"Your life or death—that is your fate. I am very grateful you saved Amina, but that is all."

Ivy withdrew her gaze, never looking at the man on the hospital bed again, and turned to walk out of the tent without the slightest lingering attachment.

"Iv..."

Ethan opened his mouth, but couldn't produce any sound.

His fingers trembled in mid-air, clutching weakly, as if wanting to hold onto that resolute back.

The tent curtain was lifted, then fell.

Ivy’s figure vanished completely from his sight.

At that moment, the last shred of light in Ethan’s eyes shattered completely.

His hand in mid-air fell powerlessly.

The vital signs monitor beside him emitted a sharp beep, and Ethan’s life transformed into a glaring, straight line.

At the moment Ivy rushed toward her new life, Ethan remained forever in these foreign ruins.

When the news of Ethan’s death arrived again, Ivy was in an ancient church by the shores of Lake Zurich.

She was wearing a white wedding dress, preparing to hold a small wedding with Lucas, inviting only their closest family and friends.

The assistant walked in in a hurry, whispering a few words in Lucas’s ear.

Lucas’s expression changed slightly; he glanced at Ivy, seemingly hesitating whether to tell her.

Ivy was incredibly sharp. "What happened?"

Lucas was silent for a moment before finally telling her the news of Ethan’s sacrifice in the calmest tone possible.

Including his final words.

The church was very quiet, with only the sound of the wind from the lake outside brushing past gently.

Ivy listened, remaining silent for a long time.

She didn't cry, nor did she show any intense emotion.

She only looked calmly out the window, toward the direction of her distant hometown.

After a long while, she turned her head and offered a gentle, firm smile to Lucas, who looked worried beside her.

"Let's begin."

Her life had long since opened a brand-new chapter.

Those people and things of the past were just like the wind from afar—it blew, and then dissipated.

Whether she forgave or not was no longer important.

Because she had long since let go.

Lucas looked into her eyes, seeing relief, seeing rebirth.

Seeing the bright future that belonged only to them.

He gripped her hand tightly, bowing his head to press a devout kiss to her forehead.

"Good. Let's begin."

The melodious Wedding March slowly echoed in the church.

Ivy, arm-in-arm with Lucas, stepped across the sun-drenched red carpet step by step, walking toward the true happiness that belonged to her.

Chapter 19

Post-marriage life was peaceful and warm.

Ivy and Lucas both worked at Zurich University Hospital.

One was the lead at the ENT Research Center, the other the Chief Expert of Neurosurgery.

They were colleagues, comrades, and above all, the most perfectly matched partners in each other's lives.

Lucas had used his expertise and love to thoroughly heal Ivy’s hearing, while the "HearJoy" series of auditory devices continued to evolve and iterate.

It had helped tens of thousands of hearing-impaired individuals worldwide and had been applied to rescue operations in even more extreme environments.

Ivy's name had become a resonant symbol in the global field of otolaryngology.

Yet, she did not wallow in past glories.

With Lucas's support, she obtained her pilot's license.

Not to return to the rescue team.

But to be able to travel to any corner of the world more freely, providing technical support to those in need.

She was no longer that "Iron Lady" who risked her life recklessly, but the resilience and awe for life in her bones had never changed.

Only now, for every takeoff and landing, there was someone waiting for her to come home.

This day, Ivy had just returned from a mission providing rescue technology guidance.

As soon as she entered the house, she caught the familiar scent of home-cooked food.

Lucas, wearing an apron, was busy in the kitchen.

He turned back when he heard her, a gentle smile on his face.

"Back? Wash your hands, dinner will be ready in a moment."

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled through the window onto him, outlining him in a warm golden rim.

Ivy walked over and hugged him from behind. "Thank you for your hard work, Dr. Lucas."

Lucas turned off the stove and turned to pull her into his arms.

"Welcome home, Professor Ivy."

