In the past, Charles was the one who ignored her. Now, she was the one who couldn't care less about him.

After concluding her journey through the mountains, Sera departed for the arid western deserts.

The moment she landed, she received a massive wall of text from her former boss, William.

"Sera, when are you returning to the firm?"

"You need money to treat your illness right now, not to mention you have a husband, in-laws, and a household to consider. You can't just throw a tantrum and walk away from your life. You have to be responsible to others."

"Because of that, I never officially approved your resignation. You’ve rested for a month now, it’s time to come back to the office."

Staring at the sheer entitlement oozing from the message, Sera's fingertips trembled slightly.

William was her alumnus from college and her manager of eight years.

In the past, she had genuinely viewed him as a friend and an older brother figure.

In those eight years of service, she had never once made things difficult for him.

That was until a month ago, when she felt unwell and needed to request time off for a medical checkup. He had looked at her with pure annoyance.

"You look perfectly healthy to me. What do you need leave for?"

"I can only grant you personal leave, and for half a day at most."

Later that day, he had even blasted a company-wide notification: No leave requests will be permitted during peak business cycles. A minor request for medical leave had allowed Sera to see right through his true colors.

If this had happened in the past, she probably would have swallowed her pride for the sake of her career.

But now, she refused to endure it for another second.

Sera immediately typed out a response to William.

"William, I've realized that falling ill has a way of clearing up a person's vision. There is absolutely no need to save face for people, nor is there any point in maintaining toxic professional relationships. We only get one life, and being happy is the only thing that matters."

The moment she sent the reply, she took a screenshot of the message where William demanded she return to work and forwarded it directly into the main corporate group chat containing all employees and executives.

She attached a single question along with it.

"I would like to ask management if it is considered ethical for a supervisor to reject the resignation of a employee with late-stage terminal cancer?"

The corporate group chat, which had been buzzing with casual chatter moments before, instantly fell into a dead, horrified silence.

In the private employee backchannels, everyone was in utter disbelief.

Sera was terminally ill, yet William still refused to let her go?

Sera wasn't finished. She proceeded to dump eight years' worth of evidence into the main chat—records of William secretly undermining other staff members, intentionally forcing out talent, and engaging in malicious internal competition to secure his own position.

She wasn't doing this out of a grand desire for corporate justice; she just wanted to give herself peace of mind.

The moment she finished uploading the files, her messaging app began to blow up with frantic notifications.

She didn't need to check to know they were all from William.

Sera didn't bother reading a single one, blocking and deleting his contact immediately.

In less than an hour, her inbox received her official severance letters from HR, along with a notification that her remaining salary and benefits had been wired to her bank account.

Satisfied with the result, Sera picked up her suitcase and left the terminal to head to her hotel.

But as she lifted her head, her gaze locked onto Charles, who was standing right there with a suitcase of his own.

Dressed in a tailored black trench coat, Charles walked briskly toward her and reached out to take her luggage.

"I took some time off. I’m going to accompany you on your trip so you can relax."

Sera blinked in surprise. In the past, even when his own parents were hospitalized, Charles could never bear to tear himself away from his precious duties.

What was this now? A sudden attack of conscience?

Too little, too late.

Sera pulled her suitcase firmly out of his grip.

"There's no need. Go back and focus on your work."

She walked past him and stepped directly into the private shuttle sent by her hotel.

To her surprise, Charles climbed right in after her.

"I've already approved my leave. I'm staying with you."

"Suit yourself."

Sera had no energy left to argue with him. She leaned her head back against the plush seat and slowly closed her eyes.

Charles sat beside her in complete silence.

In the old days, whenever they shared a car ride, Sera would talk endlessly, trying to engage him.

But now, though Charles turned to look at her several times, she never once opened her eyes.

Despite sitting mere inches apart, Charles felt an vast, unbridgeable chasm opening between their hearts.

After an indefinite period, the sharp ring of Charles’s phone shattered the silence.

Sera opened her eyes just in time to see the caller ID flashing across his screen. It was Chloe.

Charles quickly answered the call, his voice hushed and tightly controlled.

"Yes, I've arrived safely. You don't need to worry."

The interior of the vehicle was incredibly quiet, allowing Chloe’s clear, soft voice to filter out from the receiver and strike Sera’s ears.

"How is Sera doing right now?"

"She's stable for now," Charles paused briefly. "I'm going to spend a few days traveling with her before we head back."

"I understand. We see a lot of terminal patients like her in oncology; their emotional states can be highly volatile. Make sure you take care of yourself too, Charles."

"I will. Thank you."

The moment Charles hung up, he turned around and met Sera’s steady gaze.

He offered a hurried explanation. "I only re-added her contact info because I needed to consult her about your medical condition."

Sera’s eyes remained completely vacant of emotion.

"Oh."

She closed her eyes once more, refusing to look at him again.

When they arrived at the premium desert resort, Sera went straight to her suite to unpack.

Charles followed her like a shadow, refusing to leave her side.

No matter what she did, he silently lagged behind her, trailing her all the way out to the famous desert springs later that afternoon.

As Sera wandered the rolling dunes taking photographs, Charles stood a short distance away, his eyes never straying from her figure.

As the sun began its golden descent, a tourist suddenly recognized her.

"Excuse me, are you Sera? I follow your photography page online! Your compositions are absolutely stunning! Would it be alright if we took a picture together?"

Sera lowered her camera, a genuine smile gracing her features.

"Of course. Thank you so much for supporting my work."

After snapping the photo, the follower couldn't help but ask out of concern.

"Sera, I’ve been wondering about the countdown you mentioned in your posts. Are you dealing with a health issue?"

Sera offered a gentle smile but avoided giving a direct answer.

"I just suddenly gained a new perspective on life and decided it was time to live for myself. I'm doing wonderfully right now, so please don't worry."

The follower let out a visible sigh of relief.

"That's wonderful to hear. To be honest, it was your post that gave me the courage to finally quit my own toxic job. I'm so much happier now!"

"And your photography is truly incredible, you have such a rare gift! All my friends are using your desert sunset shots as their phone wallpapers."

Hearing such heartfelt praise, a wave of pure happiness washed over Sera, her lips curling into a warm smile.

"Thank you all so much. Knowing that I helped you take that leap makes me incredibly happy."

Once the follower walked away, Charles stepped up to her side, unable to contain himself.

"I never realized you had such an incredible eye for photography."

Sera didn't look at him, her eyes fixed on the dipping sun.

"Because you never bothered to pay attention to anything I did."

Charles fell silent. After a long, suffocating pause, he asked in a low voice, "Is there anything else left on your bucket list that you want to do?"

A final wish before dying, she noted inwardly. But just as she opened her mouth to reply, a familiar female voice called out from behind them.

"Charles!"

Sera turned her head and saw Chloe standing a short distance away, waving cheerfully at them.

Chloe was dressed in a pale pink windbreaker, her long hair pulled up into a high bun, making her look incredibly youthful and full of vitality.

Sera distinctly felt Charles stiffen beside her, his mind clearly drifting.

It wasn’t until Chloe walked right up to them that Charles finally snapped out of it and asked, "What are you doing here?"