Chapter 268: Not Just One of Us

Every day after finishing her lab work, Sierra quietly returned to her corner and continued working. She’d failed more times than she could count. But this—this was the one she was most proud of. To her, this place was their home. And that little handmade gift was the one thing she could truly give him.

Right after she finished explaining, Jonathan pulled her into a tight hug. It was a long time before he finally spoke, his voice slightly choked. “This is… the best gift I’ve ever gotten. Thank you.”

For the first time, his birthday didn’t feel so unbearable. Someone remembered. Someone cared. He wasn’t alone anymore.

That night, the two of them didn’t rest much. From the living room to the bathroom to the bedroom—they left traces of themselves everywhere. No words, just the kind of closeness born of need. They clung to each other like animals, as if holding on could drown out the pain inside.

Both of them carried shadows in their hearts. But wrapped in each other’s arms, the darkness didn’t feel so cold anymore. Sierra didn’t even know when she passed out. The next morning, her phone ringing woke her—her senior was calling.

Even though her professor had granted her time off, she still had lab work to check on. Hearing how hoarse Sierra sounded, Autumn immediately assumed she was sick. “You didn’t look too good yesterday. Are you sick? Rest up. I’ll talk to the professor—he’ll give you a couple more days.”

Sierra coughed awkwardly. “No, I’m okay. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.” She couldn’t admit the truth. Everyone else was sprinting toward deadlines and experiments… and she’d spent the day… Yeah. Not exactly proud of that part.

Autumn started to say something else, but then they both heard a voice on the other end of the line. “You awake? So, does anything hurt?”

Autumn let out a sharp gasp and blurted, “No freaking way!” before hanging up immediately. Sierra was speechless. Yeah. That pretty much gave it away. Her cheeks flushed. There was no hiding it now.

Jonathan, totally unaware, leaned down and kissed her cheek. Things between them had shifted. After last night, he no longer felt the need to hide behind a composed front. He let himself be soft with her.

“Hungry? Let’s get something to eat,” he said.

Sierra nodded, then remembered something. “You can’t get your hands wet.”

“I didn’t. I wore gloves.”

Thank God he’d thought ahead. He didn’t want to risk messing things up just because he couldn’t cook. Sure enough, hearing that, Sierra relaxed. She stretched with a wince. “I still have today off. Want to go somewhere?”

She wanted to spend more time with him. Jonathan didn’t really need cheering up anymore—but he was more than happy to let her dote on him. “Sure. You’ve been here a while and haven’t explored. Let me show you around today.”

“Okay!”

They ate, got dressed, and headed out. Jonathan didn’t take her to any tourist spots. Instead, he brought her to a quiet estate just outside the city.

“This used to be my mom’s place. I spent a lot of time here as a kid.” Now, he could talk about his mother without flinching.

Sierra followed him into the estate. There was a small villa in the middle—no one lived there anymore, but it was clearly maintained. It was easy to tell someone had really lived here. Toys. Tiny cars. Books. Kids’ stuff everywhere. She could almost picture what his childhood had looked like.

“I stayed here until I was about eight. After that… her condition got worse, and we moved back into the city.” Jonathan’s voice was calm. He hadn’t come here in years. After his mom passed, he stayed far away. It used to hurt too much. He was afraid that coming back would just make the hate for that family boil up again. But this time felt different. He felt at peace.

He brought her to the room he used to stay in and showed her the things he’d saved from back then. As a kid, he’d been like any other boy—everything was a treasure. Sierra took it all in—his first handmade crafts, a rough little drawing, collections of cards and toys. All of it so ordinary, so precious.

“Back then, I treated all this stuff like gold. No one was allowed to touch anything,” he said, looking a little embarrassed.

“That just means it mattered,” Sierra smiled.

Then she picked up a photo album. Jonathan’s face changed immediately. “Wait—don’t—” But it was too late. She’d already opened it.