Happily Ever After… With Another

Jonathan walked up to me, looking down from above. His voice was cold.

"They're just some roses. If they're gone, we can plant more. Is this really worth making such a fuss over?"

My heart trembled. After a long moment, I forced my pain-wracked body to hold on and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"These roses were specially shipped back from overseas by you. You planted each one with your own hands. Even when your hands—your most precious asset as a pianist—were pricked until they bled, you just smiled and said it didn't matter, that this was the only way to show your love for me.

"The Jonathan from before would never have treated them as something insignificant. He would never have said, 'We can plant more.'"

My words seemed to strike something in him. His face turned pale in an instant, and he avoided my gaze.

"But the flowers are already burned," he said. "Are you really going to make your sister-in-law kneel and atone over a few roses?"

He reached out to grab my hand. "We can plant another patch exactly the same. We can fill the entire garden with them."

"No need," I said quietly. "Some things—once they're gone, they're gone."

I avoided him and walked to the charred, ruined flowerbed, standing there in silence.

Jonathan stood behind me without a word. It was as if something had suddenly been ripped out of his chest, leaving him briefly flustered. He only told the housekeeper to keep an eye on me.

That night, I sat in the garden while the housekeeper, Heidi, stayed by my side.

"Ma'am, even if you and sir had an argument, don't keep it bottled up. It's bad for your health."

"Did I argue with Jonathan?"

I froze. I couldn't remember. It seemed I wasn't far from completely losing my memories.

Hearing that, Heidi's mouth fell open in shock. After a long pause, she spoke carefully. "Tomorrow… Jess will be moving in."

"That's fine."

I tugged my lips into a faint smile.

Tomorrow, he would bring another woman home to take care of for the rest of his life. And the system would take me home. We would both get what we wanted. It was fine.

Heidi thought I was forcing a smile. Her eyes reddened at once.

"Ma'am… if you want to cry, then cry."

But I truly wasn't pretending. Because no matter how hard I tried to think, I couldn't remember why I had ever fallen in love with Jonathan in the first place.

Everything about us—I had forgotten it all.

I spent the entire night tossing and turning in pain, enduring until the next day, when the noise outside finally began.

And then, the system voice I had been waiting for rang out.

"Host, welcome home. Friendly reminder: the moment of death will be very painful."

I smiled. "It's fine. I'm not afraid of pain."

The next second, my head exploded with agony. I opened my mouth but couldn't draw in air. The intense suffocation made me writhe on the bed like a fish pulled from water, desperate and gasping.

It hurt. It really hurt.

Hearing the commotion, Heidi rushed in, startled out of her wits. She hurriedly dialed her phone as she backed away.

"Ma'am, what's wrong? I'm calling an ambulance right now!"

"No need… th-thank you." Even through the unbearable pain, I couldn't help smiling. I said sincerely, "Heidi, I'm… going home now."

She stared at me in shock, as if she finally understood something. Tears streamed down her face.

"Ma'am… take care."

Just then, lively voices drifted in from the villa entrance, along with Jonathan's familiar voice. "Jess, I'll take care of you the way my brother did—for the rest of my life. From now on, this will be your home."

Amid the clamor and celebration, I slowly stopped breathing on the bed. And from that moment on, there was only silence.