Chapter 3
I stood by the glass window of the storage room, watching Rolf’s figure grow smaller as he walked away, holding an umbrella for Faye.
In my hands, she had just thrown me a stack of work reports, each one marked with red question marks.
“I don’t understand these formulas. Recalculate them,” she had said before leaving, spraying my perfume all over herself.
She looked at me, smiling innocently. “Clarissa, I’m borrowing your perfume, and as for your fiancé, I’ll borrow him too.”
I clenched the papers in my hand, not daring
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to breathe too heavily. Here, I didn’t even have the right to refuse.
Suddenly, the floor beneath me began to shake, the strong tremor snapping me back to reality.
The alarm blared, echoing through three floors. I hurriedly grabbed my phone, dialing Rolf over and over again.
Finally, on the thirty–second call, the system notified me that he had blocked me.
Five years of feelings, ruthlessly deleted with a single click.
A chunk of concrete fell onto my leg, the pain making me collapse to the floor.
“Rolfie, I’m so scared…” Faye’s trembling voice came from around the corner.
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“I’m sorry, I was too stubborn, I had to come back for that USB drive…
My heart sank. That USB drive contained all the materials I had accumulated since my student days.
Five years of work, all in it.
Rolf held her tightly in his arms, his voice soothing like he was comforting a child. “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
His tone was gentle, heartbreaking. Five years ago, he had spoken to me the same
way.
But now, I could only lie in the rubble, waiting to die alone.
Large pieces of debris fell from above, and
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the seawater had already started to flood in.
I glanced at the emergency exit–our only chance of survival–but it could only fit one person helping another through.
Rolf scanned the ruins, his gaze quickly settling on me, but after only a moment, he turned away without a second thought.
“Rolfie…” Faye clutched his sleeve, tears streaming down her face. “Are we going to die here?”
He looked down at her, his expression suddenly determined. “No, I’ll get you out of here.”
In that moment, I remembered five years ago, when he had said the same thing, his voice so resolute: “Clary, I will always protect you.”
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But now, he wouldn’t even look at me, as though I was nothing more than a stranger, irrelevant and unimportant.
I gave a bitter laugh. The water had risen to my knees, and instinctively, I reached for the oxygen mask behind me.
But the mask, which had been locked away in the storage cabinet during yesterday’s check, was nowhere to be found.
As I turned, I saw the life–saving oxygen mask, securely strapped to Faye’s face.
“Clary…” Rolf finally looked at me, his gaze cold and indifferent.
“We’re having a baby, and you don’t want to see a child without a mother, do you? I have to save her first.”
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I snapped my head up, my heart feeling as though it were being ripped apart.
“What about me?” My voice caught in my throat, growing more frantic. “Back then, when you told me you didn’t want a child, when you told me to abort it, didn’t you think about how I felt?”
The words spilled out with a raw
desperation. “Turns out, it wasn’t that you didn’t want a child… it was that you didn’t want a child with me…”
The water had reached my waist, but I felt no chill–only a numbness spreading through my chest.
Rolf’s face flashed with impatience, his brows furrowing slightly.
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“Clarissa, really? Are you still stuck on this, at a time like this?” His voice was cold, laced with sarcasm. “Let the past be the past. Right now, I need to save Faye.”
He looked down at Faye in his arms, his expression softening instantly, his voice gentle as he whispered, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll get you out of here soon.”
The stark contrast felt like a knife stabbing deep into my heart.
The same man, so cold and distant with one woman, yet so tender and protective with another.
I stubbornly lifted my head before him, but the tears couldn’t stop falling.
Rolf tossed a simple “Stay here” and left, shielding Faye as he walked away.
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Before he left, he took off his only waterproof suit and threw it over me.
That gesture made me decide to gamble on the past five years of emotions, believing in him one last time.
But when the water rose to my chest, I realized how naïve I had been.
And the person who promised, “I’ll come back to save you,” never did show up.
The ceiling collapsed with a deafening roar, and I shut my eyes, waiting for death to come.
Suddenly, a calm, steady voice called out, “Grab my hand!”
