He Destroyed the Tenderly Nurtured Rose by His Own Hands

For nine years, Ethan Hunter raised Emma after her father died saving his life. She grew up in his home, in the room beside his, believing it would always be hers. On her twenty-first birthday, she confessed her love, and he threw her roses back, telling her no one would ever stand beside him but her. Soon he brings home Sophie, Emma's former college roommate, the girl who once turned the dorm against her. When Sophie moves in, Emma is told to find another room, and she retreats to the farthest one in the house.

Emma hides her plan: an exchange program abroad, and a fireproof suit she has built to repay nine years of kindness. Two days before the competition, she returns to the villa to store her data. On stage, the judges accuse her of stealing another's work, showing a blogger's post that mirrors her numbers exactly. She remembers an old USB drive holding her first data and races back to the Hunter villa to find it.

But no matter where she searches, the drive is gone, and despair closes in as she sinks to the floor.