A Love That Transcends Mere Romance

"Miss Jackson, are you certain you want to undergo hypnosis? You should know that once the hypnosis begins, it cannot be reversed. Your body will be controlled by an alternate personality, and you will fall into a sleep from which you will never wake up again," the doctor asked in a grave tone from the other end of the phone. "Yes, I'm certain," Nina Jackson replied calmly. Chapter 1 "Miss Jackson, are you sure you want to undergo hypnosis? You should know that once it begins, it's irreversible. Your body will be controlled by an alternate personality, and you'll fall into a sleep from which you'll never wake up," the doctor asked gravely over the phone. "Yes, I'm sure," Nina replied calmly. Before the call ended, there was a sudden noise at the door—Lucas Spencer had returned. Nina hung up and silently walked to the living room. The dining table was still set with untouched food—roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and asparagus—now completely cold from sitting out too long. "Nina, I'm sorry. There was an emergency at the office and I've been working overtime until now. I didn't even get to celebrate your birthday," Lucas said apologetically. "But I did buy you a gift. Open it and see." He handed her a beautifully wrapped small gift box. Nina didn't immediately reach for it. Her gaze fell on Lucas's collar. On the white collar, a bright red lipstick mark stood out starkly. Nina felt a sting in her eyes and a sharp pain in her heart. Sometimes she couldn't help thinking: was he doing this on purpose? He managed his vast corporate empire so meticulously, yet couldn't check if there was lipstick on his collar before coming home. "What's wrong? Are you upset?" Seeing Nina's hesitation, Lucas stepped forward and coaxed her affectionately. "The office had an urgent matter, I really couldn't get away. Come on, don't be upset. I'll make it up to you tomorrow." As he came closer, Nina smelled a strong perfume on him. Tom Ford's Black Orchid, also known as the "heartbreaker" fragrance. Clearly, he'd been with some gorgeous woman tonight. "I'm not upset," Nina finally reached out and took the gift Lucas offered. It was a pair of sapphire earrings with a celestial design. They looked quite expensive, but— As the editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine, Nina knew their latest issue had just featured these exact earrings. They were part of a collection that included a necklace, bracelet, ring, and earrings. Buy the first three items, get the earrings free. Nina discreetly felt the bottom of the gift box and sure enough, found the words "complimentary gift" printed there. She laughed bitterly. "Lucas, we've been married for five years. Do you even know what I do for a living?" "Of course I do. You're a fashion magazine editor, right?" Lucas smiled. "I read every issue you published.” Nina fell silent. He claimed to read every issue of her magazine, yet still gave her a promotional freebie on her birthday. As they stood in awkward silence, Lucas's phone rang at the worst possible moment. He deliberately turned away from Nina and went to the balcony to answer it. He intentionally raised his voice, "Hello? Howard? What's up?" "What? There's a problem with the contract documents? Didn't I just help you revise those documents?" So transparent in his deception. Nina closed her eyes wearily. He didn't need to put on this act. The moment his phone lit up, she had already seen the contact name displayed clearly on the screen, “Sexy Babe.” All this talk about Howard and contract documents... it was all for her benefit. Setting the stage for his rendezvous with “Sexy Babe.“ Sure enough, moments later Lucas returned from the balcony with an apologetic expression. "Nina, I'm sorry. Those idiots at the office messed up the contract documents. I need to go back again." "Go to bed and don't wait up for me. I'll make it up to you tomorrow." With that, he hurriedly left. Just then, Nina's phone vibrated. Melody West, the currently most popular singer known for her sensual performances and suggestive lyrics, had posted on Instagram. She shared a close-up photo of her hand with the caption: "I've received the engagement ring. Aren't you coming over for our wedding night?" In the photo, she wore the sapphire ring from the same celestial collection on the ring finger of her left hand. Chapter 2 Nina couldn't understand how everything had turned out this way. In the beginning, Lucas was the one who pursued her. Unlike other short-lived suitors, his love was all-consuming. He chased her for two full years, during which she rejected him almost daily. But this never dampened his enthusiasm. He still sent her flowers every day, personally waited in line for hours just to buy her favorite gourmet cream puffs, kept track of her every move, and whenever she lingered on something while shopping, it would inevitably appear on her desk the next day, beautifully wrapped as a gift... Between them, though there wasn't a passionate, dramatic romance, the tenderness that flowed through