Alice was shocked when she saw Sebastian's face now covered in a thick beard. Without wasting a moment, he began questioning her relentlessly, going over every past conflict between her and me. He asked who was right and who was wrong. I covered my face in silence, pondering, 'Sebastian, what is the point of this?'Seeing that he had figured out the truth, she didn't bother hiding anything anymore, so she told him everything, leaving nothing unsaid. When she finished, a smirk curled at the corner of her lips. "But you know, all of this happened because you allowed it."Furious, he rushed forward and grabbed her by the throat. "You're lying! Why do you want to harm me?!"Alice gasped for breath, her voice barely a whisper as she struggled to speak. "Sebastian... You're nothing but... a hypocrite."His grip loosened as he stumbled back, momentarily dazed by her words.Gasping for air, she stepped back, putting distance between them. After a few deep breaths, she sneered at him
The sound of cannon fire crashing down left me spinning in circles. Through the haze of it all, the distinct scent of disinfectant brought me back to my senses.A moment later, I saw Sebastian."Seb, my head hurts!"I tried to reach out and grab the hem of his coat. I saw the faint glimpse of his worry, but Alice Long, who was in my arms, just had to burst into tears."Seb, my leg hurts a lot. I'm losing a lot of blood. Will I die here? I miss my family!"He panicked the moment she cried.He crouched, pushing me aside to check on Alice's bones. Then, he let out a breath of relief and carried her.As if acting on instinct, I grabbed his leg. "Don't leave."In a flash, Sebastian shot me a cold glance, saying, "Crystal, I'm deeply disappointed by you. Even at such a time, you're still competing with Alice. You've merely scraped your arm. Plus, you're a war correspondent. Combat nurses will disinfect your wound, but Alice's different. She needs immediate care to avoid infection!"
When I finally came to my senses, I realized he wasn't really looking at me but was simply staring through my soul to check on Alice's condition."Dr. Winters!" A newly arrived field nurse burst into the tent. She didn't understand the connection between Sebastian and me, but her face was pale with urgency as she delivered John's message. "The patient Dr. John was working on just now has been declared brain dead. Do you want to take another look?"Sebastian stood up without hesitation and walked toward Alice's bedside. She was groaning restlessly at this moment. His voice was firm as he replied, "Dr. John is just as capable as I am. If he has declared the patient dead, there's nothing more I can do."The nurse stood there, frozen in disbelief, her eyes wide and questioning.I shook my head, too, knowing this was just how Sebastian was. He had seen death so many times that he no longer flinched at its arrival. He always focused on saving the living. But for the dead? He spared no
Sebastian pulled out his specially issued, military-grade phone and rubbed it absentmindedly. The screen still showed our last conversation.Me: 'Alice stole my work ID! She sneaked onto the battlefield! Bullets don't have eyes! Please convince her to return to the country right away!'Sebastian: 'She only came to see me. Don't speak to her so harshly. I'll persuade her to leave.'Me: 'You're a professional combat medic. How can you lose all sense of reason the moment she's involved?'Sebastian: 'Please don't make groundless personal attacks. She's still young, and she'll learn and mature in time.'Me: 'I'm fed up.'The chat stopped at my response, and he seemed to be hesitating as if he were unsure about editing a message to send to me.I couldn't help but sigh. Even though Alice and I were of the same age, he saw me as a cunning, evil lady, while her careless actions were only the innocent actions of a kid. "Ah!" Alice, who was resting in the tent, let out a scream. Seba
After several days of tension, John finally stormed into Sebastian's tent.The moment he stepped inside, his eyes landed on Alice lying on Sebastian's chest, her face glowing with shy affection.John's temper flared instantly and said disapprovingly, "Seb, this is a battlefield, not a hotel. If you can't control yourself, then I suggest you put in a request to leave immediately!"Sebastian's expression darkened, and a flicker of disdain crossed his face. "If you're here to stand up for Crystal, tell her to stop spreading lies about Alice. I won't allow her reputation to be tarnished."John let out a bitter laugh, caught between fury and disbelief.After calming himself down, he handed Sebastian the military-issue phone and said coldly, "It's a call from Crystal's family."Sebastian hesitated before taking it from John's hand.The second he held it to his ear, my brother's furious voice exploded through the phone. "You bastard! You promised me you'd take care of my sister! How co
