The woman he loves marries another man on his 18th birthday. He's alone during his birthday party, and he finishes the cake himself.

She deliberately pushes him away and neglects him, even skipping out on his birthday party. Unfortunately, she doesn't know that this is his last birthday ever.

He's about to die, and it'll happen on her wedding day.

"Professor Lynch, I've made up my mind. Sign me up for the cryonics experiment," Edgar Lawrie said calmly.

On the phone, Ben Lynch replied, "Edgar, are you absolutely sure? I understand the cancer diagnosis has hit you hard, but there's still hope for treatment—"

"I have late-stage lymphoma. There is no cure."

Ben let out a heavy sigh. "But the cryonics technology isn't ready. They've never conducted live experiments before. There's a high chance you won't survive it. Please, think it over—"

"Professor," Edgar cut in with a faint smile, "my decision is final."

Then, he ended the call.

The phone displayed a breaking news headline from just minutes ago.

In a photograph accompanying the article, Cooper Dixon and Jessica Yale were holding hands, their fingers intertwined. And on Cooper's ring finger sparkled a radiant blue diamond ring.

Even through the screen, the gem's brilliance was blinding.

Edgar bit down hard on his lip, but in the end, he couldn't hold back his tears.

It was Jessica's birthday. She was the person he loved most in the world, and yet she had given the ring he designed to someone else.

"Jessica, why? Why do you hate me this much?" he thought bitterly.

The meal Edgar'd carefully prepared sat untouched on the dining table. He sat there while his heart grew colder by the minute, along with the dishes.

At 2:30 am, the front doors finally opened, and Jessica entered.

"Why are you still awake?" Her expression darkened when she saw Edgar sitting there. "Didn't I tell you I'd be out late with Cooper tonight?"

Edgar looked down and stayed silent for a long time before murmuring, "Happy birthday."

Her birthday had already passed hours ago when the clock had struck midnight.

"Edgar, what's the point of this?" Jessica snapped in annoyance. "Cooper's my boyfriend. It's normal that I celebrated my birthday with him. What are you even trying to do?

"We're not related by blood, and I'm your guardian at most. You need to understand your place. We can never be together! Whatever ideas you've cooked up in your head, they disgust me!"

With that, she slammed the door and left, likely heading to find Cooper.

As she'd said, he was her boyfriend.

Edgar remained where he was and stared at his feet. His voice was barely above a whisper as he said, "I'm sorry, Jess. It won't happen again. This will be the time I spend your birthday with you."

The room felt unbearably cold. Edgar shivered and couldn't help wondering which would be colder—this empty room or the ice chamber waiting for him.

He had always been afraid of the cold. As a child, he would run barefoot through the hallways with a stuffed bunny clutched in his arms and crawl into Jessica's bed for warmth.

Back then, Jessica had been kind to him. She would smile, pull him under the covers, and tell him stories until he fell asleep.

A while later, Cooper posted on Instagram a photo of him and Jessica holding hands, with the ring Edgar had designed on his finger. The caption read, "We're engaged!"

At the same time, Edgar received the experimental consent form from the cryonics research team. Instead of signing it, he dialed Jessica's number. When the call went unanswered, he tried again.

After declining the call five times, Jessica finally answered with great irritation. "What is it now, Edgar?"

Edgar pursed his lips and said, "I just wanted to congratulate you."

Jessica scoffed. "I hope you mean that."

He closed his eyes, paused for a moment, then asked softly, "When's the wedding?"

"December 12," she replied curtly.

Edgar's chest tightened at the answer.

December 12 was his birthday.

Edgar's parents were long gone.

A faded old newspaper headline still preserved the details of their tragic deaths: "Heiress Suffers Mental Breakdown: Fatally Stabs Husband Over 100 Times, End Own Life, Leaves Only Son Behind."

He was that only son, who was then taken in by the Yale family out of kindness.

Jessica was a few years his senior. Perhaps moved by his plight, she'd showered him with utmost care. Anything Edgar wanted, she would find a way to give him, even if it were the stars in the sky.

And she had, quite literally, given him a star.

The trauma of losing his parents had left Edgar scarred, and he constantly sought reassurance and safety. Thus, one quiet night, Jessica had led him up to the rooftop.

Pointing to the brightest star in the sky, she smiled and said, "Edgar, see that star? I've bought it for you."

She'd handed him the star's ownership certificate, tapping the tip of his nose playfully. "From now on, that star is yours. When I'm not around, it'll always watch over you for me."

Edgar walked to the window now and pulled back the curtains to search the night sky for his star. However, the sky was covered in thick clouds, and his star was nowhere to be seen.

The next morning, Harry Torres, the person in charge of the cryonics research team, called. "Mr. Lawrie, we need you to come in for a physical examination."

Edgar smiled wryly. "Is that really necessary?"

He was dying, after all. No number of tests would change that.

"The examination is to determine the best freezing method and timing for your body," Harry explained. "It's to maximize your chances of survival. Please cooperate."

With no reason to refuse, Edgar drove to the cryonics lab.

