Leonard gave her a meaningful look. "Alright."


    A short whileter, the doctor came to examine Leonard.


    He smiled and said, "Ms. Cameron has taken excellent care of Mr. Lerman. His wounds have indeed healed. However, he should still avoid any strenuous activity."


    Neither Ste nor Leonard spoke.


    Sensing the awkward atmosphere, the doctor cleared his throat and made an excuse to leave.


    As the doctor left, he couldn''t help but wonder. The atmosphere between those two was strange; they didn''t seem like a couple at all.


    After the doctor was gone, Ste asked, "I''ve prepared all your gifts. When do you want to celebrate your birthday?"


    Leonard was quiet for a few seconds. "Three days from now."


    Ste furrowed her brow. She wanted to get his birthday over with tomorrow and leave immediately. But since Leonard had spoken, she didn''t want to start an argument over two or three days.


    Ste nodded, said "fine," and turned to leave.


    Three dayster, Ste woke up early to prepare for the birthday celebration.


    She was a natural in the kitchen with an eye for detail; baking a birthday cake was second nature to her.


    Ste had learned from Leonard that his actual birthday had already passed. This was just a bted celebration.


    Ste had no intention of doing a shoddy job.


    That was just her personality; once she agreed to something, she saw no point in being half-hearted about it.


    Ste treated it like nning any other birthday party. She had the staff decorate the living room.


    Of course, it couldn''tpare to what she had done for Joshua. The decorations were nothing special.


    The gifts for Leonard were ced in the living room, stacked in the shape of a pyramid.


    Afraid of miscounting, Ste had evenbeled the gifts with numbers from 1 to 30.


    Worried that some gifts might get damaged, she had even prepared three extra ones as backups, just in case Leonard tried to use it as an excuse to back out of their deal


    Although Ste knew Leonard didn''t need an excuse to be shameless the task with


    she si approach Shameless


    professional diligence, unwilling to leave any room for error.


    As Ste bustled about, the sky outside gradually darkened. She asked a staff member to invite Leonard downstairs.


    The moment Leonard came downstairs, the first thing he saw wasn''t the dazzling decorations or the pile of gifts, but Ste, sitting at the dining table.


    The lights in the dining room had been dimmed to a warm, orange-yellow hue. On the table were a birthday cake, candles, red wine, and fresh flowers.


    The flickering candlelight cast tiny stars in her eyes, like a swirling gxy.


    The faint fragrance of flowers filled the air. Leonard''s heart felt like the surface of a


    The setup was simr to the birthdays Aurora and Simone had thrown for him, and it couldn''t-


    Joshua Yet, inthis moment


    Leonard felt his heart fill with joy.


    He knew very well that everything he had now was stolen. And stolen things always had to be returned.


    This past month had been like a distant, beautiful dream—short-lived and precious. And now, his borrowed time was running out.


    He walked toward Ste step by step. Though he was getting physically closer, the distance between them felt like it was growing ever wider.


    Leonard sat down opposite Ste. "Thank you for preparing all of this for me."


    Ste nced at him but didn''t say anything to spoil the mood. She lit the ''30''- shaped candles and pushed the birthday cake toward Leonard.