John glanced at Sebastian without stopping what he was doing. "Crystal has gone back to her hometown."Sebastian let out a quiet breath of relief but couldn’t help asking, "When did she leave?"John chuckled. "If you head to the airport now, you might just catch her."Sebastian nodded in acknowledgment and turned, ready to make his way to the airport. But just as he was about to leave, he saw Alice slowly running toward him. Her fair face was now streaked with dirt, and her small arms were covered in scrapes. Even the bandaged leg, which had barely begun to heal, was now stained with fresh droplets of blood.A pang of sorrow and guilt hit him again.I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. 'Here we go again. Another one of her little tricks.'Sure enough, he rushed to her and scooped her up into his arms. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, his voice full of concern.She nestled in his arms, and her voice trembled with false sorrow. "I was afraid you were going to leave me."Seba
After Sebastian dropped Alice off at home, he headed to Joys Bakery to pick up some pastries for me. These were sold in limited quantities. As soon as they were available, they would sell out within minutes, with long lines of eager customers waiting to get their hands on them.Joys Bakery was owned by Sebastian's family, and I had often begged him to pull some strings and get me a box of those coveted pastries. Every time, he would look at me with that serious expression and say, "One day, you'll be the lady boss of Joys Bakery. You have to lead by example and follow the store's rules."Reluctantly, I had to give up.But then, one day, I ran into Alice at Joys Bakery. She had several boxes of pastries in front of her, each one barely touched as she just took a single bite taken from each cake. She smiled at me smugly and said, "You know, only the very top layer of these pastries is worth eating."At that moment, I hated Sebastian to the very core! How could he make me, his actual
Alice was shocked when she saw Sebastian's face now covered in a thick beard. Without wasting a moment, he began questioning her relentlessly, going over every past conflict between her and me. He asked who was right and who was wrong. I covered my face in silence, pondering, 'Sebastian, what is the point of this?'Seeing that he had figured out the truth, she didn't bother hiding anything anymore, so she told him everything, leaving nothing unsaid. When she finished, a smirk curled at the corner of her lips. "But you know, all of this happened because you allowed it."Furious, he rushed forward and grabbed her by the throat. "You're lying! Why do you want to harm me?!"Alice gasped for breath, her voice barely a whisper as she struggled to speak. "Sebastian... You're nothing but... a hypocrite."His grip loosened as he stumbled back, momentarily dazed by her words.Gasping for air, she stepped back, putting distance between them. After a few deep breaths, she sneered at him
The commentary that I wrote about the war suddenly went viral online. The rare footage that I captured vividly illustrated the impact of the war on the average Joe.In one clip, a young girl's skull was nearly crushed, and we had run out of anesthesia. With little choice, Sebastian had to tie her limbs and perform the emergency brain surgery.Choking back tears, I narrated into the camera, "Most adults can't tolerate this level of pain. Yet, this child can only scream through it. She keeps passing out from the agony, but no matter what, we can't be soft-hearted. We need to finish the surgery as soon as we can to save her life! This is why my greatest wish is for world peace!"The footage suddenly froze before it turned black and white, transitioning to another scene—a memorial photo of me. My coffin had been draped in our country's flag.At my funeral, people from all walks of life came to pay their last respects, including my colleagues from the media industry.My father held my
After Sebastian dropped Alice off at home, he headed to Joys Bakery to pick up some pastries for me. These were sold in limited quantities. As soon as they were available, they would sell out within minutes, with long lines of eager customers waiting to get their hands on them.Joys Bakery was owned by Sebastian's family, and I had often begged him to pull some strings and get me a box of those coveted pastries. Every time, he would look at me with that serious expression and say, "One day, you'll be the lady boss of Joys Bakery. You have to lead by example and follow the store's rules."Reluctantly, I had to give up.But then, one day, I ran into Alice at Joys Bakery. She had several boxes of pastries in front of her, each one barely touched as she just took a single bite taken from each cake. She smiled at me smugly and said, "You know, only the very top layer of these pastries is worth eating."At that moment, I hated Sebastian to the very core! How could he make me, his actual
