Particularly regarding the young lady standing before her eyes—she was an exceptionally fine individual, young and beautiful, her future undeniably tracking toward a magnificent horizon; she deserved to live a fulfilling life.

A solitary tear spilled unexpectedly from the girl's eye, her vision flushing a deep crimson as she suddenly choked out an inquiry: "Sister Chloe, may I wrap my arms around your person?"

Chloe nodded in absolute confirmation, and the girl instantly locked her frame into a tight, crushing embrace, suddenly breaking into a violent fit of agonizing weeping.

The girl articulated her sorrow in a raspy, fractured vocal register: "Sister Chloe, Zack constituted the absolute best individual across this entire universe. My eyes were barred from monitoring even a final glimpse of his face. We had explicitly finalized an agreement that once the Christmas season descended, his person would escort my system to ride the Ferris wheel, yet..."

As the syllables progressed, the girl's voice dissolved into an incoherent wave of uncontrollable sobbing.

The sorrow anchored within their respective hearts was entirely identical; only upon confronting one another did that latent agony strip away its superficial barriers, suddenly erupting into an unmanageable torrent.

As the moment of departure materialized, the girl secured Chloe's hand, thoroughly drying her tears as she articulated her final stance: "Sister Chloe, across the future eras, you must substitute for my presence to visit Zack frequently. Moving forward, you must abstain from weeping, and my person shall likewise abstain from tears. We must universally look after our existences with absolute dignity. Moving forward... I shall no longer journey here to see his face."

Better left unseen, better left unremembered; otherwise, across the staggering duration of this infinite life, through what mechanism could a soul possibly navigate the path to its absolute destination?

To successfully look after one's existence, a soul must universally release the anchors of the past.

Chapter 39: Dining Together

It was only after a vast, continuous stretch of time that Chloe successfully emerged from that lingering, infinite emptiness and learned how to transition back into her historical rhythm of life.

She vacated Julian's villa and relocated permanently back into the old residence she had historically shared with Zack.

At this current juncture, the pressing necessity to accumulate a massive fortune no longer existed, so she simply secured an ordinary position at a minor enterprise. Although she possessed absolutely no advanced educational credentials, executing the responsibilities of a receptionist offered a reasonable degree of stability and peace.

Upon completing her shifts, her routine involved purchasing basic groceries to bring home, meticulously preparing a modest meal for her own consumption, and eating quietly. As the days cycled past year after year, the lifestyle remained flat and simple, yet her soul felt immensely unburdened and light.

Treading along the sprawling perimeter of the old alleyway, the night settled exceptionally early, and the streetlamps illuminating the thoroughfare had already ignited ahead of schedule.

Clutching her bag of fresh groceries, Chloe lowered her gaze, only to suddenly monitor a compact, dark silhouette anchoring beneath her feet, pinned down by her own shadow.

A flash of mild surprise registered across her consciousness as she pivoted her frame, only to witness Julian following her strides in an unhurried, measured manner. The exact fraction of a second his eyes locked onto her person, the corners of his lips curved slightly into a soft smile, the ambient illumination cascading over the crown of his head to generate a delicate halo.

"What motivated your presence at this location? Are there not numerous corporate objectives demanding your absolute focus recently?" she inquired softly.

Julian advanced his strides one step at a time to close the remaining distance, a heavy wave of exhaustion visibly masking his handsome features: "I experienced hunger, and my mind suddenly resurrected the memory of how frequently I consumed the meals prepared by your hands during our early years. My steps drifted to this parameter entirely out of awareness, and my timing coincided perfectly with monitoring your arrival home."

Chloe froze slightly; though the external wind howled with savage intensity, the structural design of the alleyway effectively barred even a single shred of the freezing chill from penetrating the space.

She scanned the raw ingredients secured within her grasp, her emotional foundation softening instantly: "I merely purchased a handful of common items—basic greens. I am intensely terrified they no longer accommodate the refined palate your status commands."

The final syllable had barely left her lips when Julian extended his arm to smoothly relieve her of the groceries: "Regardless of whether the timeline tracks to the historical era or the immediate present, my system can seamlessly process the sweetness, and I am entirely capable of enduring the bitterness."

