Sierra's POV

After I was diagnosed with cancer, I decided to take a spontaneous trip as I wanted to avoid everyone.

But the moment I got off the bus, I ran straight into my ex-husband.

We hadn’t seen each other in ten years, and neither of us was who we used to be. He’d scrubbed off the tattoo I drew for him and traded his cheap clothes for designer brands. I, on the other hand, had taken off our matching wedding rings and was now walking around with a urine bag.

We exchanged a few polite words, both of us consciously avoiding the past.

Right as we were about to part, Liam Carter suddenly asked, “Sierra, do you still hate me?”

I shook my head lightly and calmly replied, “Not anymore.”

I didn’t have the strength or the time. At the end of my life, all I wanted was to see the fields of blooming cornflowers one more time.

——

This time, winter came early in North America. By August, the wind already carries a bite of cold.

The bus hadn’t arrived yet when Liam glanced down at me. Without a word, he took off his coat and draped it over my shoulders.

But a strong wave of perfume hit me, the scent that belonged only to Veronica Cooper.

I sneezed and gently pushed the coat back. “No need to be so polite. I’m allergic to perfume.”

He looked surprised. “Weren’t you the one who loved—”

Suddenly, he stopped mid-sentence, stunned, then quietly took the coat back. He didn’t say another word and just angled his umbrella a little more in my direction.

But the two of us were far past the age of sharing an umbrella in the rain. And we had long lost the right to do so anyway.

I didn’t want to linger around him, so before he could say anything else, I quickly slipped into a taxi parked nearby.

The driver had been watching us while cracking sunflower seeds. He grinned and teased, “Miss, looks like someone was trying to hit on you. That guy’s pretty good-looking. Not interested? From the moment he walked out of the station until you got in this taxi, he kept looking back at you.”

I took two pills from my bag and tossed them into my mouth, speaking a bit unclearly, “Not interested. That was my ex-husband. We’ve been divorced for ten years.”

The driver froze, then scratched his head awkwardly and quickly changed the subject. “I see. Well, Miss, you’re here to see the cornflowers too, right? You should’ve come earlier. They’re almost withered now.”

I turned to look out the window. Raindrops blurred Liam’s silhouette, and I couldn’t see the road ahead clearly either.

I took a sip of water, trying to wash down the bitterness in my mouth, and softly explained, “I wanted to come earlier. But in June, my mom passed away. I’m the only one at home, so I couldn’t leave. In July, I had to undergo chemotherapy, so no time then either. One delay after another, and here I am now.”

When I finished speaking, the driver fell completely silent. After a long moment, he quietly reached over and paused the meter.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sir, no need to treat me like that. Life and death have their own timing. I’ve already made peace with it. We’ve got a long ride ahead. Let’s talk.”

Ever since I got sick, people had always looked at me with pity that I fell ill so young, that I didn't even have someone to take care of me.

But honestly, I stopped caring a long time ago. Back when I divorced Liam, I finally understood that life was what it was. Good or bad, you still had to live it. You didn't always get to choose.

The driver let out two dry laughs and nodded awkwardly. After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked carefully, “So, why did you and your ex-husband divorce?”

Sierra's POV

“It looked like he still has feelings for you,” the driver said. “With the way things are for you now, having someone around to take care of you might not be a bad thing.”

I gave a small laugh and replied softly, “There wasn’t any dramatic reason. He just cheated on me with my best friend.”

This year marks twenty years since I first met Liam. For twenty years, our small hometown hadn’t changed, but the people had.

I still remember that year clearly. My parents had just moved us from North America to the city. Right after I stepped off the bus, I brushed shoulders with Liam as he walked by.

We were teenagers then—young, bright, and full of possibilities. In that brief moment, when our shoulders bumped, something sparked in my heart.

The town was small, so it didn’t take long before we fell for each other. We spent the most carefree, beautiful years of our youth together.

Later, trouble hit his family. They had no money left, and he couldn’t afford school anymore. Before he left, he gave me an oil painting and told me he was heading south to work.

I stood there in silence for a moment, then turned around and ran home. Through tears, I told my parents I didn’t want to be apart from him.

My dad lit a cigarette, thought for a long time, and asked me just one question, “Are you sure? Is Liam the person you want for the rest of your life?”

I nodded.

Because from the very first moment I met him, long before we fell in love, I had already decided that no matter what happened in this life, I would only love him.

My dad didn’t say anything else, yet he stayed up the whole night thinking.

The next morning, he sold ten of our cattle, took a stack of cash, and went straight to find Liam. He patted him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry about the tuition. Just study well and grow into someone worthy.”

Liam froze for a long time before falling to his knees, bowing again and again. He said that once he graduated, he would repay this kindness a thousand times over.

