"Let's go downstairs first." Seeing this, Julia whispered, gently closing the door behind them as the group descended together.
Mary was already waiting downstairs. Upon seeing them, she wiped away her tears and hurried forward, unsure of what to say.
Julia, who had seen Mary on Serena's phone before, smiled warmly and took her hand. "This is Miss Nightingale."
Mary nodded, tears streaming even more. "As long as it's Miss, I knew... I knew Miss wouldn't die."
She gripped Julia's hand tightly, tears flowing freely. Edward supported Mary's shoulder, comforting her, "Alright, alright, Miss Nightingale are back, let's get busy, shall we?"
"Yes, yes, Miss Nightingale loves the dishes I cook. Last time she didn't get to enjoy them properly; I'll make more this time." The two elders leaned on each other, and as they turned to leave, Edward was also seen wiping his eyes discreetly.
The group sat down in the living room. Initially, Lucas was somewhat restrained, but after Evan's word, he sat obediently.
"We'll give them a moment to adjust, then we can tell everyone," Julia, ever straightforward, helped herself to fruit from the table.
Lucas, unaware of the situation's details, heard this and refrained from asking questions.
Julia, seem the most relaxed in the entire Nightingale mansion, was actually the one who glanced up at the second floor the most.
Having lived with Serena for years, during the worst of her illness, Serena often woke up in the middle of the night in a panic. Julia hadn't known at first, not until she took her out for some fresh air and they shared a bed did she discover it.
Afterward, they started sharing a room, and Julia realized the severity of Serena's midnight awakenings and her disobedience in taking her medication.
In the dimly lit room with drawn curtains, the two hadn't spent such peaceful moments together in a long time.
The sleeping figure's profile was gentle, her fair hand resting on her chest, the other clasped with Phoenix's.
Phoenix gazed at it, utterly content.
After staring at their intertwined hands for an unknown duration, Phoenix suddenly took out his phone. If Serena were awake, she would have noticed that both his lock screen and wallpaper featured her.
He snapped a picture of their clasped hands and then posted his first-ever status update on his otherwise empty social media feed—
"You're back, and it feels wonderful."
He accompanied the post with two photos: one from a long time ago and the freshly taken one, both depicting their interlocked hands, as if they had traversed countless moments together.
Before long, notifications flooded his phone. Phoenix, who had set his device to not receive messages, opened his photo gallery and meticulously looked through each picture.
So many years had passed...
"When did you sneak so many pictures of me?" Serena's voice, still a bit hoarse from sleep, startled Phoenix as she suddenly awoke.
He tilted his head slightly, meeting her bright black eyes, and his gaze softened. "Awake?"
"Mm." Serena rested her head on his shoulder, glancing at his still-lit phone. "You haven't told me yet."
Phoenix smiled lightly. "If not for this, how would I have made it through the years you were away?"
Back then, with the company in crisis, family troubles, and Serena leaving at that critical moment, how did he survive... Perhaps by waiting for her return and reminiscing about the times they shared but he once took for granted.
"But you didn't contact me either." Her voice held a tinge of grievance.
"It was my fault." Unlike during their passionate courtship when he would argue back, he took all the blame now, tenderly apologizing, "I'm sorry."
