Chapter 1
When Brandon Murphy defended the poor transfer student, Riley Baker, for the twenty-eighth time, Grace Wright suddenly felt exhausted.
Outside the police department, she looked at Brandon, his hands still covered in fresh blood, and whispered, "Let's break up."
Brandon clenched his teeth and flexed his fingers.
"Break up? Because I stood up for Riley?" He gave a sarcastic laugh. "You always pull this stunt. When have you ever actually gone through with it? If you're mad, go ahead and chew me out like always."
Listening to Brandon's mockery, Grace stayed silent.
She calmly signed the bail papers, asked the teachers to excuse both him and Riley, and even brought along the group assignment they hadn't finished.
After handling all of that, Grace hailed a cab and headed back to school.
The dust kicked up by the car hit Brandon in the face, and he froze.
Normally, if Grace saw him hanging out with another girl, she'd be throwing a scene.
Back when they first started dating, Brandon's friends would tease him. "Grace gets jealous easily. You're not going to have an easy ride with her in the future."
Three years of dating Grace had proven them right.
Brandon had flirted with other girls plenty of times, yet this was the first time he'd seen Grace so calm.
She was so calm that she was like a completely different person.
Something unsettling started to stir inside him, but before he could even make sense of it, Riley burst into tears and flung herself into his arms. "I'm sorry, Brandon. I shouldn't have gotten you hurt."
Brandon tried to ignore the uneasy feeling inside him and instinctively wiped away her tears. "It was my choice. It has nothing to do with you."
Grace saw it all play out in the rearview mirror, but the pain she thought would hit her never came. Instead, relief washed over her.
The first time Grace tried to break up with Brandon was when a photo of him kissing the prettiest girl on campus got posted on the school forum and spread like wildfire.
That day, snow was coming down hard. Brandon stood outside Grace's dorm all night and kept apologizing over and over.
When Grace saw his face in the morning, frozen and turning purple from the cold, her heart softened, and she ended up forgiving him.
The second time she tried to break up with him was on her birthday.
Brandon was there with her, but while she had her eyes closed, making a wish and blowing out the candles, he quietly slipped away to give a ride to a club junior after her evening class.
Afterward, he explained, "She hurt her foot and couldn't get around easily. We're in the same club. I was worried something might happen to her and it'd be on me."
Grace knew his excuse was flimsy, but since Brandon hadn't actually done anything out of line, she forced herself to let it go.
Similar things had happened countless times.
Brandon kept testing Grace's limits, but never truly stepped over them.
But when Riley, the poor transfer student, transferred into their program, everything shifted.
The campus prince, who always cared about his image, was willing to ditch his expensive clothes worth thousands.
He put on a cheap T-shirt and faded jeans just to stand next to Riley and keep her from being mocked.
Riley was working part-time in the cafeteria. To help her earn a bit more, Brandon quietly raised everyone's wages out of his own pocket.
And today, when Riley got yelled at by a customer while serving coffee, Brandon couldn't hold back his temper. He beat the guest so badly that they ended up in the hospital.
What really disappointed Grace was seeing Brandon's hands stained with blood.
He once told her, "Inheriting the family business is a part of life, but music is my true dream. My hands were made for playing the piano, and I'll always keep them safe."
A year ago, Grace and Brandon went skiing. They got caught in an avalanche. Grace was buried under the snow, her life hanging in the balance.
But Brandon, so intent on protecting his hands, didn't even move a single snowflake to dig her out during the two hours they waited for rescue.
But now, to vent his anger for Riley, he'd beaten his hands until his knuckles were shattered and his skin was torn and bloody.
Grace felt her spirit drain away, all hope gone.
She didn't want to waste another moment being jealous, suspicious, or falling apart every time they broke up over some guy.
She was emotionally exhausted and completely worn out.
She knew deep down it was time to wake up from this three-year illusion.
Grace opened her backpack and pulled out a sheet of paper.
It was an internship notice from Stellar Genesis.
Stellar Genesis was Brandon's family business, and they'd planned to join the company together after graduation.
That way, they could see each other every day, like back at school.
But now, Grace ripped that notice to shreds. Then she dialed her advisor, Colin Sanders. "Mr. Sanders, I've decided to accept your offer to study abroad."
Colin clapped his hands in delight. "That's fantastic. I was worried you'd be mad at me for applying to the master's program on your behalf, but honestly, with your abilities, you shouldn't be limited to just this."
Grace shook her head. "No, Mr. Sanders, I should be thanking you. When I was confused and didn't know what to do, you paved another road for me."
A few days ago, Colin had already received her acceptance letter for a master's program at a university in Wooliand.
Between starting a job or pursuing graduate studies abroad, she made her decision once more.
*****
Arriving at her destination, Grace stepped out of the taxi and headed into campus.
It was graduation season. Students were everywhere, taking group photos and making memories.
She took a deep breath and glanced up at the clear blue sky overhead.
She finally realized there were only two weeks left before graduation and leaving for her studies overseas.
Grace wandered back to her dorm, taking her time.
She hadn't even had a chance to rest when Brandon's call came through. "Grace, the HR people at Stellar Genesis said you didn't show up for the internship training. What's going on?"