their quiet days together was enough to touch Nina's heart. On the day he confessed his love, Lucas spared no expense and rented the entire theme park. After nightfall, he presented Nina with a fireworks show created just for her. As the dazzling fireworks filled the sky, Nina was moved to tears. Lucas kissed her then and whispered lovingly in her ear, "I promise, my love for you will always be as brilliant as these fireworks." But fireworks don't stay brilliant forever. They vanish in an instant. Nina smiled bitterly to herself, thinking that perhaps from the very beginning, her love story with Lucas had already been written with its ending. As brilliant as fireworks, and just as fleeting. Lucas didn't return all night. When Nina saw him again the next morning, he was still impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, handsome and elegant. But Nina immediately noticed he was wearing a different suit. Last night's "encounter" must have been too intense, and yesterday's suit was probably torn beyond repair. "My dear wife, please don't be upset anymore." Lucas walked over and slipped his arm around Nina's slender waist, then lowered his head to kiss her. "To make up for my mistake, I've prepared a very special surprise for you today." Nina turned her head, avoiding his kiss. "...Go take a shower first." "I already showered..." Halfway through his sentence, Lucas's face showed embarrassment, though it quickly disappeared. He smiled and explained, "I showered at the Marriott. After finishing work last night, it was already midnight. I was busy preparing your surprise, so I didn't come home and just showered at the hotel instead." Nina lowered her gaze. "Take another shower. Hotel showers don't clean thoroughly enough." There was a hidden message in her words, but Lucas seemed not to catch it. He playfully tapped her nose, his tone and gesture indulgent, "Alright, alright. Whatever you say, sweetheart." After his shower, Lucas drove Nina to the theme park. He had once confessed his love to her here, and now he had rented the entire place again. Nina felt slightly moved, but this feeling came too soon. Shortly after entering the park, they were greeted by the cartoon character parade. On one of the floats, Melody West was dressed as a princess, standing in the most prominent position and passionately singing into a microphone. "I remember you love Melody's songs," Lucas said. "You also love this character, so I invited Melody to dress up and sing for you... Are you happy?" It felt like a dull knife slowly cutting through her heart, inch by inch. The pain was so intense that Nina could barely breathe. ...How could he... How could he do this?! Even the deepest enemy couldn't hurt her this badly, but Lucas had managed it. He hadn't just insulted her. He had insulted her deceased sister. Chapter 3 Nina loved this theme park more than anywhere else because her childhood had been so unhappy. This theme park was a world of fairy tales and cotton candy, while her childhood had been nothing but violence and tears. Old newspaper clippings still documented what had happened back then: "Wife, unable to endure husband's domestic violence, turned on the gas stove intending to die with husband. Two daughters couldn't escape in time - one died, one injured." She was the injured one. Her sister, two years older, was the one who died. The reason she loved the princess was because that was her sister's favorite cartoon character. Also, the princess had a younger sister whom she deeply loved, just like Nina's own sister who had silently loved and protected her. So the character held a special meaning for Nina. She represented her deceased sister. But now, Lucas had his mistress dress up as the princess to sing for Nina, wishing her a happy birthday! "You once told me your childhood wasn't happy, so you love here because it's like a fairy tale world that can heal all wounds," Lucas said, not noticing anything wrong with Nina. He took her hand, bent down to kiss the back of it, then declared passionately, "I can't travel back in time to change your childhood, but I promise you this: every day we're together, I'll spoil you like a child and make sure you live in a fairy tale." Nina couldn't take it anymore. She pulled her hand back and slapped Lucas hard across the face, then turned and ran away, covering her face. Lucas was stunned by the slap. After a moment, he quickly chased after her. "Nina!" They ran for a while, but eventually, Lucas caught up to her with his longer legs. "Nina, what's wrong?" He grabbed her arm and forcefully pulled her into his embrace. "What happened? Everything was fine. Why are you crying?" You see, he always put on a good act. Even when slapped during his loving declaration, he didn't get angry. Instead, his first concern was her emotions, asking why she was crying. But Nina didn't want to pretend anymore. "What happened? Lucas, don't you know? Do I really have to spell it out?" "Nina, what are you talking about? I don't understand a word," Lucas asked with a frown. "Enough! Stop pretending!" Nina