Julian's fingertips radiated a piercing chill, and the brief contact caused her skin to experience a sharp shiver, prompting her sudden exclamation: "Through what mechanism did your hands become so freezing cold? Hurry inside the residence to roast them by the heat!"

Hearing the instruction, Julian extended his open palm toward her form: "Then let us journey home."

Gazing down at that hand, her frame stiffened rigidly against the concrete, her mind temporarily locked in an analytical loop regarding whether she ought to clasp his fingers or deliver an absolute refusal.

Yet in the subsequent fraction of a second, her hand was securely enveloped within the firm grasp of a massive palm. Though a wave of piercing cold registered against her skin, a profound, all-encompassing warmth flooded her heart.

Julian offered a brilliant smile as he delivered an old adage: "The elders always stated that when an individual's hands are exceptionally freezing, it constitutes absolute proof that the heart inside is immensely warm."

She abstained from mounting even a single shred of resistance, permitting Julian to smoothly escort her frame back into the interior of the residence.

Before long, a series of rich, exquisite aromas began to waft systematically through the rooms.

Listening to the rhythmic, continuous thumping sounds echoing from the kitchen perimeter, an unprecedented sensation of absolute fulfillment settled into Chloe's chest. It felt as though her consciousness had seamlessly bypassed the intervening decades to return to the era of many years ago—during that historical window when Zack was still anchored in this world, and Julian would likewise deploy his absolute vitality to hustle back and forth within the kitchen, constructing a massive, overflowing table of delicacies for their enjoyment.

Surveying the reasonably magnificent spread dominating the tabletop, Chloe mobilized her chopsticks to sample a bite, the flavor profile matching the archives of her memory with absolute, unshakeable perfection.

A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she remarked: "Your lips explicitly declared a burning desire to experience the cuisine executed by my hands, yet the moment we cross the threshold of this establishment, the operational landscape reverses, and your person is the one cooking for my system instead."

Julian meticulously filled a bowl with warm soup and positioned it securely before her form, abstaining from a direct rebuttal as he instead initiated a tentative inquiry: "Chloe, regarding the ceremonial reunion dinner for the upcoming lunar new year... shall we consume the meal in tandem?"

Prior to her vocal cords constructing a response, Julian rapidly advanced his verbal positioning: "Across the entire duration since my physical form vacated the city limits all those years ago, I have been forced to navigate the seasonal transitions entirely isolated in external territories—drifting with absolutely no baseline anchor, wrapped in a desolate, freezing loneliness. On this occasion, let us dine together."

Chloe observed his features in absolute silence, before slowly lowering her head once more, consuming a swallow of the warm soup before offering a quiet, muffled response: "Julian, has your mind ever gravitated toward the strategy of securing an alternative partner to traverse this life? Your character is so exceptionally fine; the volume of genuine girls harboring a deep devotion toward your identity must be astronomical."

A sharp, suffocating ache throbbed deep within her chest. In absolute, unfiltered reality, a profound wave of baseline self-doubt remained permanently anchored within the deepest parameters of her soul.

She abstained from classifying her own existence as an asset of any significant value. Although Julian remained the exact Julian of her past, his current positioning was defined by absolute, magnificent triumph and pristine elite status, rendering the structural chasm separating their worlds entirely too immense in her estimation.

The ambient atmosphere locked into an absolute, two-second silence. Julian lifted his eyes to monitor her downcast expression, before suddenly pushing his frame up from his seat, closing the physical distance to her side, and executing a swift, seamless maneuver to scoop her slender form up into a horizontal embrace.

Chloe experienced a violent jolt of pure shock, and in the subsequent fraction of a second, her entire frame descended securely into a profoundly warm, protective embrace, her person seated directly upon his lap.

Chapter 40: The Multitude of Lights Burn Brilliantly

Across the immense duration of their historical acquaintance, this instance undeniably constituted the absolute first occasion Chloe's eyes bore witness to such a thoroughly dominant, unyielding manifestation of Julian's character.