Where the Cornflowers Grow, Love Died

Sierra's POV

At three in the morning, snow was falling hard across the empty streets. Liam’s face was streaked with tears that had frozen into tiny crystals.

When we fell into each other’s arms and cried, the snowflakes on his eyelashes melted into clear drops, and in that moment, they slipped straight into my heart.

Right then, I truly believed that nothing in this world could ever separate us. Our love had crossed a thousand kilometers, so it could survive anything. Hardships, distance, time—none of it mattered. We would, without a doubt, spend our lives together in happiness.

But the cruelest thing was that very night, I discovered he had been cheating.

The taxi driver watched me through the rearview mirror, waiting for the rest.

I gave a small, resigned smile and said calmly, “He drove too long that night. After making sure I was okay, he passed out immediately. He forgot to lock his phone and didn’t switch chat accounts. The very first pinned message was a nude photo from my best friend.”

The driver let out a long sigh and handed me tissues kindly.

But I didn’t need them. I had run out of tears long ago.

All I remember was that, in that moment, it felt like the blood in my body flowed backward. It was like a massive stone had dropped into a peaceful lake, shattering every beautiful illusion I’d ever held.

Back then, I kept scrolling. I saw years of messages between them, uninterrupted.

The very first one was from the day Veronica returned to the country after her divorce, the day I threw her a welcome-back dinner.

While I was drunk, Liam confessed to her.

He told her, [My feelings for Sierra aren’t love. They’re responsibility. You’re the unattainable love of my youth.]

The latest message was from last night.

She had said to him, [You already undressed me, and now you say you’re leaving?]

[Liam, what exactly do you take me for?]

[If you can’t let go of Sierra, then we should cut this off.]

[Sierra is my best friend. She helped me find a place to live and a job when I came back. Without her, I would’ve been on the streets. I don’t want to hurt her.]

By then, Liam was already asleep, so he hadn’t replied yet. He hadn’t even had the chance to choose before I saw everything.

That snowflake that had become a tear now turned into an icicle stabbing straight into my chest.

All the little things I’d ignored, all the strange details I’d brushed aside, they suddenly connected.

The faint perfume smell I thought I imagined turned out not to be my imagination. It was the scent of betrayal.

That uneasy feeling I kept dismissing as paranoia turned out to be not paranoia. It was instinct.

In an instant, my world collapsed.

I yanked him out of bed like someone possessed, sobbing as I asked him why? Why stay with me if he didn’t love me? Why brave the storm just to confess to me? Why cheat with my best friend when I loved him the most?

Watching me break down in front of him, Liam panicked and looked away. He didn’t know what to do.

“Sierra, it’s not that I don’t like you,” he said softly. “I just don’t like you as much anymore.”

Ten years. Youth faded and passion quieted. What used to be fierce love had turned into a debt that could never be repaid.

That time, I refused to accept it. I couldn’t believe it.

We had been together for ten years. Ten whole years. Three thousand six hundred fifty days and nights. A thousand kilometers between us. And he wanted me to believe that all of that had been nothing more than repayment?