cried out, on the verge of breaking down. "I know about you and Melody. She's even wearing the sapphire ring you gave her yesterday... Lucas, do you have to disgust me like this?" Enough, really enough. Let everything end. She no longer wanted to live in endless lies and pathetic self-deception. Lucas calmly waited for Nina to finish venting, then pulled a small blue velvet box from his pocket. "Darling, is this the sapphire ring you're talking about?" He opened the box to reveal the celestial sapphire ring lying inside. "I actually bought the entire collection, but since I missed your birthday yesterday, giving everything at once felt like it lacked ceremony," Lucas explained with a wry smile. "So I only gave you the earrings. I was planning to give you the necklace, bracelet, and ring tonight during the fireworks show." "And now before the fireworks even start, I've been accused of being a cheating scumbag?" Chapter 4 Nina swore she really wanted to believe Lucas. But how could she believe him? He still smelled of that woman's perfume, which hadn't washed off even after his shower, and there were faint kiss marks visible beneath his collar... Lucas, please tell me, what do I need to do to believe you? Nina looked at Lucas with furrowed brows, her eyes filled with sorrow. But Lucas just smiled. He playfully tapped the tip of Nina's nose, then slipped the blue diamond ring onto her finger. "You little troublemaker, you accuse me wrongly and then you're the one who gets upset?" He reached out to wipe away her tears. "There, no more crying." "I'm giving you the ring now, but you'll have to wait until tonight's fireworks show for the necklace and bracelet." Looking at Lucas with his eyes full of tenderness, Nina suddenly felt that exposing him seemed pointless. She had already broken down, her eyes red from crying, yet he maintained his composure perfectly, with no flaws in his words or behavior. ...She had already lost, lost completely. They say the one who falls in love first usually loses first, but how had she, who fell in love second, ended up losing so thoroughly? For the rest of the time, Lucas diligently played the role of "world's best husband." He attentively cared for Nina's every need. When she felt thirsty, he immediately handed her water. He even speared fruit with a fork and carefully fed it to her to keep her hands clean. When the sun became too harsh, he proactively held a UV umbrella over her, tilting it almost entirely to her side... Nina enjoyed his attentions, but her heart felt incredibly bleak. She couldn't help asking him, "Why are you so good to me?" If you don't love me anymore, why not just tell me and get divorced? If you still love me deeply, how can you bear to hurt me like this? "You're my wife. If I'm not good to you, who should I be good to?" Lucas replied. "And I promise you, I won't just be good to you now—I'll be good to you in the future, and better and better. When you become a little old lady, I'll still spoil you into being the happiest little old lady in the world." Nina said nothing more. In her heart, she thought: Lucas, we don't have a future anymore. Her phone suddenly vibrated. Nina picked it up and saw a message from her lawyer, "Ms. Jackson, I've prepared the divorce papers for you. I can have them delivered to you now. Are you home at the moment?" At the same time, Lucas's phone also vibrated. Whatever he saw made his throat bob and his eyes darken. Nina recognized this expression well—it was the look he got when he was aroused. She couldn't help glancing at Lucas's phone and saw a pair of beautiful legs in black stockings on the screen. Another message popped up: "Third stall in the castle bathroom. You only have five minutes. Don't be late!" Lucas's breathing noticeably deepened. He quickly turned off his phone screen and said with uneven breath, "Nina, I need to use the bathroom. I'll be right back." With that, he hurried away. His mind was so preoccupied with Melody's stockinged legs that he didn't even notice Nina had been looking at his phone for quite some time... Go take a look, Nina thought. Let me completely give up hope. Seeing is believing. She would no longer trust any of his lies or pretend not to see his actions. With this thought, Nina followed him. Then she saw that before even entering the bathroom, Lucas impatiently embraced Melody, who was still dressed as the princess. They kissed passionately at the bathroom entrance. Under Melody's lifted princess dress, sexy black stockings were visible. "You're actually wearing black stockings under a princess dress?" Lucas laughed, pinching Melody's face teasingly. "You naughty little girl, you've dirtied this pure fairy tale." Melody looked at him seductively. "What, don't you like it?" "I love it," Lucas said, bending down to kiss Melody again. "...Come on, let's go inside. I'll make you even dirtier." Chapter 5 It felt as if she had suddenly fallen into an ice cellar. So cold—despite the height of summer, Nina was shivering uncontrollably. She thought she was strong enough. She thought she could