John glanced at Sebastian without stopping what he was doing. "Crystal has gone back to her hometown."Sebastian let out a quiet breath of relief but couldn’t help asking, "When did she leave?"John chuckled. "If you head to the airport now, you might just catch her."Sebastian nodded in acknowledgment and turned, ready to make his way to the airport. But just as he was about to leave, he saw Alice slowly running toward him. Her fair face was now streaked with dirt, and her small arms were covered in scrapes. Even the bandaged leg, which had barely begun to heal, was now stained with fresh droplets of blood.A pang of sorrow and guilt hit him again.I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. 'Here we go again. Another one of her little tricks.'Sure enough, he rushed to her and scooped her up into his arms. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, his voice full of concern.She nestled in his arms, and her voice trembled with false sorrow. "I was afraid you were going to leave me."Seba
After several days of tension, John finally stormed into Sebastian's tent.The moment he stepped inside, his eyes landed on Alice lying on Sebastian's chest, her face glowing with shy affection.John's temper flared instantly and said disapprovingly, "Seb, this is a battlefield, not a hotel. If you can't control yourself, then I suggest you put in a request to leave immediately!"Sebastian's expression darkened, and a flicker of disdain crossed his face. "If you're here to stand up for Crystal, tell her to stop spreading lies about Alice. I won't allow her reputation to be tarnished."John let out a bitter laugh, caught between fury and disbelief.After calming himself down, he handed Sebastian the military-issue phone and said coldly, "It's a call from Crystal's family."Sebastian hesitated before taking it from John's hand.The second he held it to his ear, my brother's furious voice exploded through the phone. "You bastard! You promised me you'd take care of my sister! How co
Sebastian pulled out his specially issued, military-grade phone and rubbed it absentmindedly. The screen still showed our last conversation.Me: 'Alice stole my work ID! She sneaked onto the battlefield! Bullets don't have eyes! Please convince her to return to the country right away!'Sebastian: 'She only came to see me. Don't speak to her so harshly. I'll persuade her to leave.'Me: 'You're a professional combat medic. How can you lose all sense of reason the moment she's involved?'Sebastian: 'Please don't make groundless personal attacks. She's still young, and she'll learn and mature in time.'Me: 'I'm fed up.'The chat stopped at my response, and he seemed to be hesitating as if he were unsure about editing a message to send to me.I couldn't help but sigh. Even though Alice and I were of the same age, he saw me as a cunning, evil lady, while her careless actions were only the innocent actions of a kid. "Ah!" Alice, who was resting in the tent, let out a scream. Seba
When I finally came to my senses, I realized he wasn't really looking at me but was simply staring through my soul to check on Alice's condition."Dr. Winters!" A newly arrived field nurse burst into the tent. She didn't understand the connection between Sebastian and me, but her face was pale with urgency as she delivered John's message. "The patient Dr. John was working on just now has been declared brain dead. Do you want to take another look?"Sebastian stood up without hesitation and walked toward Alice's bedside. She was groaning restlessly at this moment. His voice was firm as he replied, "Dr. John is just as capable as I am. If he has declared the patient dead, there's nothing more I can do."The nurse stood there, frozen in disbelief, her eyes wide and questioning.I shook my head, too, knowing this was just how Sebastian was. He had seen death so many times that he no longer flinched at its arrival. He always focused on saving the living. But for the dead? He spared no
The sound of cannon fire crashing down left me spinning in circles. Through the haze of it all, the distinct scent of disinfectant brought me back to my senses.A moment later, I saw Sebastian."Seb, my head hurts!"I tried to reach out and grab the hem of his coat. I saw the faint glimpse of his worry, but Alice Long, who was in my arms, just had to burst into tears."Seb, my leg hurts a lot. I'm losing a lot of blood. Will I die here? I miss my family!"He panicked the moment she cried.He crouched, pushing me aside to check on Alice's bones. Then, he let out a breath of relief and carried her.As if acting on instinct, I grabbed his leg. "Don't leave."In a flash, Sebastian shot me a cold glance, saying, "Crystal, I'm deeply disappointed by you. Even at such a time, you're still competing with Alice. You've merely scraped your arm. Plus, you're a war correspondent. Combat nurses will disinfect your wound, but Alice's different. She needs immediate care to avoid infection!"