Why did I leave without saying goodbye back then.
Why did I choose a person like that.
Why, after ending up with such an outcome, was I still unwilling to bow my head to her.
I looked at the trace of coldness in Serena's eyes that she couldn't let go of.
With a light laugh, I gave the same answer as seven years ago.
"Because of love."
I love Serena Harding.
From the moment I first came to Harbor City, when she pulled me out of the mud, I had already fallen in love with her.
I remember that day—the evening wind brushing my face, the sky ablaze with sunset.
Serena lifted me onto her motorcycle and told me to hold her waist and not be afraid.
"Remember this—your sister here is the boss of this whole block."
"From now on, stick with me, and you won't have to be afraid of anything."
What boss—Serena was a big liar.
All her belongings added together amounted to one clueless little underling who couldn't read the room, and a beat-up motorcycle that had been patched up more times than I could count.
But we made it work. Day after day, we got by on that motorcycle.
Using the skills I'd learned on the mainland, I opened a flower shop. Serena rode that broken bike to make deliveries.
The day we made it official, we agreed to save up and take over a storefront. When the shop opened, we'd get married.
Serena was so happy she almost didn't know where she was. She hugged me and kissed me again and again, giddy like a little kid.
"This is amazing—me, Serena Harding, I'm finally going to have a home!"
"My future husband, I'll work so hard for us, I swear!"
From then on, she put those words into action.
Rain or shine, freezing cold or scorching heat—Serena didn't slack off a single day.
She already had a head for business. Once she shed that careless, good-for-nothing disguise, she became unstoppable.
In just a few years, she'd built up her own network and saved a decent amount of money.
Every time Serena came back after finishing her rounds, her favorite thing was counting money at home. She liked to divide it into little stacks, one after another, muttering with conviction.
"This portion's for buying a house."
"This portion's for marrying Alex."
"This portion's for buying him new clothes."
I felt sorry for how hard she worked.
But Serena always said that as long as I was happy, everything she endured had meaning.
Just like that, we finally saved enough to buy a house.
But it was also that year that Serena was diagnosed with heart failure.
The surgery fee was astronomical.
Even if I gave up everything I had. Even if her underling friends emptied their savings, running around everywhere to borrow money.
We were still three hundred thousand short.
I went to loan sharks. Relatives and friends dodged me the moment they saw me coming.
I had no other choice. So I sold myself.
I went to find Third Master—the man who had tricked me into The Underground all those years ago.
I promised that if he'd give me three hundred thousand, I would follow him wholeheartedly and work for him for the rest of my life.
After hearing my offer, Third Master laughed so hard he couldn't straighten his back. He looked at me with contempt.
"With that plain face of yours, you think you're worth three hundred thousand?"
He sized me up from top to bottom, his eyes calculating.
"Three hundred thousand to buy a person isn't worth it. But to buy some face—now that's worth it."
"I just don't know if you're willing."
To me back then, as long as I could save Serena's life, I would agree to anything.
Even if it meant hurting her.
To satisfy Third Master's twisted sense of entertainment, I lied to Serena and told her I'd fallen in love with another woman.
I made Serena kneel to me in public.
I posted her humble, helpless image online.
I used every vicious method I could think of to hurt her.
