6 My nose stung, and two lines of hot tears streamed down my cheeks. It had been a long time since anyone had cared for me like this. Even though I tried to appear calm and composed in front of Daniel, the pain inside was real. The emotional entanglement of all these years had bound us together like intertwined branches, and separating them felt like tearing flesh from bone. Ryan gently hugged me. "Go ahead and cry. It'll make you feel better." I cried for a long time, as if releasing all the grievances of those years through my tears. The next day, I woke up with two huge, swollen eyes to find breakfast already prepared. Ryan winked at me. "Chloe, to prevent any future jerk from bothering you, I'm moving in here." I rubbed my eyes. "You're leaving your big house to live in this small apartment? That's quite a sacrifice." Ryan laughed. "Being able to live with you, Chloe, is my honor." To help me get over the breakup quickly, Ryan suggested I find something to do to distract myself. As Daniel's trophy girlfriend for so many years, I hadn't worked in a long time. Daniel had high expectations, needing me to accompany him to events at a moment's notice. Gradually, I lost the energy to go to work, spending my days revolving around Daniel. I even learned flower arranging and tea ceremony to add some "flair" to our life. After listening to me for a while, Ryan had an idea. "Since you've learned flower arranging, why don't you open a flower shop?" "It's a small investment, low risk, and most importantly, being surrounded by fresh flowers every day sounds like a beautiful thing."" Listening to Ryan's description, I was tempted. Leaving Daniel, I really did need to live life on my own terms. When a person gets busy, many worries are pushed to the back of their mind. Ryan offered to invest, but I refused. "Ryan, you've already helped me so much. I can't let you spend any more money!" Ryan flicked my forehead. "What are you thinking? This is an investment, understand? I'm not opening a shop for you for free; I expect dividends!' "My dad always complains I'm just messing around, so this little project is perfect for me to show him what I can do." "Don't worry, my family has plenty of money, if nothing else." With that, Ryan pulled out a shareholder agreement. After signing and sealing it, my heart finally settled. Having an angel investor wasn't so bad after all. A small project quickly began. I started looking for storefronts, researching the market, and finding suppliers. Even though I'd never run a business before, the feeling of being busy filled me with energy. I was at the flower market, negotiating a partnership with a vendor, when Mr. Carlson's call came in. "Chloe, could you come see Daniel? He drank so much last time he ended up in the hospital with a stomach hemorrhage." "He kept asking for you after he woke up. It's really hard to watch." Mr. Carlson was Daniel's business partner. They had started from scratch as students and built their business together, so they had shared a lot. Mr. Carlson hadn't been at that "dinner trap" last time, so he was half a friend. I didn't want to turn down Mr. Carlson, so I asked for the address and went. Daniel lay in the hospital bed, his face sallow. When he saw me enter, he sprang up. His face showed uncontrollable joy. "Chloe, you still came to see me! You do care about me, don't you?" I walked up to Daniel, looking down at him. "You're a grown man. Can you stop causing trouble for other people?" "You're lying here, and Mr. Carlson is cleaning up your mess. Is that something to be proud of?" Daniel lowered his head, not arguing. "This is the engagement ring you bought for me. I came today to return it." I took the ring off my ring finger and placed it on the bedside table. Daniel picked up the ring, caressing it intently with his fingers. After a few seconds, he looked at me, crestfallen. "This ring was custom-made for you in Italy, to your exact size. I waited a long time for it." "It'd be a waste for you not to keep it. Just keep it as a memento."" I rubbed the faint mark left by years of wearing the ring, and said blandly, "Ashley probably has the same ring, doesn't she? Don't make it sound so profound." Daniel's face instantly went as white as a sheet, completely drained of color. After a long pause, he managed to force out a single word: "Okay!" Leaving the hospital, I hurried to the commercial property the agent had found for me.