Hazel’s words felt like molten lava to Xavier, scorching him with pain.

His throat was so dry it felt like it was smoking. After a long silence, he lowered his head. "...She never told me any of this."

Xavier, who hadn't cried since he was an infant, felt tears fall unexpectedly again. Like a child abandoned by the world, he repeated through a nasal voice: "She never told me."

He thought to himself: I’m a bastard. A real animal. Jolene loved him so much—how could he have been so ungrateful, attempting to cheat while constantly complaining that she was being unreasonable?

Remembering how Jolene had repeatedly asked if he had fallen for Chloe, and how his constant evasion had finally made her give up, Xavier raised his hand and delivered a heavy slap to his own face.

"From beginning to end, the only one I’ve loved is you... Jolene, I know I was wrong. I only love you."

Now, he finally had the answer. But it was too late; the person who had asked the question was gone.

Seeing Hazel turn to leave, Xavier grabbed her with one hand and pulled out a dagger with the other.

Hazel was shocked and was about to ask what he was doing, but before she could speak, Xavier answered with action.

There was a sickening "squelch" as the blade plunged into his own flesh.

"Please tell me where Jolene is." Xavier pulled out the dagger, the previously bright blade now stained with blood. "I’ve wronged her. I must apologize to her in person..."

Hazel shook her head. "I won't tell."

The words had barely left her mouth when Xavier stabbed himself again in the abdomen.

Blood sprayed onto the ground, accompanied by Hazel’s piercing scream: "Are you crazy?!"

"I am crazy." Xavier laughed lowly like a man possessed, seemingly unable to feel the pain. "Without Jolene, my life has no meaning. If I can't apologize to her in person, I might as well die to atone for my sins."

"If you won't tell me where she is, fine... at least give me her new contact information."

Xavier raised the dagger once more, his resolve suggesting that if Hazel refused, he would turn himself into a rag of torn flesh.

Hazel finally became frightened and took a trembling step back. "Fine, I’ll give you her new contact info."

"But let me get one thing straight. I'm Jolene’s sister, and I know better than anyone—she doesn't love you anymore. If she rejects you again, you are strictly forbidden from harassing her."

Only after receiving repeated assurances from Xavier did Hazel uneasily hold out her phone.

Xavier heard nothing else; he just stared fixedly at the string of numbers, a fire igniting in his heart.

Ignoring the blood flowing steadily from his wounds, he got into his car. With his heart racing, he used a foreign number to dial out.

"Ring— Ring—"

Finally, after the cold dial tone, a woman’s voice, as gentle as ever, came through: "Hello?"

Hearing her voice, Xavier felt as if he had been yanked from hell back to heaven. His heart stopped momentarily, then began to pound like melting ice turning into a torrent.

"Jolene..." Xavier couldn't help but whisper his lover’s name. Then, fearing she would hang up, he spoke urgently: "Jolene, it’s me, I..."

But Jolene gave him no such chance. Her voice shifted from gentle to cold and hard, piercing his heart like an icicle: "Get lost."

Then, the call that held all of Xavier’s hope was heartlessly disconnected.

Xavier stood frozen with his lips parted.

He had so, so much to say to her. He wanted to say he was sorry, that it was all his fault; he wanted to say he loved her deeply and beg for forgiveness; he wanted to say he finally knew she had been waiting for this apology and this love.

But no, he couldn't say a single word.

It was as if Jolene didn't care for his apology at all, nor had she ever considered continuing their journey together. It was as if they had become total strangers.

This thought sent Xavier into a panic.

He immediately called back, but Jolene was fast—she had already blocked him and turned on her filter for unknown numbers.

The hand holding his phone tightened until the veins stood out. He turned and roared at his assistant: "Have you found the IP address yet?!"

Even before Xavier had attempted the call, he had ordered his assistant to track the signal.

The assistant, directing the technicians at the computers, was sweating profusely. "Almost, almost! Preliminary check shows it’s overseas—quite far. We need a little more time."

Xavier’s jaw tightened. He asked reflexively, "Is it Country M?"

He had considered whether Jolene had gone abroad again, but he had quickly dismissed the idea. Jolene had said more than once that only where he was could be her home; abroad was just a place where she drifted like a temporary floating weed.

The assistant swallowed. "I’m not sure yet. It’s across the ocean, too far... we need a moment to confirm."

Xavier told them to hurry, pacing irritably by the sofa.

Finally, half an hour later, the technicians gave the answer, and Xavier froze in place.

It wasn't Country M, but Country H—a place Xavier had never set foot in, nor ever heard Jolene mention.

The emotion of finding her plummeted from a peak to a valley. His Adam's apple bobbed as he croaked out a few words: "Prepare the private jet immediately."

The assistant glanced at the gathering storm outside, wanting to say it wasn't suitable for takeoff, but seeing Xavier’s iron-hard expression, he sheepishly complied.

He walked ahead of Xavier to hold the door. For a split second as the door cracked open, a figure seemed to flash by.

The assistant rubbed his eyes. He had a faint feeling it looked like Chloe, but then thought it impossible. He had given a death order to those five men to ensure Chloe would never wake up again; there was no way she could have escaped.

"What are you standing there for?" Xavier snapped.

The assistant quickly pushed the doubt to the back of his mind and drove Xavier to the private airfield.

Under Xavier’s reckless urging, the plane took off.

Midway, they entered a mass of black clouds. The plane lurched violently, and alarms blared in the cabin.

The assistant was terrified and immediately called his family.

Xavier simply closed his eyes.

He suddenly remembered that every time he went abroad to see Jolene, she would always nag him to have a safe trip. He had never found it annoying because those words were filled with concern and longing.

"Jolene..." Xavier tilted his head back amidst the turbulence and whispered, "If I can appear before you safely, we will definitely be together again."

"When that time comes, we will never be apart."

Perhaps heaven was merciful.

Xavier did, in fact, see Jolene.

He stood in the dim audience seating, while Jolene was in the center of the stage, glowing.

The spotlights fell on her, crowning her with a brilliant halo.

She was dressed in a professional suit and skirt—elegant and dignified. Her pinned-up hair made her look sharp and clean, while a few stray strands by her forehead added to her grace.

Every smile and every gesture exuded confidence as she presented her startup project in English, her accent mature and charismatic.

Jolene had become so different... Xavier thought this as he stood infatuated below the stage.

No, rather, it should be said that Jolene seemed to have returned to the way she was when Xavier first met her.

He vaguely remembered that when he was pursuing her, she was just as radiant, shining into his heart like the sun and bringing him warmth.

...It was he who had made her insecure, sensitive, and fragile—asking him over and over what she actually meant to him.

As Xavier self-destructively reminisced about the past, Jolene’s presentation ended, met with thunderous applause like a rising tide.

She had always been the "star child" growing up.

She had skipped grades to enter university and had been recommended to a top global university for her postgraduate studies after graduation.

Xavier suddenly realized that she could live perfectly well without him.

Jolene had the strength and the capital; the one who couldn't leave this relationship had always been him.

At that moment, the host smiled and said, "The excellence of Miss Jiang’s startup project is obvious to everyone. It’s just currently lacking initial funding. Everyone, seize this opportunity to invest."

Hearing this, Xavier immediately snatched the microphone from a nearby volunteer and shouted: "I’ll give five million!"

Five million.

The crowd erupted in hushed whispers, everyone turning toward the source of the voice. Jolene did the same.

The two of them locked eyes.

Xavier’s excitement from the journey suddenly plummeted.

Because in the woman’s eyes, he could no longer see the love from before. Instead, they were as cold as a thousand-year-old glacier.