Tristan, who was still holding his phone to his ear, fell silent for a moment. 

Suddenly and surprisingly, he chuckled softly and remarked, "Leticia is throwing a tantrum, isn't she? Did she get you to play along and trick me? Put her on the phone, please." 

Tristan switched to an earnest tone and said, "Are you listening, Leticia? I'm sorry, okay? Don't try to trick me by pulling something like this, alright?"

"Mr. Colton..." The funeral director was at a loss. 

In all his years at the funeral home, he'd encountered plenty of families struggling to accept the loss of a loved one. He found that he had reached the limit of his abilities to handle an unexpected reaction like Tristan's.

All he could do was comfort Tristan in a hollow voice. "You should come here in person, sir. Just look up Journ City Funeral Home."

"Who are you, really?" Tristan grew frustrated at not hearing Leticia

The driver's expression faltered drastically. Awkwardly, he offered some words of comfort. "My condolences, sir... Don't be too saddened."

"Leticia isn't dead," Tristan thought. However, he couldn't summon the energy to explain. He responded by giving the driver a polite smile.

They got caught in traffic. As Tristan looked at the clear, cloudless sky, he called Leticia again.

He wanted to hear her scold or yell at him. Even if she slapped him or asked for a divorce, he wouldn't mind. He would spend the rest of his life repenting and showing her that he regretted his actions. 

Leticia was so soft-hearted. Tristan was sure he could eventually win her back. She could never bear to see him sad or hurt.

As countless ways to win her back flashed through Tristan's mind, a small spark of hope stirred within him. The lilies in his hand gave off a faint, calming scent. He believed that there 

Leticia ascended to the rooftop in the middle of the night. It was the start of winter, so the winds at night were extremely chilly.

She stood on the edge of the rooftop as she stared down at the lights dotting beneath her feet. The traffic flow and the decorative trees looked so tiny as well. 

That was when Leticia recalled the system's final message—only when one embraced death would they be reborn.

If she were to jump down from this spot, would she return to her original world? Or would she completely disappear?

Leticia didn't know the answer to that. All she knew was that she would never see Tristan again regardless of where she ended up at.

Soon, she dug out her phone and called the phone number which she was extremely familiar with. 

The call went through very quickly. Tristan's voice was gentle as usual.

"What's wrong, Letty?"

Leticia gazed at the horizon, her voice coming out soft and airy. "Where are you right now?"

Tristan responded in a low tone that was brimming with love and care for Leticia, "I'm in the company right now. Are you feeling better? Did you eat regularly today?"

Leticia merely curled her lips into the faintest of a smile. Still, her expression mostly remained impassive.

"I feel like eating the custard cake sold in Suburban Journ all of a sudden."

It didn't matter how late the night was in the past. As long as Leticia told Tristan she craved something, Tristan would rush over to buy that particular food item even if he was already asleep beforehand.

There was once when Leticia made her request in the middle of a snowing night. Tristan still braved the snowy weather by driving for three hours just to buy the food item back for her.

Back then, Leticia's heart throbbed in pain for Tristan. As she warmed his hands up with her own, she silently vowed that he'd be the only man she'd marry in this lifetime.

At that moment, Tristan paused on the other end of the line. He soon answered, "Letty, there's a lot of work for me to deal with in the company today, so I'll have to spend the night here. How about I head over to Suburban Journ and buy the custard cake for you first thing tomorrow?"

This was Leticia's first time being stubborn. "But I want to eat it now."

Tristan hesitated for a moment. In the end, he still turned Leticia down.

"Be good, now. Seriously, I can't leave because of work. I'll bring back as much custard cake as you want tomorrow, okay?"

The moment Tristan's voice fell, a faint chuckle came from the other end of the line. It might be faint, but Leticia could still make it out as Chelsea's voice.

Alarmed, Tristan began coughing immediately to hide the chuckle. But Leticia ended up crying bitter tears silently through her smile on her end of the line.

In the end, she still gave her heart to the wrong person for seven long years.

Leticia swiped the tears off her cheek. Her gaze became determined and ruthless at that moment.

