Chapter 4
465words
I'd spent days crafting a revolving lantern, painting its surface with two tiny figures—one in red, one in white—riding side by side across an endless landscape.
My vision of our future together.
Heart thundering in my chest, I carried my creation to the Lawrence residence.
Tonight, I would finally lay my heart bare.
The servant informed me that the young master was appreciating lanterns in the back garden.
I told him not to announce me—I'd surprise Robert myself.
The back garden glowed with countless lanterns, plum blossoms shimmering in their light. I couldn't spot him, but voices drifted from behind an ornamental rockery.
I froze, instinctively ducking behind an ancient plum tree.
I heard his servant—Chang Qing—ask hesitantly:
"Master, those books… are you really sending them to her?"
Robert's voice answered, cool and deep as a forgotten well.
"Yes. Beginning tomorrow, deliver these poetry collections and paintings to the second Miss Lawrence. Be discreet—make her believe she discovered them by chance."
My heart plummeted.
He was sending poetry and paintings to Jessica?
Why the secrecy?
Before I could process this, Chang Qing spoke again, even more uncertainly.
"Master… the eldest Miss Lawrence clearly has genuine feelings for you. Isn't this… rather cruel?"
Then came a soft laugh.
Robert Lawrence's laugh. Soft, yet colder than anything I'd ever heard—like the deadliest icicle in the depths of winter.
"Her?"
Just one word, but the contempt in it washed over me like a bucket of ice water.
"She's nothing but a passing amusement. Not even worth discussing."
"But the General's daughter—the beloved sister of Jessica Lawrence—now there's a useful pawn."
"With her as my bridge, my pursuit of Jessica won't seem so sudden."
Boom—
Something shattered in my mind.
A passing amusement.
Not worth discussing.
A useful pawn.
So my relentless pursuit these past months, my genuine feelings, the courage and passion I'd prided myself on—in his eyes, they were nothing.
A joke.
A tool.
A… stepping stone to get closer to my sister.
My fingers went limp.
Crash
The revolving lantern I'd poured my heart into smashed against the ground.
The bamboo frame splintered, and the paper—with our painted figures riding side by side—crumpled into a pathetic heap.
The conversation behind the rockery halted instantly.
"Who's there?"
Chang Qing's voice rang out, sharp with suspicion.
I couldn't move—my body frozen in place, my blood turned to ice.
Footsteps approached my hiding spot.
I couldn't let him find me.
I couldn't let him see me broken like this.
I couldn't let him see his "useful pawn" shattered to pieces.
Just before they rounded the corner, I summoned every ounce of strength, snatched up the broken lantern, and fled into the darkness like a wounded animal.
