Chapter 5
The two of them looked perfect together.
Everyone in the company chat had started shipping them as a couple.
A dull ache settled in my heart.
I often woke up in the middle of the night, startled from the same recurring nightmares–the plane crash, Kian running to hold me, Kian attending my funeral, and even Kian getting married.
Every time I woke, a wave of deep exhaustion and detachment from the world washed over me.
Maybe I really was losing my mind.
I thought back to the first time I met Kian–back in middle school, my first year.
Back then, my parents had just passed away, and I was living with my grandfather.
Poverty and hunger were our constant companions.
One day, my homeroom teacher organized a small donation within the class to help me.
At first, my pride wouldn’t allow it.
But I made peace with it, knowing this money meant my grandfather wouldn’t need to scavenge for a long time.
The donations were only supposed to come from my classmates.
But when my teacher handed me the list of names, I noticed one unfamiliar name—Kian Homer.
He wasn’t in my class.
He was a senior, the top student in his grade.
And he had donated the most–four hundred dollars.
“The boy from the senior class saw the fundraiser and insisted on helping,” my teacher explained.
“If you have time, you should thank him. Maybe write him a note.”
I bowed in gratitude.
The final amount came to six hundred and ten dollars.
