After losing her parents, the young girl was bullied in the orphanage before being taken in by the Morgan family.
She often sat alone under the peach blossom tree, but every member of the Morgan family had apanied her there at some point.
L didn''t know how long she had been walking. Her legs were numb, and her feet ached terribly. The snow was high enough to cover her shoes entirely.
Looking up, she realized she had arrived at the house where her parents had once lived. The house had never been sold, though she had never returned to live there either.
L gazed upward briefly before stepping into the residential area.
The fingerprint lock no longer recognized her, so she used the passcode to unlock the door.
The house had been unupied for years. As soon as she opened the door, she was greeted by a stale and musty odor.
L fumbled to find the main power switch, but perhaps the bulbs or wiring was faulty, so the room remained in darkness.
Unbothered, she felt her way to the bedroom.
At one point, she tripped on something and nearly fell. Her leg throbbed from the pain, but she continued moving forward with a frown.
She lifted the dusty sheet that covered the bed. Without bothering to check if it was clean, L simplyy down.
It was freezing in the house, and she slowly curled into a ball.
Closing her eyes, however, didn''t bring her memories of her parents. Instead, images of her time with the Morgan family came to mind, especially moments with Kieran.
Him being pulled by Noah to y, but never showing any impatience.
ying games, building snowmen...
He had sat with her in the courtyard, arranged for a swing to be built for her, and selected clothes for all four seasons for her.
During their honeymoon, he held her in his arms as they gazed out at the calm
sea.
In those moments, it felt as if they were the only two people in the world.
L realized she had truly fallen for Kieran... at the worst possible time.
Downstairs, Kieran was gazing upward in the pitch-ck room, the darkness reflective of his mood.
The clock hands slowly moved toward midnight.
He got up and went upstairs.
The door wasn''t closed, so he pushed it open and used his phone''s shlight to illuminate the room.
Following the trail of dusty footprints on the floor, he walked to the bedroom.
When he saw the curled-up figure on the bed, pain surged through his chest, almost overflowing from his eyes.
Even in sleep, her brows were furrowed. Her face, however, was abnormally flushed.
Kieran reached out and touched her forehead. It was rmingly hot.
He bent down and picked her up.
L blinked her eyes open in a daze, thinking that she was dreaming. She raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck, trying to absorb its warmth.
Kieran lowered his gaze at her, his eyes as dark and still as the night.
For a fleeting moment, he wondered if he abandoned everything tied to the
Morgan family, could they be together?
The answer was no.
He was born into the Morgan family. Even though his assets had long
surpassed the family''s, the
privileged life he had as a child with
the best education and
ve
environment—it was all thanks to the Morgan family.
He was bound to them, and breaking away would be as agonizing as tearing muscle from bone.
When L woke up again, her fever had subsided.
The ringly white surroundings and the sharp smell of disinfectant didn''t surprise
her.
It was Kieran who had brought her here. Only he would.
When Amelia walked in, she saw L staring nkly, her face devoid of any emotion.
Amelia took a deep breath, forcing back the sting in her nose.
How could someone go through so much pain?
Her heart ached terribly, but she forced a smile as she walked over and held out a freshly washed apple.
L lifted her gaze to her. After
hesitating for a moment, she epted the apple, holding
in her hands. Content belol
After a pause, her hoarse voice broke the silence. "Amelia, what do you think I should do?"