The sky was buried under a protective cover of clouds as the rain fell hard enough to sting the ground.
The scent of damp soil filled the air, along with a metallic odor beneath it.
At the bottom of a mountain, a girl lay still in the mud. Rainwater soaked through her clothes. As though that storm wanted her to be buried.
She appeared lifeless.
Her skin had gone pale with a blue tint, her lips were also white, and her body was so still that not a breath could be seen.
Suddenly, out of nowhere.
Her chest suddenly jerked upwards.
As if she had been pulled back from death, a sharp gasp escaped her throat.
"What...?".
Two girls walking along the road froze in their stride.
"Sis, wait—doesn’t that look like someone lying there?"
The two hurried closer, their umbrellas shaking in the rain.
"Oh my God—!"
"There’s blood...!"
One of them immediately pulled out her phone, hands trembling.
"Hello?! We’re near the mountain road outside the city—there’s an injured girl here. She’s bleeding badly, please hurry... yes, the address is—"
...
By the time the rain stopped, the night sky had cleared enough for scattered stars to appear overhead.
A black Maybach pulled up smoothly in front of the hospital entrance.
The driver quickly stepped out and opened the rear door.
A tall man emerged.
He wore a black coat, the cold hospital lights catching against sharp features and gray-blue eyes that carried an unsettling indifference. Broad-shouldered and imposing, he drew attention the second he appeared.
The reporters crowded outside immediately surged forward.
"Mr. Voss! What’s your response to Vivienne Blackwood’s suicide attempt after your rejection?"
"Why haven’t you answered Miss Vivienne’s public confessions online?"
"Did you rush back from overseas because of her condition?"
"Is it true you actually have feelings for her?"
"What about Miss Whitemore? Isn’t she your girlfriend?"
Questions came one after another without pause.
Cameras flashed relentlessly.
For a moment, Adrian Voss simply looked at them.
Then he spoke.
"I don’t have a girlfriend."
His voice was calm. Cold.
"And Miss Whitemore and I are not involved."
The reporters quieted slightly.
"As for Miss Vivienne," he continued, "there is nothing between us, and there never will be."
Not anger.
Not embarrassment.
Just complete indifference.
Then his gaze swept over the crowd blocking the entrance.
"But regardless of whatever rumors you people enjoy spreading," he said quietly, "this is still a hospital."
His tone lowered slightly.
"You’re disturbing patients."
That was all.
Yet the pressure in his voice was enough to make several reporters instinctively step aside.
Without another word, Adrian walked past them with his bodyguard following behind.
Inside, the hospital smelled strongly of disinfectant.
Several nurses stood near the hallway desk chatting in low voices.
"Is that really Vivienne Blackwood? She’s even prettier in person."
"Pretty for what? Chasing a man this desperately is embarrassing."
"Still... trying to kill herself over rejection is a little extreme."
"I just don’t understand it. She has money, fame, beauty... why throw everything away for one man?"
"Good thing they found her in time."
Their voices drifted through the corridor.
Inside the room, Vivienne sat quietly against the hospital bed.
Her long black hair fell messily over her shoulders, slightly damp at the ends. The hospital gown made her skin look even paler than before.
She stared ahead blankly, eyes unfocused, listening to the distant voices outside the room.
After a while, she slowly picked up her phone.
The screen lit up across her face.
Then—
"Vivienne Blackwood."
A low voice cut through the silence.
She looked up instinctively.
And froze.
"...Adrian?"
For the briefest moment, Adrian stopped walking.
The girl in front of him looked nothing like the noisy, obsessive woman he remembered.
She was quiet.
Too quiet.
Her face was pale against the white sheets, dark hair spilling around her like ink. But what made him frown were her eyes.
Empty.
There was nothing inside them.
Like someone who had already given up long ago.
Something in his chest tightened unexpectedly.
Only for a second.
His expression cooled again almost immediately.
"Don’t pull stunts like this again," he said flatly. "No matter what you do, I won’t be with you."
Vivienne blinked once.
"...Mm."
"I don’t care what happens to you," he continued. "You’re only hurting yourself."
"Okay."
Her response was soft and absent-minded, like she wasn’t really listening.
The silence that followed felt strangely uncomfortable.
Adrian frowned slightly.
"Vivienne Blackwood," he said, "I hope this is the last problem you cause me."
She lowered her gaze.
"I know."
Her voice came out hoarse.
"It won’t happen again."
A short pause.
"Everything before this... was my fault. I’m sorry."
Adrian looked at her for a moment without speaking.
There was no crying.
No hysteria.
No attempt to cling to him.
And somehow, that felt stranger than anything else.
"I’ll arrange someone to handle your treatment," he said at last. "After this, we’re even. Our relationship will remain strictly professional."
She nodded lightly.
"Okay."
"And stop wasting your time on unrealistic fantasies," he added coldly. "I will never fall in love with you."
No response.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"In the past, I tolerated your behavior because of what we once had."
His voice hardened.
"But if you keep pushing things, you won’t like the way I deal with problems."
This time, she finally looked at him properly.
Her eyes were calm.
Too calm.
"If I ever bother you again," she said quietly, "then do whatever you want."
A faint pause.
"Kill me if you want."
Adrian’s brows tightened.
But Vivienne had already turned away again, staring blankly toward the dark window beside the bed.
Like a flower that had already withered.
After a long silence, Adrian let out a quiet scoff.
"I hope you mean that this time."
Then he turned and left.
The door shut behind him.
The room became silent again.
Vivienne sat still for a long time before finally unlocking her phone.
Then she started a livestream.
The comments flooded in instantly.
Ignoring them all, she looked into the camera and spoke softly.
"Hello everyone. This is Vivienne Blackwood."
"I want to clarify something."
"My hospitalization has nothing to do with Mr. Adrian Voss. It was entirely personal."
She paused briefly.
"I also want to thank the people who helped me and called the ambulance."
Her fingers tightened slightly around the phone.
"But please stop dragging Mr. Voss into this matter. He has no responsibility toward me."
"We were never in that kind of relationship."
"I was selfish before. I took advantage of his kindness and caused him trouble online."
"I’m sorry for that."
For the first time since the livestream began, her eyes lowered slightly.
"Mr. Voss is a good person."
"And from today onward... I won’t pursue him anymore."
The comments exploded even faster.
She ignored every single one of them and ended the stream.
Silence returned once more.
Vivienne slowly lowered the phone onto the bed beside her.
Then she leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.
"...Finally."
No sadness.
No tears.
Just exhaustion.
The kind that settled deep inside her bones.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she covered her eyes.
"...I’m tired."
The room stayed quiet.
After a long time, her lips finally moved again.
Barely above a whisper.
"...I just want it to end."