Chapter 7

Liam and I stepped onto the dance floor, quickly merging into the sea of people.

It was close to midnight when the party reached its climax. The gray-haired Dean stood at the podium atop the hall, his voice amplified by the microphone as he made the announcement.

"Congratulations to all of you for successfully completing your studies. You are about to embark on a new journey in life. You have graduated!"

The moment the words left his lips, the silent expectation in the hall exploded into fire. A thunderous roar of cheers erupted, like a tidal wave crashing through the room. Students hurled their graduation caps high into the air, celebrating the end of one chapter and the start of another.

I threw mine as well, watching it vanish into the swarm of black mortarboards. The graduation ball was over, and Julian still had not arrived.

Three years ago, when I first received my admission letter from Caltech, Julian was at his busiest. He was constantly flying between New York and Los Angeles, so occupied that he barely had time to adjust to the jet lag. Pitying his exhaustion, I had decided to check into the university alone. Yet, on the day of registration, Julian had flown in from New York overnight anyway.

I remembered his face clearly—his jaw covered in dark stubble, his eyes bloodshot and heavy with fatigue. Moved to tears, I had thrown my atlas down and lunged into his arms. At that time, Julian had whispered, "I am not just here for your first day. I will be there for your graduation ball, too. Every important moment of your life, I want to be by your side."

Three years had passed, and in the end, he broke his promise.

As the crowd began to thin, my professor walked over to me. "Lina, you should be heading out soon, shouldn't you?"

Surprised that he remembered the specific timing of my departure, I nodded. "Yes, Professor. I have to board my flight in two hours."

The professor smiled warmly. "Though I am sorry you chose not to stay at the university, I wish you a brilliant future ahead."

"Thank you, Professor."

After the gala concluded, students poured out of the auditorium. I said my final goodbyes to the faculty and followed the flow of the crowd. To my shock, the moment I stepped outside, I saw Julian standing beneath a streetlamp.

The yellow glow of the lamp cast a halo over his slightly disheveled hair. His sharp features softened as he looked at me.

"I'm late," he said simply.

I forced a faint smile. "It doesn't matter."

It was enough that he came. Because he was here, I could look at him one last time before I vanished.

A flash of surprise crossed Julian's eyes. Having missed such a significant occasion, he likely expected me to sulk or complain. He hadn't anticipated such a calm reaction. He pulled out his phone, ready to initiate a transfer.

"Should I send you five hundred thousand dollars as compensation?"

I pressed my hand over his, looking into his eyes with a light laugh. "Julian, not everything can be made up for with money."

Besides, I had already closed every bank account I held in this state.

Julian's tone softened further. "I have to leave for a business trip to Paris shortly. I'll bring you back a gift. Don't be angry, okay?"

The way he said "okay" was gentle, like he was coaxing a child.

I fell silent for a moment, then slowly averted my gaze. "Why the sudden trip to Paris?"

"An emergency meeting," Julian said, the corners of his mouth curving slightly. "I thought of you on the way to the airport, so I had the chauffeur take a detour to see you."

I played along, putting on an appropriately touched expression. I smiled with the same delicate charm I had practiced for years and spoke softly. "Then let me see you off at the airport."

When Julian boarded his plane, it would be time for me to board mine. We would travel together for one last stretch of road. After that, separated by the entire North American continent, we would each have our own lives.

Julian's boarding window was tight, and the chauffeur sped through the night. As I stepped out of the car at the terminal, I looked up at the sky, momentarily dazed. The Los Angeles night was never truly dark. The endless sprawl of city lights stained the heavens a hazy orange-gray.

The year my father fell ill, I felt as though the light in my life had been extinguished. It was Julian's appearance that had brought the glow back. Remembering this, I slowly took Julian's hand, interlacing our fingers. "Julian, thank you."

Julian looked confused. "For what?"

I smiled and said nothing more.

As the time for his flight approached, he leaned down and pressed a light kiss to my forehead. "Go on back now. I need to board."

I stayed where I was. "I'll watch you leave."

Julian couldn't help but smirk. "Fine."

I watched his tall figure blend into the crowd until he disappeared entirely. Only then did I turn around and walk toward the opposite terminal.

Two hours later, at ten o'clock at night, I settled into my seat on the aircraft. I deleted every message, contact, and trace of Julian from my life and deactivated all my social media platforms. Ten minutes later, with the roar of the engines, the flight from Los Angeles to Washington Dulles International Airport ascended into the sky.

"Goodbye."

The word wasn't just for Julian. It was for the three years I had spent throwing myself into a fire. Soon, the plane pierced through the cloud layer. I knew that ahead of me lay a vast, undefined future.

Five hours later, Julian finished his business in Paris and went personally to the Champs-Élysées to select gifts. His assistant, Larry, followed behind carrying numerous shopping bags and felt compelled to offer a reminder.

"Mr. Astor, Ms. Sterling prefers floral scents. These fruit-based perfumes you've selected might not suit her tastes."

Julian continued to scroll through his phone, his eyes never moving. "These are for Lina."

Thinking of the distinct, sweet fruity scent Lina always wore, Julian couldn't help but smile. She was always so understanding. It made him want to treat her a little better. Looking at the bags in Larry's hands, Julian felt they were still insufficient to express his intent.

After a moment of thought, he instructed Larry, "Transfer another three million dollars to Lina's account. She's graduated now. She'll have plenty of things to spend money on."

Larry nodded and managed to free a hand to process the transfer. However, after entering the authorization code, a strange system notification popped up on the screen.

"The account you entered has been closed."