accept all this. But when she saw it with her own eyes, she couldn't help feeling physically sick. She rushed out of the bathroom and vomited repeatedly. From the bathroom behind her came intense sounds of movement and muffled breathing. Since Lucas had rented the entire park today, there were no other visitors, so he was letting loose without restraint. Nina felt she couldn't stay in this place for even one more second. After finishing, she turned and left immediately. She took a taxi home and replied to her lawyer's message on the way: "I'm at home. Please have the divorce papers delivered right away." An hour later, the lawyer personally delivered the divorce papers. Just then, Lucas also came racing home in his car. "Nina, why did you leave without saying anything?" His handsome face was filled with concern. "Did I do something wrong to upset you?" Nina looked up, staring at Lucas for a moment before saying, "I waited for you for a long time but didn't see you return. I thought you might have gone to meet Melody in private, so I just came home by myself." Lucas's expression froze for an instant but quickly returned to normal. "My little queen, are you determined to wrongfully accuse me?" Lucas's tone was exasperated yet indulgent. "I swear to you, I invited Melody only because I discovered her in your music playlist, and she just happened to..." At this point, Lucas suddenly stopped. He looked hesitant, as if considering whether to tell Nina the rest. Nina's dark eyes deepened. "She just happened to what?" "Ah!" Lucas let out a long sigh. "I didn't want to betray my friend, but my wife is much more important. Since my wife suspects me, I have no choice but to sell out my buddy." With that, Lucas opened the car door. "Get in. I'll tell you the truth!" What game is he playing now? Nina frowned slightly but didn't say anything. She just took the divorce papers and got into the car. "What's this?" Lucas glanced at the envelope in Nina's hand, asking with slight curiosity. Nina lowered her eyes and replied flatly, "I'll show you tonight." Soon, the car stopped in front of a private club. Lucas led Nina inside. In the club's VIP room, Lucas's good friend Henry was embracing a sexy woman. When he saw Lucas bringing Nina in, he looked up with drunk, hazy eyes and said, "Hey, Lucas, perfect timing! I was just about to look for you!" "Didn't we agree that my Melody would dress up as that cartoon princess and sing for your wife to celebrate her birthday? But Melody just came back by herself. She told me your wife was angry... I don't get it. Why would she be upset? Doesn't my Melody sing well?" Nina suddenly realized that the woman cuddling with Henry was none other than Melody, who had changed out of her costume. "Nina, I know you have a thing about cleanliness, so I didn't want to bring these messy affairs to your attention. But if I don't, I'll be wrongfully accused like some modern-day martyr," Lucas said helplessly. "So I'll just tell you the truth—Melody is actually Henry's mistress. I invited her to sing for you only as a favor to him." Chapter 6 Nina sometimes couldn't help thinking that perhaps all married men were natural-born actors. Otherwise, how could Lucas and Henry act so convincingly? "Hehe, Nina, don't be angry. I just wanted my little sweetheart to earn some extra cash," Henry acted as if it were completely real. "Since Lucas was going to spend money to make you happy anyway, better for my Melody to earn it than some stranger." "Get lost!" Lucas kicked Henry as soon as he approached. "Let me tell you, my Nina is upset with me today because of you! You keep a mistress, and I almost took the blame for it!" They were such convincing actors! Nina silently applauded these two married men in her mind. If she hadn't personally witnessed Lucas passionately embracing Melody at the bathroom entrance just hours ago, she might have actually believed them. "What? Nina actually suspected you of having a mistress?" Henry widened his eyes, displaying a look of disbelief. “Nina, you must be joking! Everyone in our circle knows Lucas is crazy about you. Since he met you, he's either busy working or revolving around you all day... He doesn't even hang out with his old friends anymore!" "Every time we organize a get-together and invite him, he never comes. On the rare occasion he does show up, he doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and certainly doesn't flirt with women. He's like a monk who's taken vows. We don't even bother inviting him anymore... such a killjoy!" Nina thought, Is this what all men do? Cover for each other with their buddies? When a wife discovers something, they push the mistress onto a friend, claiming she belongs to the friend, not themselves. When Henry's wife comes to catch him cheating, would Lucas also embrace Henry's mistress and righteously tell Henry's wife, "My dear, you're overthinking this. You know Henry's character, don't you? Even if he had bad thoughts, he wouldn't dare act on them! Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on him. If he dares to mess around, you won't need to step in—I'll break his legs for you!" “Nina, you still don't believe us?" Seeing that Nina remained silent, Henry grew anxious and decided to go all in. "Fine! Since you don't believe me, I'll prove it to you. I'm going to take this little flirt right here, right now, in front of you and Lucas! Then you'll have to believe me, right?" With that, he threw Melody onto the sofa and pressed himself over her, pretending to force himself on her. Lucas visibly panicked. His body shifted, clearly wanting to intervene. But he quickly regained his composure and didn't step forward, only warning verbally, "Henry! What are you doing? This is indecent!" Then he put his arm around Nina and pulled her toward the door. "Let's go, let's go. They're disgusting. Nina shouldn't watch this—it'll taint your eyes." He was clever, knowing that at this moment he shouldn't pull Henry away but should remove Nina from the scene instead. After all, once Nina was gone, Henry would stop the act. The two left the club. Nina guessed that after dropping her home, Lucas would immediately find an excuse to leave so he could return and comfort Melody. Sure enough, as soon as the car stopped, Lucas's phone rang right on cue. He answered and launched into his usual work excuse, "What? There's a problem with the North City project? You guys are really something!" Nina closed her eyes wearily, no longer wanting to hear his lies. "Go ahead," she said, getting out of the car before he could even hang up. "Remember to come home tonight. I... have some documents for you to sign." Tonight, let's sign the divorce papers. From then on, they would part ways, owing each other nothing. Chapter 7 Shortly after Lucas left, Nina received a video. It was sent by Melody. Nina hesitated but finally opened it. As soon as she played it, Melody's sugary voice came through the phone: "Waaah, Daddy is so mean! Daddy pushed his poor babe onto someone else. I was almost forced..." "You have the nerve to complain?" Lucas smacked Melody's peach-like bottom and scolded her with a laugh. "If you hadn't insisted on dressing up as a princess, none of this trouble would have happened today." "But I missed you," Melody said in a flirtatious voice. "Doesn't Daddy miss his little kitty too?" "Cut it out!" Lucas said coldly. "If you ever show yourself to Nina again, I won't let you off so easily!" "Ah... Daddy… don't let me off... I love it when Daddy treats me roughly..." Then came scenes too explicit to watch. Nina couldn't bear to look anymore and closed the video. But Melody apparently wasn't satisfied with that. She sent many more videos, each containing explicit content. [Hmph, Nina, you seem quite pleased with yourself today. Do you think Lucas really loves you that much? That he'd even have his good friend try to take me just to prove his innocence to you? Are you feeling smug inside?] [But do you know that this 'perfect husband' of yours actually tangles with me every day? Every time he works late, he's doing me. Every meeting he attends is held on top of me. Even on his business trips, he takes me along.] [Haha, watch the videos. In his office, in his Mercedes... even on planes and cruise ships, we've done it everywhere. Does he desire you this deeply? Let me guess, he probably hasn't touched you, his plain old wife, for ages?] ... Reading these provocative messages, Nina slowly closed her eyes. In her mind, a voice that wasn't hers suddenly spoke, "Nina, why are you such a pushover? I didn't give up my life to save you just so you could live so pathetically." "Send the videos to Lucas, or post them online. See if that tramp still acts so smug." "Expose them! Destroy them! Don't make me look down on you!" How nice, Nina smiled. She was hearing her "sister's" voice again. Her sister wasn't like her. She was weak and helpless, but her sister was brave. When their father beat their mother, she would only hide in the closet and cry, but her sister would rush out to protect their mother. Then her sister and mother would be beaten bloody by their father. Only she, hiding in the closet, would be spared from the beatings. "Waaah, Mom, Nancy, are you in pain?" "Waaah, I'm sorry. I'm so useless. I'm such a coward..." How she hated her cowardly, weak self. But why had she become the only survivor of that deliberate fire? It wasn't fair. Her mother was so kind, so gentle. Her sister was so brave, so strong. They should have been the ones to survive. And weak, cowardly Nina should have died in that fire. Perhaps because she could never accept being the sole survivor, after leaving the hospital, Nina began hearing a voice in her head. It was her sister's voice. Her dead sister had come back to life in another form, inside her body. Doctors called it schizophrenia. But that wasn't it. That wasn't true. This was her sister's voice—she recognized it. Her sister couldn't bear to leave her alone to face this huge, strange world, so she had stayed. Her soul had been reborn inside Nina's body. They shared one form and would never be separated again. Chapter 8 As night