But my dad only helped him up and said with a meaningful tone, “I’m not asking for repayment. If fate brings you and Sierra together, just treat her right.”

Liam agreed. He raised his hand toward the majestic snow-capped mountains and swore he would never fail me in this lifetime.

From that day forward, we officially started dating.

And he didn’t disappoint my father. He got accepted into a top art academy, quickly gained fame with his paintings, and after graduation, became a faculty member at the school. For a time, he was the rising star everyone talked about.

Also, he didn’t disappoint me. After years of being together, his love for me never wavered.

On our wedding night, he tattooed the little doodle I once drew for him right over his heart.

He held my hand, letting me feel the beating beneath the ink, and said, “Sierra, remember this feeling. My heart will only ever beat for you.”

That year, our love was at its brightest—so intense that we couldn’t stand being apart even for a day. Whenever he traveled for work, we were on the phone nonstop.

Once, I had a fever. I took some medicine and accidentally fell asleep in the middle of our call. When I woke up, my phone was covered with hundreds of messages.

Panicked, I video-called him to let him know I was okay.

The moment the screen lit up, I saw him sitting in the driver’s seat, crying. “Sierra, why didn’t you answer my call? I called you several times, but you didn’t answer any of them. I even had the delivery guy knock on your door, but no one answered. I was terrified something happened to you. If anything ever happened to you, what would I do?”

He said he had been scared out of his mind. He said he was just worried. He admitted he was probably overthinking, but he didn’t dare take that chance.

Over a thousand kilometers away, in temperatures below freezing, he completely lost reason. He pushed aside all his work and started driving straight toward me.

By the time I rushed downstairs to meet him, it was already the middle of the night.

Sierra's POV

At three in the morning, snow was falling hard across the empty streets. Liam’s face was streaked with tears that had frozen into tiny crystals.

When we fell into each other’s arms and cried, the snowflakes on his eyelashes melted into clear drops, and in that moment, they slipped straight into my heart.

Right then, I truly believed that nothing in this world could ever separate us. Our love had crossed a thousand kilometers, so it could survive anything. Hardships, distance, time—none of it mattered. We would, without a doubt, spend our lives together in happiness.

But the cruelest thing was that very night, I discovered he had been cheating.

The taxi driver watched me through the rearview mirror, waiting for the rest.

I gave a small, resigned smile and said calmly, “He drove too long that night. After making sure I was okay, he passed out immediately. He forgot to lock his phone and didn’t switch chat accounts. The very first pinned message was a nude photo from my best friend.”

The driver let out a long sigh and handed me tissues kindly.

But I didn’t need them. I had run out of tears long ago.

All I remember was that, in that moment, it felt like the blood in my body flowed backward. It was like a massive stone had dropped into a peaceful lake, shattering every beautiful illusion I’d ever held.

Back then, I kept scrolling. I saw years of messages between them, uninterrupted.

The very first one was from the day Veronica returned to the country after her divorce, the day I threw her a welcome-back dinner.

While I was drunk, Liam confessed to her.

He told her, [My feelings for Sierra aren’t love. They’re responsibility. You’re the unattainable love of my youth.]

The latest message was from last night.

She had said to him, [You already undressed me, and now you say you’re leaving?]

[Liam, what exactly do you take me for?]

[If you can’t let go of Sierra, then we should cut this off.]

[Sierra is my best friend. She helped me find a place to live and a job when I came back. Without her, I would’ve been on the streets. I don’t want to hurt her.]

By then, Liam was already asleep, so he hadn’t replied yet. He hadn’t even had the chance to choose before I saw everything.

That snowflake that had become a tear now turned into an icicle stabbing straight into my chest.

All the little things I’d ignored, all the strange details I’d brushed aside, they suddenly connected.

The faint perfume smell I thought I imagined turned out not to be my imagination. It was the scent of betrayal.

That uneasy feeling I kept dismissing as paranoia turned out to be not paranoia. It was instinct.

In an instant, my world collapsed.

I yanked him out of bed like someone possessed, sobbing as I asked him why? Why stay with me if he didn’t love me? Why brave the storm just to confess to me? Why cheat with my best friend when I loved him the most?

Watching me break down in front of him, Liam panicked and looked away. He didn’t know what to do.

“Sierra, it’s not that I don’t like you,” he said softly. “I just don’t like you as much anymore.”

Ten years. Youth faded and passion quieted. What used to be fierce love had turned into a debt that could never be repaid.

That time, I refused to accept it. I couldn’t believe it.

We had been together for ten years. Ten whole years. Three thousand six hundred fifty days and nights. A thousand kilometers between us. And he wanted me to believe that all of that had been nothing more than repayment?