Inside the gift box was a dress and an invitation card.
Two lines of flamboyant handwriting, with no signature, but Rhianna knew who it was from.
Tomorrow night was her birthday, and Rylee had remembered.
Since her rebirth, Rhianna had often had the illusion that he actually liked her.
Lying on her large bed, Rhianna sighed. Every holiday seemed to become chaotic because of Rylee.
Rhianna had wanted to prepare meticulously. After all, in this life, she had tried to hold her ground in front of Rylee. But the exhaustion from her busy work schedule caught up with her, and as soon as she lay down, her body released its fatigue signals.
The next morning, she barely had time to put on an face mask before changing clothes and doing her makeup to be on time.
As she left her home, Rhianna noticed that the driver from the Palmer family, sent by Rylee, was already waiting downstairs.
"Madam, please."
Hearing this address after such a long time, Rhianna felt a bit out of place.
She told herself to go with the flow.
Since she had decided to accept Rylee's invitation, she shouldn't overthink things, even though she had many questions for him.
The two of them, who should have parted ways long ago, were now increasingly entangled.
The car moved smoothly forward, as dusk gradually fell and the night began to envelop everything.
Since the car couldn't go any further, it stopped halfway up C mountain in the outskirt of the city.
"Mr. Palmer prepared sneakers for you." The driver dutifully handed over a pair of limited edition sneakers.
Rhianna looked at her attire and thought that pairing it with these sneakers could still make the cover of a fashion magazine.
C mountain had always been a prime spot in City B for viewing the nightscape.
After getting out of the car, Rhianna followed the deliberately placed markers along the wooden steps upwards.
The summer night was filled with the chirping of cicadas. Though the sky darkened slowly, the sun still had to set.
C mountain wasn't very high, but it still took some time to climb.
Summer nights weren't quiet, the cicadas chirping incessantly. As Rhianna stepped on the wooden steps, what she thought would be a silent, dark mountain was instead lit every ten meters by a glowing bag.
Curious, Rhianna untied the string at the bag's mouth, releasing fireflies that glowed like stars surrounding her.
So he remembered. He remembered it was her birthday and that she liked fireflies.
When she finally reached the top, the person she expected wasn't there.
Rhianna walked into the carefully arranged glass greenhouse, surrounded by dazzling fairy lights and fireflies in the dark. The greenhouse was filled with her favorite tulips, and on the table was a prepared candlelight dinner.
As she stood by the table and looked up, she saw the starry sky, with the Milky Way hanging low. She had always loved the starry sky, saying in her naive childhood that she would marry someone who could pick stars for her.
Memories surfaced, and for a moment, Rhianna was lost in thought.
Staring at the stars, time ticked by, yet Rylee was nowhere to be seen.
He probably got held up by something, Rhianna thought. Since Rylee hadn't sent her any messages, she didn't want to disturb him. Given his job, occasional unavailability was normal.
But the longer she waited, the more uneasy she felt, and her mind started to wander.
Rylee had invited her, so he wouldn't not come.
He must have encountered an emergency, but was he in danger? Otherwise, it was impossible for him not to send a single message.
The more she thought about it, the more restless she became, until she could no longer sit still.
Standing at the glass house door, even in the summer night, the temperature on the mountain top had dropped sharply, and the howling wind made her uneasy.
Glancing at her phone, it was already past 11 PM. The signal in the mountains was poor, and she was too worried about Rylee, so she couldn't help but call him, only to hear a busy tone. Without further thought, she ran down the mountain.
The driver was waiting at the mid-levels. Maybe he could contact Rylee. The downhill path was more treacherous than the climb, but fortunately, the wooden steps helped. However, Rhianna's hurried descent nearly caused her to fall.
The more she walked, the faster her heart pounded. Perhaps due to lack of food, her head felt dizzy, but she didn't care.
Halfway down, she met the Palmer family driver.
"Madam, I just received a call from Mr. Palmer. He can't come tonight. I'm here to take you back."
He couldn't come.
Upon hearing these words, Rhianna felt no disappointment, only relief.
He was safe, and that was all that mattered.
Rhianna didn't ask what Rylee had been doing.
Maybe she had waited for him too long, and it had become a habit.
When Rhianna got home, it was already early morning. Her birthday had been a mess, but she wasn't one to care much about ceremonies.
After a simple shower, Rhianna lay in bed, trying to ease her fatigue.
Until the middle of the night, she felt increasingly cold.
Forcing her eyes open, she felt achingly cold and weak, probably from the cold, fast wind on the mountain. She had a fever.
There was no medicine at home, and she felt terribly sick.
Summoning a bit of strength, she dressed, didn't forget her mask, and headed to the nearby hospital.
At 2 or 3 AM, the hospital was brightly lit, with the emergency room crowded.
Feeling dizzy, Rhianna didn't know how long she waited, went through a series of checks, and was told to stay for observation with a fever of 39.8 degrees Celsius.
The emergency infusion room was packed even at night. With the hospital short-staffed at night, Rhianna had to find a place to rest after being hooked up to an IV.
Passing by the VIP ward, she saw many curious patients outside. Even late at night, people's love for gossip couldn't be dampened.
And soldiers were guarding the door?
Rhianna felt too sick to care about the gossip, but a nurse happened to come out of that ward.
Glancing inside, she saw him.
Rylee sat quietly by the bed.
And on the bed was Arely, pale but exuding a delicate aura that would arouse a tremendous protective instinct in any man's heart
The person on the bed was Arely. The person by her side was none other than Rylee.
Everything made sense now. He missed the meeting because of his beloved girl. He loved her alone. She deluding herself that he love her.
Fortunately, she hadn't seen Rylee today. Otherwise, asking those questions would have been self-inflicted humiliation.
How ridiculous she was.
Rhianna, you've lived two lifetimes, how can you still be so clueless?
Probably because of the fever, Rhianna felt waves of cold.
"Miss, is there something you need?"
The soldier at the door grew suspicious seeing her stand there too long.
Rhianna wobbled. She knew she was sick, her body ached, so what did a little heartache matter?
She didn't even know how she sat down, unaware of the IV needle slipping out.
