chapter 9

Leander said, "The doctor said it was a good thing I got Juniper there in time, or the consequences could have been terrible."

Leander used words like 'haunted by guilt,' 'in time,' and 'consequences' to emphasize how urgent the situation was—to frame his choice as the morally right one.

Right. I couldn't possibly be so selfish and unreasonable. After all, it was only my heart that was a little hurt, while someone else's actual life was on the line.

But Leander still felt guilty. He knew I was hurt. He just couldn't help it.

My reaction was perfectly calm. "Of course. A life is the most important thing. I know you have the biggest soft heart."

Leander was caught off guard by my understanding. He brightened up immediately. "I'm so glad you see it that way, Olivia. I promise you, once Juniper recovers from this, I'll have the talk with her and make a clean break. I mean it this time."

"Okay," I agreed.

"Then…" He glanced at me tentatively. "Would it be alright if I went over there again tonight? Juniper's been discharged, but the doctor said she's still unstable. I'm worried she might try to hurt herself again. I don't want all our progress to go to waste."

"Sure, go ahead," I agreed coolly, without a trace of emotion.

"You're not upset, are you?" He looked both relieved and worried.

I smiled. "Of course not. I know what kind of person you are. You'd never cross the line."

Leander looked at me, hesitating as if he wanted to say something sweet to ease his own guilt. But I was over it. I nudged him toward the door.

"You should go. The sooner you leave…" I paused, my tone half-joking, "the sooner you might come back."

"I'll be back early, I promise." He let out a sigh of relief, finally free of doubt, and left with a smile.

I watched him go, the smile never leaving my face.

Oh, Leander, I hoped you'd never regret today.

Shift the gaze to Leander.

Leander was driving to Juniper's place when a sharp, stabbing pain suddenly hit him right in the chest.

He slammed on the brakes and pulled over.

His heart had always been healthy. He just had a full check-up last month, and everything was fine. This pain came out of nowhere, and with it came this vague, unexplainable sense of panic.

He instinctively reached for his phone to call Olivia, but just as he found it, Juniper called. She was crying, begging him to come see her.

The doctor said Juniper had severe depression—that was why she kept having these suicidal thoughts. In the end, Leander couldn't bear it. He chose to ignore that strange feeling.

His plan was just to see Juniper, make sure she was safe. Once he was sure, he'd go find Olivia. He'd put her through so much.

But Juniper had prepared a whole table of food. She looked at Leander with those pitiful eyes and said all she wanted was for him to stay and have one meal with her. That was her only small request.

Her delicate hands had several fresh burns from cooking, all for him. Juniper's tears fell right on his weakest spot, always stirring up that overwhelming sense of guilt he had for her.

So Leander agreed to stay for dinner. He also drank the wine she handed him.

After the wine, his body started burning up. The figure in front of him split into blurry multiples. Juniper stepped barefoot onto his feet. "Leander, be good to me," she cooed in a sugary, soft voice. Then, she slipped off her loose outerwear.