Chapter 5

Elena's POV

At three in the afternoon, I was in my room finishing the last of my packing.

I didn't own much. Aside from a few sets of clothes, the most valuable thing I had was a gray, moisture-proof storage box.

It didn't hold diamonds or designer bags. Inside were all the hand-drawn blueprints and optimization designs for racing engines I had created over the past ten years.

Ever since I decided to become a mechanical engineer at sixteen, I had poured every waking second into this work.

In the bottom right corner of every single blueprint, a tiny five-pointed star was sketched.

Because Julian had once told me that stars represent good luck.

*Thud.*

I had left the bedroom door slightly ajar while I went into the bathroom to wash my hands, when I suddenly heard a noise outside.

I walked out, and my pupils violently contracted.

Nora was standing right over my storage box, holding a tilted French press in her hand.

Scalding black coffee was pouring steadily and deliberately from the spout, soaking straight into the half-opened box.

The dark brown liquid instantly drenched the top few dozen sheets. Under the heat, the black carbon ink bled and blurred rapidly, turning into grotesque, messy stains. Those were my aerodynamic layout designs, revised over a hundred times.

"What are you doing?!" Screaming like a madwoman, I rushed forward and shoved Nora aside.

Nora took the momentum and tumbled backward, crashing onto the floor. The French press fell from her grip, shattering against the carpet and spilling coffee everywhere.

I dropped to my knees, my hands trembling violently as I tried to salvage the blueprints.

It was too late. The specialized paper absorbed liquid rapidly; more than half the sheets were already stuck together. Forcing them apart would only tear them to shreds.

Those tiny stars in the corners, meant to bring good luck, were now completely submerged and blackened by murky coffee.

"What happened here?!"

Julian, who had been working in the study downstairs, rushed up at the commotion. Seeing the spilled coffee and Nora on the floor, he strode in furiously.

"Julian..." Nora clutched her stomach, her face pale, though a subtle glint flashed in her eyes. "I just wanted to see how Elena was doing with her packing and bring her some coffee. But... but my stomach suddenly cramped up, my hands slipped, and it spilled... I didn't mean to..."

She looked up at Julian, looking utterly defenseless. "Elena pushed me... I'm so scared something happened to the baby..."

Hearing that, Julian’s expression shifted drastically. He bent down instantly to check on Nora. Only after making sure she wasn't harmed did he turn his glare toward me, still kneeling beside the box.

He cast an irritated glance at the soaked, ruined papers in the bin, his scowl deepening. "Elena, there’s a limit to how unreasonable you can be! Nora brought you coffee out of the kindness of her heart. Not only are you ungrateful, but you shove a pregnant woman?! If anything happens to that baby, how do you plan to make up for it?!"

I didn't answer him. Trembling, I gently cradled a soaked blueprint—the very first complete design I had ever drawn when I was seventeen. It had turned into a clump of wet sludge.

Slowly, I stood up, holding the heavy, dripping box against my chest. My eyes were terrifyingly hollow as I stared directly at Julian.

"Julian, do you have any idea..." My voice was barely a whisper, yet it carried an agonizing, suffocating tremor. "How many years I spent drawing these?"

"They're just scrap paper!"

Julian snapped impatiently, raising his voice. "It's already ruined. Throwing a fit won't fix it! Do you have backups on your computer? If you don't, then redraw them! You're an adult now, stop acting like a spoiled child over every little inconvenience! Nora is pregnant and weak, yet she's still trying to look out for you. Can't you just behave for once?!"

*Scrap paper. Redraw them.*

His words were like razor-sharp blades, plunging ruthlessly into my chest and twisting until nothing was left but raw flesh.

Ten years of hard work, countless sleepless nights—to Julian, it was all just a pile of dispensable scrap paper. He didn't even care to ask if it was important. All that mattered to him was whether Nora’s nonexistent baby was startled.

Looking at the man in front of me, he felt like a total stranger. So unfamiliar that I didn't even know what I had been holding onto all these years.

Deep within my soul, something snapped with a sharp *crack*, crumbling entirely.

"Alright."

I spoke suddenly, cutting off whatever lecture Julian was about to continue.

Julian paused, caught off guard.

"I'll redraw them." Holding the box, I took a step back, putting distance between us. My face was devoid of expression. No rage, no sorrow, only dead, tranquil silence.

Looking at Julian, the faintest trace of a cold smile touched my lips. "Mr. Vance is right. I was being immature. I'm sorry for staining the carpet. Please leave now. I need to finish packing."

Julian looked like he wanted to say something more, but Nora tugged gently at his sleeve. "Julian, my stomach still feels a little tight..."

Julian pressed his lips together, ultimately wrapping an arm around Nora and turning away.

*Click.* The door shut.

Holding the box, I walked over to the corner of the room. I didn't try to wipe the coffee away, nor did I try to separate the pages. I simply set the box down quietly, pulled out my phone, and checked my booking details one more time.

Departure: the day after tomorrow.