fell, Nina walked into Lucas's study with the divorce papers in hand. Lucas was wearing headphones, listening to something. When he saw Nina enter, he said quietly, "Nina, I'm in a Zoom meeting. Could you come back in a bit?" Meeting? Nina's gaze dropped to Lucas's lower body. His belt was undone, and his pants were hanging loosely on him... What meeting? He was clearly engaged in a sex video call with Melody. She had entered too quickly. He had only managed to pull up his pants but hadn't had time to zip them. "It's just a signature, it won't take long," Nina said, taking out the divorce papers, turning to the signature page, and handing it to Lucas. Lucas was still wearing his headphones. Melody was probably teasing him on the other end, and he was so distracted that he didn't even look at what Nina had given him. He simply signed it. Nina laughed bitterly as she took back the divorce papers. "Aren't you going to look at what you're signing?" she asked with a smile. "No need. If it's from my wife, I'll sign it, whatever it is," Lucas said tenderly. "Even if you handed me a knife and wanted my life, I'd gladly give it to you." He was remotely flirting with Melody while making these heartfelt declarations to her. Nina couldn't help but tear up. She couldn't understand how someone could be so shameless. Not wanting to engage with Lucas any further, Nina turned around and left his study before he could see she was about to cry. About an hour later, Lucas must have finished his business. He returned to the bedroom, lay down beside Nina, and embraced her from behind. "Nina, I've been so busy with work lately and haven't had time to properly be with you," Lucas said gently as he held her. "Tomorrow night, let's have dinner at that Italian place you love, okay? Let me make it up to you." Tomorrow was also the day Nina had arranged with the doctor for her hypnosis session. This works out well, Nina thought. Before the hypnosis, she would hand him the divorce papers in person, then they would part ways, never to meet again. The next day, Melody continued bombarding Nina with texts and calls. She kept sending Nina videos of her encounters with Lucas and taunting her in various ways. [See this? Your husband and I even did it in your marital bed. I've even worn those Victoria's Secret nightgowns of yours.] So Nina took all the clothes from her closet, threw them into the yard, and set them on fire. [Hahaha, recognize this? It's Lucas's study. I was bent over his desk while he took me from behind.] So Nina set another fire, burning down Lucas's study. [Hehe, this is your garage, right? We've had sex in every single car in there, even the Bentley.] There were too many cars in the garage to burn individually, so she might as well set the whole house on fire. Leave cleanly, not even leaving ashes behind. Nina lived in the suburbs, so burning down the entire mansion wouldn't affect anyone else. After setting the fire, she called 911. She had calculated that it would take about an hour for the fire trucks to arrive, by which time everything that needed to burn would have burned. The firefighters could then put out the fire, preventing any harm to the surrounding landscape. After calling emergency services, Nina drove to the restaurant. Lucas hadn't arrived yet. Nina didn't plan to wait for him. She placed the divorce papers on the table and then turned to leave. Before leaving, her phone vibrated again. Melody had sent a new message: [Hehe, are you waiting for Lucas to join you for a romantic dinner? Don't bother waiting, he's ‘licking’ me right now!] Below the message was another explicit video. Before Nina could open the video, Lucas called. "Nina, I'm sorry I'm late," he said, his breathing slightly uneven—it wasn't hard to guess what he was doing. "Wait for me a little bit, I'll be there soon..." Before he could finish, Nina cut him off. "Don't bother coming." With that, she hung up, then tossed her phone into a trash can. She didn't want the phone or the car she'd driven anymore. They felt contaminated. She took a taxi to the hospital and, following the doctor's instructions, lay down on the therapy couch. The doctor lit a special incense and dimmed the lights. "Ms. Jackson, please look at the pocket watch in my hand and follow my instructions." "Three!" "Two!" "One!" "Begin hypnosis!" In the dim light, Nina stared at the pocket watch in the doctor's hand, tears streaming down the corners of her eyes. Nancy, I'm sorry. Even though you sacrificed your life to save me, I remain as weak as ever. This world is too big, and human hearts are too complicated. I really tried to adapt, but I just can't handle it. More than once, I've thought how much better it would have been if you had been the one to survive. But it's okay now. I'm giving this body to you. I believe that you, being brave, will surely live a wonderful life... Nina slowly closed her eyes. Under the doctor's guidance, her consciousness gradually faded, sinking completely into darkness. And when her eyes opened again, those gentle amber eyes had lost all their warmth.