He lowered his head to kiss the top of her hair. "You didn't eat well in Africa this time, did you? Look at you, you’ve lost weight."

Ivy rubbed against him like a satisfied cat.

"It doesn't taste as good as what you cook."

The two exchanged smiles, everything understood without words.

After dinner, Lucas took out two opera tickets.

"Tomorrow night, Zurich Opera House is showing your favorite, Turandot."

Ivy’s eyes lit up: "You got tickets?"

That was the most sought-after showtime.

Lucas raised an eyebrow smugly: "To please my wife, of course I’d manage such a small matter."

Ivy playfully punched him; she knew this was certainly no small matter.

He was always like this—quietly keeping all her preferences in mind, then giving her one surprise after another.

When she was with Ethan, she was always the one who gave and sacrificed.

But with Lucas, she finally felt what it was like to be loved, cherished, and held in the palm of someone's hand.

The peaceful days were rippled slightly by a letter from back home.

The letter was from Ivy’s former teammate, her apprentice, Xiao Zhao.

In the letter, Xiao Zhao chattered on about the recent state of the rescue team.

Then, he mentioned Ethan. "After Captain Ethan passed, the team sorted through his belongings and found a locked box."

"We managed to open it, and inside were nothing but things related to you."

Chapter 20

"The gloves you wore through that were torn during your first mission, the photos of us celebrating the day you received the Golden Wings Medal, and a thick stack of diaries he wrote in secret."

"In the diaries, from the first day you met to the day you left, not a single day was missed."

Xiao Zhao’s voice grew choked with sobs, unable to hide his guilt.

"Sister Ivy, we were all wrong. We let you down. We shouldn't have believed Selena."

"Captain Ethan actually loved you deeply all along. It’s just that he... he was too proud, too arrogant, and was blinded by that woman, Selena. One mistake led to another..."

When Ivy heard the words "loved deeply," she nearly laughed out loud.

Loved deeply?

So, an emotion that could be so easily blinded and used to hurt another person could also be called deep love.

Xiao Zhao continued reading, "The last page of his diary was written before he went to the earthquake zone."

"He said he had no face to see you, so he could only use this way to walk the path you once walked, to save some people, treating it as if he were saving them for you."

"He said, if life could start over, he would never let go of your hand again."

In the next second, Ivy’s phone received a text message.

It was a photo of Ethan’s tombstone; there was no photo on it, only one line of text.

"May I be her ears, guarding a lifetime of silence."

A pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, bringing with them a familiar warmth that encircled her.

Lucas’s chin rested lightly in the crook of her shoulder.

"Another fan letter? Professor Ivy’s charm truly spans mountains and seas, enduring through time."

His tone carried a bit of unserious teasing, but his gaze fell upon that photo of the tombstone, his eyes darkening.

Ivy didn't look back, letting her entire weight lean against him.

"Not a fan," she said dismissively. "An old acquaintance."

She hung up the phone casually, folded the letter, and pulled open the drawer in the very corner of the desk, tossing it inside.

In that drawer sat the old phone she should have thrown away when she returned, the duplicate certificate of the Golden Wings Medal, and other things that should have been cleared out long ago.

She hadn't opened it in a long time.

With a bang, the drawer closed, shutting out all echoes from the past.

Ivy turned around, hooked her arms around Lucas’s neck, and looked up at him.

"Dr. Lucas, I suddenly discovered a very serious problem."

"Hmm?" Lucas raised an eyebrow, playing along.

"Listening to Turandot tomorrow, I don’t seem to have a dress that matches a Chief Neurosurgeon of Zurich."

She wrinkled her nose in feigned distress. "What if I embarrass you?"

Lucas was amused by her act.

He reached out a finger to flick the tip of her nose, the doting in his eyes nearly overflowing.

"Nonsense. Even if my wife went wearing a burlap sack, she’d be the most dazzling one in the room."

He leaned into her ear and lowered his voice, his warm breath making her ear itch.