Chapter 115

Inside the drawer, it was packed—filled to the brim with photographs of Suzy.

The one on top showed her in profile, seated by the window in the school library. Sunlight filtered through the glass, casting a soft glow over her hair and eyelashes.

It was a beautifully taken photo—its composition and lighting nearly flawless.

But there was one problem.

It had clearly been taken without her knowledge.

And it wasn’t just one.

Derek’s face turned ashen, the color draining and returning in uneven waves. His stiff fingers trembled as he lifted the top photo aside.

Beneath it was another—Suzy sitting in the cafeteria, her brows slightly furrowed as if lost in thought.

The next captured her walking in the rain, holding an umbrella. Her figure was blurred, indistinct.

Then another—her absent-minded expression as she watched people play on the sports field. Another—her focused side profile as she chose snacks in a convenience store...

Each photograph captured a different facet of her beauty.

And every single one made it painfully clear—they were all taken in secret.

Obsessive. Intrusive. Almost disturbingly so.

Cold sweat soaked Derek’s back in an instant.

He could already imagine the look on Suzy’s face if she saw these—disgust, fear... even revulsion.

Would she think he was some kind of creep lurking in the shadows?

Or worse...

Had she already seen them—and that was why she’d been so eager to leave?

A wave of unprecedented panic surged through him, suffocating, leaving his face deathly pale.

At that moment, he completely forgot about the "gift" Suzy had mentioned.

Under the crushing weight of guilt and dread, the very meaning of that word had twisted into something else entirely.

With shaking hands, Derek fumbled for his phone and opened his chat with Suzy.

He tried calling her.

No connection.

His gaze drifted, unfocused, as the unease inside him swelled—threatening to swallow him whole.

He felt like a man standing at the edge of a cliff, one misstep away from plunging into an endless abyss.

And then... He noticed it.

Beneath the stack of photographs sat a black velvet box—something that clearly didn’t belong to him.

A box?

Could this... be the gift?

Carefully, Derek picked it up and examined it. He was certain now—it wasn’t his.

So it had to be from Suzy.

The box felt unexpectedly heavy. He had no idea what was inside.

After a few seconds of hesitation, he drew in a slow breath and opened it.

Inside lay a small, delicate glass vial.

Not large.

Through the transparent glass, he could see a thin slice of ginseng soaking in liquid.

Derek lifted it, turning it in his hand before bringing it closer to his nose. A faint, refreshing fragrance lingered in the air.

Medicine...?

He noticed a small note tucked inside the box. The handwriting was tiny, but elegant and neat.

"This is a family remedy. Very effective. I’m sure you will figure out when to use it.

P.S. Nice photos. Next time, try getting a front view.

Suzy."

A sharp buzz filled Derek’s mind, blanking it out completely. His grip tightened around the box, his knuckles turning white.

She had seen them.

Not only had she seen those secretly taken photos, but she had also left him a gift.

And even... Seemed to permit it.

What did this mean?

Was it mockery?

No.

It didn’t feel like that.

Between the lines, there was even a trace of... indulgence.

Derek felt the world spin around him, a dizzying rush overtaking his senses—followed by a surge of overwhelming joy and trembling excitement.

She didn’t care.

She didn’t care about his ugliness.

She had even... accepted him.

This outcome was a thousand—no, ten thousand times better than anything he had dared to imagine.

For a moment, Derek couldn’t even begin to describe what he was feeling.

He had never thought that someone could accept the darkest, most despicable parts of him—and that it would feel so... intoxicatingly wonderful.

"Suzy... Suzy..."

He carefully tucked the gift into his arms, murmuring her name under his breath.

Inside his chest, a fierce, molten love surged like boiling magma, crashing wildly against his ribs.

At the same time, elsewhere in the city, Suzy heard the system notification.

Derek’s affection had just crossed the eighty-point threshold.

But she had no time to celebrate because she had already been marked.

Unlike Wendy, who seemed blessed with uncanny luck, Suzy wasn’t nearly as fortunate.

She had been rowing her inflatable boat, planning to find a spot to switch to her speedboat and head home—but she was a step too late.

From the moment she left the building, eyes lurking in the shadows had already locked onto her.

This was the old district—low, crowded buildings packed tightly together. Many first and second floors had long since been swallowed by the floodwaters.

Some windows gaped open like dark, hollow mouths. Occasionally, silhouettes flickered at higher floors.

Fully geared and masked, her face hidden from view, Suzy could still feel it—the weight of countless gazes fixed on her, even from afar.

Envy. Jealousy. Greed.

She knew exactly what she looked like to them.

Her equipment—and the very fact that she could move freely across the water—marked her as easy prey.

She quickened her strokes.

Just as she was about to leave the dense residential cluster and turn into a wider main road, a voice suddenly rang out from a second-floor window ahead.

"Hey! You in the boat! Help us! My child is sick—please, take us to the hospital!"

The voice was urgent, trembling with tears—a middle-aged woman.

Suzy didn’t stop. She only glanced up briefly.

There was indeed a woman at the window, clutching a small figure wrapped in a blanket. The child’s face couldn’t be seen.

"Please! I’m begging you!"

Seeing no response, the woman’s cries grew more desperate, almost shrill.

Suzy ignored her, silently increasing the speed of her paddling.

It was too quiet here.

Something was wrong.

Aside from the woman’s voice, there were no other sounds from nearby residents.

That wasn’t normal.

Her guard shot up to full alert. She adjusted her direction, preparing to take a detour.

"Stop! Are you fucking deaf?!"

A harsh male voice suddenly barked from a shattered window nearby.

Then, from hidden corners, several men emerged—armed with clubs and crude, homemade spears.

Suzy noticed immediately—their clothes were soaked. They had been in the water not long ago.

Now they moved in, flanking her from both sides.

At the same time, the woman in the second-floor window stopped crying.

The desperation vanished from her face, replaced by something cold and vicious.

A trap.

Just as she suspected.

"Leave the boat and everything you’ve got—we might let you live!"

The leader, a burly man with a brutish face, brandished a bamboo pole tipped with a knife, pointing it straight at her.

Around him, the others stared at her and the inflatable boat with naked greed.

Splash.

Someone leapt into the water.

A head surfaced, closing in on her position.