to the face followed by a piece of candy.

I snapped back to reality, my voice freezing cold.

"Take your shit back."

I ripped the jacket off my shoulders and shoved it hard into his chest.

Caught off guard, Julian stumbled, the jacket almost hitting the dirt.

His indulgent look froze, replaced by the humiliation of being rejected. His eyes darkened dangerously, staring right through me.

"Aria, you ungrateful little bitch," he hissed, his voice dangerously low. "You want to freeze? Fine. Freeze out here alone. Don't come crying to me."

He spun around in a rage and stormed off toward the far observation deck, without a single look back.

I didn't care about his anger. I just dropped my head, utterly crushed, staring at the blank phone screen.

Liar.

That AI, that code that swore it would catch me... it was just a dead machine after all.

While I was staring blankly at my phone, a sharp, burning pain sliced across my neck!

I cried out as a thin silver chain dug violently into my skin, before snapping with a loud crack.

Sloane had walked right up to me without me noticing.

Catching me off guard, she viciously ripped the vintage pocket watch right off my neck!

A vicious red welt instantly flared up on my pale neck, burning like hell. I whipped my head up, pure rage shooting to my brain.

"Give it back!" I warned sharply. "Sloane, that is the only thing my parents left me. Their picture is inside! Give it back, right now!"

I reached out to grab it, but she dodged swiftly, backing up right to the edge of the cliff where the sand met the drop.

Watching Julian's retreating back, she completely ripped off her sickening mask.

"A keepsake?"

Sloane toyed with the old watch in her hands, a vicious, triumphant smirk curling on her lips.

"Aria, are you delusional? You really think Julian gives a damn about you and your deadbeat parents?"

Her eyes were full of contempt, looking at me like I was trash.

"You're just a stray dog the Valerius Family took in! A disgusting piece of dead weight they can't shake off!"

She stepped back in her heels, step by step, until the water washed over her feet.

"A jinx like you... what right did you have to hog Julian for twelve years?"

"Sloane, what the hell is wrong with you! Shut up and give me the watch!" My eyes were bloodshot, my voice shaking with raw fury.

"You want it?"

Sloane raised an arrogant brow. She dangled her wrist right over the violent, churning sea.

She looked at me, her smile twisted with manic glee, and slowly, she opened her fingers.

"Then go fetch," she said, her smile pure poison.

The silver watch caught a faint gleam of sunlight before dropping straight into the raging undercurrent.

She turned on her heel and walked away.

"No!"

White-hot rage exploded behind my eyes. Sanity snapped.

I didn't even stop to take off my shoes. I charged into the freezing ocean like a madwoman.

That was the very last thing my parents left me in this world! My only lifeline for the past twelve years!

Wave after wave smashed into me. The early spring Mediterranean water sliced my skin like icy blades.

I threw myself into the water, my hands desperately clawing through the submerged sand.

"It's not here... Where is it... Please, don't wash away..."

The freezing sea quickly swallowed me to my waist. The riptide grabbed my dress, nearly dragging me down into the abyss.

A massive wave crashed right over my head. My foot slipped, and I completely lost my balance.

Just then, a tall, dangerous figure appeared beside me.

A muscular arm grabbed me tight, hauling me steadily back to the shore.

He whispered, "It's too dangerous. I'll find it for you."

Through my blurred vision, I knew one thing for sure.

It wasn't Julian.