For five years, Edmund Montague and I had shared something I thought was love, but he never allowed me to call it what it was, not in front of anyone.
When my best friend stood up for me, he dismissed it coldly, his words slicing through me like a blade.
"This mess you made, fix it yourself," he said with disdain.
"And if you can’t sort it out, don’t even think about returning to me."
The final blow came later when I saw him with my own eyes, holding the face of his first love with a gentleness I could only dream of.
His voice, steady and heartfelt, drove the knife in deeper. "I don’t have a girlfriend. The one I’ve been waiting for… it’s always been you."
At last, exhaustion weighed me down and I chose to walk away.
But then, as if clinging to a script he’d written for us, he boldly declared to everyone that he was planning to propose.
"Victoria, are you certain this time?"
My mentor’s voice over the phone was firm, carrying the gravity of the decision ahead.
"If you commit to the Antarctic expedition now, there’s no going back."
***
Victoria glanced at the phone screen, where a photo of her with her senior colleagues beneath a towering glacier gleamed. The sunlight pierced through the ice, casting a luminous glow on their faces, like flowers blooming in the heart of winter, radiant, alive and full of promise.
But now…
Victoria stared at her reflection on the black screen. The face staring back at her was weary, shadowed by exhaustion and a quiet desolation. It was time to let go.
“I’m certain,” she said softly, her voice gentle but laced with unshakable resolve.
“I’ll send you the application form shortly.”
“What application form?”
The sound of the door unlocking interrupted her conversation and before she could respond, Edmund strode in with hurried steps.
Victoria Windsor quickly ended the call with her professor, offering a few polite words before turning to him. “Just applying for a new research project. Nothing important.”
Her tone was casual, but her heart raced. She was referring to the three-year Antarctic expedition, a chance of a lifetime, both professionally and personally.
As the faint rustle of shoes being kicked off reached her ears, Edmund was suddenly in front of her. With one swift motion, he leaned down and encircled her in a firm embrace, keeping her seated in her chair.
His warm breath brushed against her neck, teasing her skin with an intimacy that always conflicted her.
“Apply for whatever you want,” he murmured, his tone deceptively light. “But don’t even think about Antarctica. A girl like you, running off with a bunch of men to the ends of the earth? How could I ever feel at ease?”
Victoria’s chest tightened. The Antarctic expedition had been approved six months earlier. It was a golden opportunity—her professor’s recommendation, her perfectly aligned research and the promise of career-altering discoveries. She had been a shoo-in for the project, the professor’s favored choice.
But Edmund had refused.
He had ripped her application form into shreds, ignored countless calls from her professor and plunged them into a cold war.
“If you’re so determined to go, then we don’t need to see each other anymore!” he had declared, his words like a dagger to her resolve.
And in the end, she gave in. She sent her professor a heartfelt apology. The email had gone unanswered.
Victoria knew why. Her professor, usually kind and understanding, had been deeply hurt. The silence stretched for two long weeks before they spoke again.
That was Edmund. He refused to give her an official place in his life, yet he kept her bound tightly, refusing to let her drift too far.
And she, despite herself, couldn’t muster the courage to fight back.
But this time, no force in the world could stop her. Not even Edmund.
Victoria stood still, her silence louder than words, her hand no longer reaching out to brush his forehead as it once had, a tender gesture now lost in time.
Edmund’s brow furrowed in confusion. For a fleeting moment, he seemed unsure, but then a familiar spark of determination lit his eyes. Like a magician conjuring a spell, he revealed a bouquet of blue roses from behind his back, their petals glowing like fragments of a dream.
“I promised to meet you for lunch,” he began, his voice gentle, laced with an attempt at charm, “but something came up at school. I couldn’t make it in time.”
With a small flourish, he extended the bouquet toward her with a sheepish grin. “This is my apology. Don’t stay mad, okay?”
Victoria’s gaze flickered to the roses, her expression faltering. For a moment, just a moment, her eyes softened. The vivid blue of the flowers mirrored a time when his gestures had meant the world to her.