"No need for that. I don't want to eat custard cake ever again."

Once she was done saying her piece, she hung up on Tristan right away. Then, her gaze flitted to the specks of light illuminating the windows of the building across from her.

This wasn't Leticia's world. In the past, she once fantasized about having a home of her own in this world. Perhaps one of those lights belonged to her and Tristan.

But now, Tristan destroyed everything with his own hands.

"Tristan Colton, from now on, you and I will never see each other again, be it in life or death." This was Leticia's final thought.

She spread her arms slowly. 

A loud thud echoed from the building the next second.

…

The next day, Tristan felt his heart throb in pain all of a sudden. For some reason, he had an ominous feeling.

He pushed Chelsea away, who was littered with love bites and hickeys. After getting dressed, he rushed out of the room hurriedly.

Chelsea quickly caught up to him with his wheelchair, though she made sure to hide her jealousy well.

"Look at you! You've completely forgotten to keep up your act when you're anxious! Honestly, I'm so envious of Leticia! 

"To think that you're willing to go so far as to fake a disability just to get her to marry you! When will you care this much about me, Tristan?"

Tristan's lips were pressed into a thin line. If Chelsea were to get jealous or act coquettish in front of him at any other time, he'd be quick to appease her.

But the recollection of Leticia's odd phone call from the night before made him uneasy. Naturally, he wasn't in the mood to care for Chelsea.

Tristan accepted the wheelchair coolly before getting into his car. Then, he sped toward the pastry shop in Suburban Journ and bought some custard cake. After that, he rushed home.

As he opened the door, he couldn't resist calling out to Leticia.

"Letty? I bought your favorite custard cake!"

But Leticia didn't respond to him despite him having called out to her a few times in a row.

The moment Tristan opened the door to the master bedroom, he was shocked by what he saw. 

Papers littered the bedroom floor. When Tristan picked up one of the papers, he was stunned to see the chat history between him and Chelsea. There were also explicit photos of them being intimate in bed.

At that moment, Tristan felt as though thunder had zapped him on the spot.

Who scattered those papers on the floor? Was it Leticia?

She'd found out about his affair!

Tristan felt his heart wrench in pain, as though someone had cut him deep in his heart. He dug out his phone from his pocket in a fit of anxiety. By the time he located Leticia's phone number, his entire body was trembling violently.

But once Tristan called Leticia's number, he found out that her phone was already switched off.

This time, Tristan completely lost his mind to anxiety. He couldn't imagine how Leticia had reacted when she found out about the affair as well as the consequences he'd have to face.

He kept calling Leticia's number over and over again. From the way he kept repeating the action, it was evident that he had gone mad.

At that moment, another number called Tristan.

Out of pure anxiety, he answered the phone call instantly. He didn't even get to see the phone number clearly. Almost immediately, he began begging the caller.

"Letty, please don't leave me! I can explain everything!"

The caller fell silent for a moment before replying, "Please accept our condolences, Mr. Colton. Mrs. Colton jumped off a building last night. We've just verified her death. Please come to the morgue and claim her body."

Tristan, who was still holding his phone to his ear, fell silent for a moment. 

Suddenly and surprisingly, he chuckled softly and remarked, "Leticia is throwing a tantrum, isn't she? Did she get you to play along and trick me? Put her on the phone, please." 

Tristan switched to an earnest tone and said, "Are you listening, Leticia? I'm sorry, okay? Don't try to trick me by pulling something like this, alright?"

"Mr. Colton..." The funeral director was at a loss. 

In all his years at the funeral home, he'd encountered plenty of families struggling to accept the loss of a loved one. He found that he had reached the limit of his abilities to handle an unexpected reaction like Tristan's.

All he could do was comfort Tristan in a hollow voice. "You should come here in person, sir. Just look up Journ City Funeral Home."

"Who are you, really?" Tristan grew frustrated at not hearing Leticia's voice. "Are you trying to scam me? Even if this is a kidnapping, put Leticia on the phone! I need

Chapter 10