Chapter 4A World Away from Him

The day I went to the precinct to pick up my transfer papers, I ran into Liam and Lily. It was no surprise. They were wearing matching jackets, like a couple. I remembered asking him to wear matching outfits with me, and he'd always called me childish. Now, here he was, doing it willingly.

When he saw me walk past him without a glance, Liam hurried to catch up. "Do you have to be like this? Are you really going to throw away our entire future over one commendation?"

Lily rushed over too, her eyes red and tearful. "Claire, please don't blame Liam. It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, you two wouldn't have..."

Her words were cut short by a sudden commotion.

A man with a twisted expression, looking completely unhinged, was charging toward us, brandishing a gleaming dagger.

"Look out!" Liam yelled instinctively.

In that instant, time seemed to crawl.

His eyes darted between me and Lily. In that split second, without a shred of hesitation, he spun around and threw his body over the crying girl, shielding her completely.

The dagger, fueled by a madman's hatred, came straight for me.

I wasn't defenseless, but his choice—his instant, unthinking choice to protect her—stunned me. My reaction was half a second too slow.

Darkness swarmed my vision as my colleagues surged forward and subdued the attacker.

Liam, still holding the terrified Lily, looked back at me. His handsome face was a canvas of panic... and guilt. He started to move toward me, but Lily clung to him, her grip like a vise.

I woke up in the hospital.

"Where's Liam?"

"He took Lily home. He said she was terrified and needed someone with her."

I closed my eyes and said nothing more. A little while later, I saw Lily's new post. He was at the mall with her. Shopping.

I stared at the picture for a long, long time. The wound on my arm throbbed, but my heart was calm. I felt no ripples, no waves.

So this is what it feels like for a heart to die. No tears, no drama. Not pain, not even an ache. Just... nothing.

Soon, a message from him arrived. "Claire, get some rest. I have to go out of town for an assignment. Be good and wait for me to come home, okay?"

He must have thought that because I'd unblocked him, I had forgiven him, just like all the other times.

He was wrong. I had only unblocked him to tell him about my transfer. But now, it seemed, there was no need.

I blocked him again and boarded the plane to Veridian City.