…

After a long day of tests, it was finally over. Before leaving, Harry handed him a thick stack of documents.

"These include options for the design and storage of your cryonic capsule," he explained. "You may have a look and let us know your preferences."

Edgar nodded, thanked him softly, and headed home with the documents in hand. When he entered the house, he noticed the lights in the living room were on. His heart skipped a beat at the thought that Jessica was back.

Even after her harsh treatment, his heart still ached for her.

Steeling himself, Edgar quickened his pace into the living room. But instead of Jessica, he was greeted by Cooper lounging on the couch in a half-open bathrobe.

"Edgar, you're back!" Cooper approached warmly and said, "Have you eaten? Jess is in the kitchen cooking. Tell me what you'd like for dinner, and I'll let her know."

He behaved as if he was the master of the house.

A bitter ache welled up in Edgar's chest. He shook his head and was about to say that he wasn't hungry when Jessica came out of the kitchen carrying a dish.

"You're just in time," she said briskly. "Cooper and I are engaged. Starting today, he's the head of this household. All decisions, big or small, will be made by him."

Edgar looked down and mumbled, "Got it."

Jessica had expected resistance, and his calm acceptance surprised her.

"Don't be so serious, Jess. You're scaring him," Cooper remarked with a grin. "Come on, Edgar, let's eat. Don't mind her."

He then grabbed Edgar's arm and pulled him toward the dining room. The sudden movement caused the stack of documents Edgar was holding to scatter across the floor.

Jessica frowned and bent down to pick up one of the pages. It was a cryonics capsule design. Her voice turned icy as she demanded, "What's this?"

Although Edgar's heart raced, he kept a composed exterior and explained, "It's a design for a cryonics capsule. My professor assigned us a project to design something over the summer. I wanted to create a crystal casket to preserve bodies, so I printed out some reference materials."

It wasn't entirely implausible. After all, he was a freshman majoring in design.

However, Jessica's expression remained stormy. "Edgar, are you out of your mind?"

Jessica had been the one to arrange Edgar's parents' burial.

On the day of the funeral, Edgar had locked himself in a wardrobe again. When Jessica found him there, she hadn't forced him to come out. Instead, she'd opened the door and climbed inside to sit beside him.

"Jess, is a coffin as dark and cold as this?" Edgar had asked her with red-rimmed eyes. "I dreamed of Mom. She told me to join her in her coffin because she's scared and cold all alone…"

"That was just a dream," Jessica had said gently. "Don't be afraid. You're not going anywhere. I won't let anyone take you away from me."

Edgar had wrapped his arms around her neck and whispered in her ear, "As long as you're with me, even being locked in a coffin wouldn't scare me."

…

It seemed Jessica still remembered that moment vividly, which was why she must have misunderstood. She thought Edgar was using an excuse for another veiled confession of his feelings for her.

"If you don't like it, I'll change my design topic," Edgar said softly. "It's just an assignment. Please don't be upset, Jess."

While Jessica was still angry, Cooper hurriedly chimed in with a conciliatory smile. "Yeah, you should change it to something else. Coffins are so morbid. Young people like you should think positively and be a bit more cheerful."

Edgar gathered the scattered documents from the floor. Then, he threw them all into the trash in front of Jessica. Only then did her tense expression ease slightly.

That night, when everyone was asleep, Edgar got up and tiptoed to the trash can to retrieve the discarded documents.

As he returned to his room, he bumped into Cooper, who was emerging from Jessica's room.

Cooper was wearing a loosely tied robe, exposing his body that was marked with traces of intimacy, including red scratches and faint bruises.

One didn't need to guess what had transpired in that room.

Edgar forced himself to look away while repeating in his mind, "Don't look. Don't think about it. He's Jessica's fiancé. Whatever they do, it's normal."

Jessica loved him. If Cooper was able to give her the happiness she deserved, that was all that mattered.

"Edgar, why can't you look me in the eye?" Cooper's tone was full of mockery, which was a stark contrast to his friendliness from earlier. "Even now, you can't accept the fact that Jessica loves me and not you?"

Edgar lowered his gaze and responded, "No. I've already accepted it."

"Drop your act." Cooper sneered disdainfully. "You think I don't see the way you look at Jessica? It's not normal. She raised you. She's like a mother to you. Edgar, are you some kind of sick pervert?"

Edgar said nothing.

Was he… really twisted?

That explained why Jessica had grown so disgusted with him after learning of his feelings. To everyone else, his love must have seemed revolting.

"I heard you became an orphan because your mother lost her mind and stabbed your father over 100 times in his sleep. She hacked him to death," Cooper continued, his tone deliberately provoking. "No wonder you're such a freak. It runs in the family. Your mother was deranged, and so are you."

Edgar could endure Cooper's insults about himself but not about his late parents.

"Shut up!" he roared as he lunged forward and grabbed Cooper by the throat. "You don't know the full story! You have no right—"

Before he could finish, a furious voice yelled, "Edgar, what the hell are you doing?"

Jessica stood in the doorway, glaring at Edgar, looking livid.