Just then, the flower shop door was pushed open from the outside.

Chen quickly put on her professional smile and spoke politely: "Hello, welcome! How can I help you today?"

Summer Sheng entered the shop nervously, her gaze landing immediately on Clara standing to one side.

At such a close distance, it was undeniable—Clara Tang really couldn't see.

Chen spoke again, confused: "Hello, what bouquet are you looking for?"

Summer pulled out her phone and, having made up a quick excuse about damaged vocal cords, wrote down her request in her notes app.

Chen turned to Clara. "Sister Cece, we need a bouquet of freesias and white lilies."

Chapter 23

Clara Tang gave a soft "mm-hmm" and walked inside with practiced ease.

Watching her back, Summer Sheng naturally noticed the subtle caution hidden beneath her familiar movements.

"If you're putting them together, freesias don't really pair well with white lilies," Clara reminded her aloud.

Chen looked at Summer, who quickly typed out: "It’s okay, pack them separately."

Chen repeated the request, and Clara soon emerged with the correct bouquets.

Next was Chen’s turn to take over, but Summer’s gaze remained fixed on Clara.

Clara naturally felt the sudden weight of that stare, but she endured it without saying a word.

Chen worked quickly; Summer paid, withdrew her gaze, and turned to leave.

Watching the retreating figure, Chen joked, "Our Sister Cece is truly loved by everyone. Even that lady couldn't stop staring at you."

Clara had grown used to Chen’s frequent teasing and simply echoed her with a smile.

However, she remained somewhat preoccupied with that gaze, and the scent on the woman felt hauntingly familiar.

Outside the shop, Summer let out a long sigh of relief.

She had always harbored a sense of guilt toward Clara, a guilt that had deepened after the news of her "death."

Now, seeing her alive and well, a heavy stone in Summer’s heart finally vanished.

She reached for her phone and dialed a number she hadn't called in a long time.

On the other end, Ethan Shaw stared at Summer Sheng’s name on his screen, momentarily dazed.

He almost thought he had been transported back six months, but he answered the call anyway.

"Ethan Shaw, do you have time to meet?" Summer spoke frankly.

Ethan frowned instinctively, stating the fact in a cold tone: "Summer Sheng, you are married."

Unexpectedly, she laughed. "Ethan, you don't actually think I'm looking for a second chance with you, do you?"

Ethan didn't respond, clearly not in the mood for games.

Summer rolled her eyes and said slowly, "It’s about Clara Tang. Do you want to hear it?"

The moment the words left her mouth, Summer noticed the breathing on the other end suddenly grew heavy.

As expected, Ethan Shaw could never remain indifferent to Clara Tang’s name, even for the smallest matter.

"Time and place," Ethan’s voice was pulled extremely tight.

Summer didn't beat around the bush and decisively set a time with him.

Just before the call ended, she heard the man’s chilling warning: "Summer, this better be about Cece, or else..."

With that, the line went dead.

Summer put her phone away, looked at the bouquet in her arms, and gently touched her lower abdomen. "Think of it as a good deed to earn blessings for my baby," she whispered.

Whenever it came to Clara Tang, the patience Ethan Shaw took pride in would easily evaporate.

The next day, he met Summer at a café.

Summer declined the coffee the waiter brought, saying softly, "Just a glass of plain water, please."

Meeting Ethan’s gaze, her eyes were filled with the glow of happiness and a slight hint of showing off. "I'm pregnant. I can't have coffee."

Ethan didn't care about her personal news; he simply gave a brief nod.

He immediately shifted the topic, his voice urgent: "What do you want to say about Cece?"

Summer’s expression turned serious. "Ethan, are you certain Clara Tang passed away?"

Her words sent a shock through Ethan’s heart. A suspicion surfaced, and his voice began to tremble: "The doctors told me. Everyone said so."

"But you never saw her body with your own eyes, and you’ve never been to her grave, have you?"

