The white rose trembled in Chasel''s hand, its silky petals spotted with beads of bright red blood.


    "We should break up."


    Just five words. Chasel''s voice was so soft, almost empty, but it shattered Cassius''s irond heart, reducing it to ruins, too painful to look at.


    "Chasel... I won''t let you leave me!"


    Cassius''s entire body was shaking. In his dark, stormy eyes, a wild, desperate fury burned like never before. "I know exactly who I love! You were never anyone''s recement. Never!


    Chasel... don''t go. Please. I won''t let you leave me!"


    He was panicking now.


    He begged, he pleaded, he threatened, desperate to hold on.


    He would do anything—anything but lose the person he loved most.


    He''d barely managed to hold himself together the first time.


    But this... this was driving him mad, tearing him apart.


    Cassius''s breath came rough and ragged, obsession clouding his bloodshot eyes. He reached out, arms wide, trying to pull Chasel—already broken—into his embrace.


    He leaned forward, and a sharp, searing pain shot through his left eye—


    "Don''t touch me!"


    Chasel,pletely unhinged, grabbed another rose-this time, the thorny stem shed right across Cassius''s left eye!


    Luckily, his eyes had closed just in time. If they hadn''t, the thorns could have blinded him.


    For a moment, Chasel stared in shock at the bloody scratch running through Cassius''s left eyebrow. His own pain faded, reced by a surge of panic. His hands trembled; instinctively, he wanted to reach out, to care for him.


    But he forced himself to stop, swallowing the urge, his voiceing out rough and raw:


    "Cassius, you need to go to the hospital-"


    But Cassius didn''t care. A drop of blood ran down his pale cheek; he pulled Chasel into his arms with a near- feral desperation.


    "Then promise me... don''t leave me!"


    Cassius, I won''t lie—yes, I still love you. But at this point, I just... I can''t convince myself to keep going."


    Chasel''s eyes were empty, letting Cassius hold him, but all his passion had drained away. "Even if I forced myself to stay, every single day by your side, I''d feel like I was just ying a part—pretending to be someone else.


    Your love for me... it''s not pure anymore. And that''s all I ever wanted—just something real and untainted."


    He gave a shaky, bitter smile, his voice breaking. "You and him... you were the perfect couple. I just borrowed some of that light, that''s all, and got to love you for a little white.


    ?


    Cassius, that''s enough for me. This is where we end...”


    By the time Evadne and Jason arrived, Chasel was gone.


    In the empty living room, Cassius-tall, always soposed-was still on his knees, his back hunched, casting a long, deste shadow across the floor.


    Evadne''s heart dropped. She instinctively took a step back.


    The man before her was still alive, but it was like staring at the ruins of a house after a hurricane—broken, battered, and empty.


    “Ms. Evadne, what the hell happened between the boss and Dr. Bright?!" Jason had asked her the whole drive over, but Evadne hadn''t said a word.


    Cassius had always been the boss-the kind of man who never lost his grip. Jason had never seen him this destroyed.


    Evadne took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Jason, wait outside. I need to talk to my brother alone." Jason frowned, nodded, and stepped out, closing the door softly behind him.


    Evadne''s eyes stung as she walked over to Cassius. She knelt beside him, gathering up the scattered white roses one by one.


    When she picked up the card-still fragrant, still heavy with hope-she read the loving words inside. Hershes trembled, tears falling and blurring the neat handwriting.


    Rage followed, hot and fierce.


    She could tolerate a lot, but never when someone hurt her family.


    And today—of all days—was Cassius''s birthday.


    This scene, this heartbreak, on a day meant for celebration? It was a knife driven straight into his heart.


    She would never forgive that.


    "Cassius, told you from the start. If you''re going to love someone, you have to give them absolute trust. That means honesty-not just with your bodies, but with your hearts. No secrets, especially not about love."


    Evadne sank down next to him, voice thick. “I know you love Chasel. But you have to admit—you were first drawn to him because he looks so much like the one you lost.


    You should''ve told him, right from the beginning. But you didn''t. You kept it secret, and let Chasel—who trusted you with everything-get blindsided.


    How could he handle that? How could he stay? He''s proud, Cassius—he gave you everything, risked everything, and you lied to him from the very start..."