Chapter 24

"But the Tang family..." Ethan’s heart skipped a heavy beat. Thinking back, whether it was Clara's parents or Marcus, none of them had ever explicitly stated that Clara was gone.

They had simply told him to leave.

Ethan’s mind went blank for a moment, his eyes turning bloodshot. He looked at Summer with a gaze of desperate intensity.

Summer sighed as she watched the naked longing on his face.

She directly showed him a photo she had taken of Clara.

"A few days ago, I ran into her in D.C."

Ethan gripped Summer’s phone tightly, staring fixedly at the person in the photo.

Summer’s words exploded like fireworks in his mind. He felt like a death row inmate who had suddenly been granted a stay of execution, clutching onto his lifeline and refusing to let go.

"Where is she? I need to see her..." Each word Ethan spoke was firm yet agonizingly difficult.

Summer had anticipated this reaction. She bit her lip and said, "Clara... her situation isn't great."

That single sentence was like a bucket of ice water drenching Ethan’s agitated heart. His face turned pale instantly. "What do you mean?"

"She’s blind."

Summer’s words were like a bolt of lightning, leaving Ethan cold all over.

He understood Clara’s pride and her passion for medicine all too well.

Blindness almost certainly cut off her professional path and severely impacted her life.

"Is she... doing okay?"

Summer understood immediately what he was really asking. "She’s helping out at her family’s flower shop. I can't say if it's good or bad; I only caught a glimpse of her from a distance."

"Give me the address," Ethan’s dark eyes were still, his entire being unnervingly quiet.

Summer opened her mouth to speak. "Are you really going to find her? Perhaps she’s living a peaceful life now. Have you thought about it? Your appearance might not be a good thing for her. Besides, in the past..."

Her unfinished words were like a sharp blade, cruelly carving open their past and laying it bloody before him.

"Give me the address."

Ethan felt the taste of iron rising in his throat, but his words remained steadfast.

His heart ached uncontrollably. He didn't know what he was going to do or how he should handle this.

But he just wanted to see her once. He wouldn't go near; he would just watch from a distance.

As long as he could confirm she was alive—still living in his world—that would be enough.

...

At the entrance of Thirteenth Alley, people came and went, but very few walked deep inside.

Ethan Shaw stood to one side of the alley entrance, dressed in a black overcoat and holding an umbrella. He was focused intently on a glass window blurred by the curtain of rain.

Inside the window, a woman in a light-colored dress sat quietly on a stool. She had been sitting there all morning.

Despite the pouring rain and the mud everywhere, Ethan’s heart had never felt as clear as it did at this moment.

Clara Tang was alive. She was still in this world.

The moment he saw her, his somber, grey world began to light up.

Inside the shop, Chen watched the door listlessly, occasionally sighing about the slow business during the rainy season.

Her gaze followed a passerby and unexpectedly landed on Ethan, who was staring directly into the shop.

"Wow, there's a top-tier handsome guy across the street! I wonder who he's waiting for!" Chen excitedly described the scene to Clara.

Clara instinctively turned her head, only to remember she couldn't see.

Her expression dimmed, but Chen, unbothered, continued to peer outside.

"Still, that guy seems to have been standing there for a long time. Is the person he's waiting for not coming? It's so sad to be stood up in this heavy rain."

Chen’s sighs mingled with the sound of the rain and reached Clara’s ears. She bit her lip and didn't respond.

Waiting?

Waiting was what she had done most in her life.

She used to wait for her parents to come home from work; later, she waited for that man to remember her. Now, she was simply guarding a stagnant life, faintly hoping for the day she might "see the light" again.

Chapter 25

"Sister Cece, that thing you asked me to do—it's all set. Professor Song said she’s free to come over on Saturday morning." Chen suddenly remembered and turned to Clara to claim her credit.

"I know. Thank you, Chen. I'll buy you milk tea next time." The weight on Clara’s heart eased for a moment.

Chen thanked her with a smile and busied herself with processing the newly arrived bouquets.

Because of the rain, business at the flower shop wasn't very good today, and they closed early.