Seeing Evelyn put the money away, Little Henry took out another snowflake-shaped pearl hairpin and handed it to her, saying, “This is for you too. I bought two—one for you, and the other for Grace Harper.”

Prologue · Part Two: Void and Yellow Light

At the entrance of Jiangzhou University, Little Henry held a snowflake-shaped silver pearl hairpin in his hand, feeling a bit excited. He hadn’t seen Grace Harper for a long time. This time, after giving the money and the other hairpin to his younger sister, he didn’t even have time to eat with her before coming straight to Jiangzhou University.

Little Henry didn’t have to wait long before he saw Grace Harper walk out. Grace Harper was still beautiful, walking over with an almost ethereal air. A sense of pride welled up in Little Henry’s heart—such a beautiful woman would become his wife. At this moment, he even felt a bit grateful for that disaster; if it hadn’t been for the flash flood, he wouldn’t have even had the chance to meet Grace Harper.

“You’re looking for me?” Grace Harper’s calm words made Little Henry swallow the words “琬儿” that were on the tip of his tongue. He sensed that Grace Harper seemed a bit off today.

“This hairpin is for you…” Little Henry originally wanted to say, “This hairpin is for you, and then let’s go out to eat together.” But when the words reached his lips, he only managed to say half of it, sensing the change in Grace Harper.

Grace Harper calmly accepted the hairpin from Little Henry, not even glancing at it, and asked again, “Is there anything else?”

“I wanted to ask you out for a meal…”

Before Little Henry could finish his sentence, a blue sports car pulled up beside him and Grace Harper.

“Wan’er.” A young man, exuding a strange perfume scent, opened the car door and got out, calling out warmly.

Little Henry frowned. He really disliked that smell—a grown man making himself smell so fragrant was hard for him to tolerate. And he knew this young man too; he was the boyfriend Grace Harper’s family had introduced to her, named Samuel Grant.

“Zhiyi…”

Grace Harper’s response made Little Henry frown even more. Previously, whenever this Samuel Grant called her “Wan’er,” Grace Harper would always reply coldly, “You’re not allowed to call me Wan’er. Please show some respect.”

But today, Grace Harper seemed really different.

Apparently, Samuel Grant hadn’t expected Grace Harper to be so pleasant to him, and since she didn’t say anything about not calling her “Wan’er,” he was overjoyed and quickly walked over, saying, “Wan’er, are you free today? I’d like to invite you to dinner.”

To Samuel Grant’s surprise, this time Grace Harper didn’t refuse. Instead, she nodded and said, “I happen to be free today, so let’s go together.”

Samuel Grant was so delighted he almost forgot his own surname. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Grace Harper say again, “Zhiyi, can you hold this for me?”

With that, Grace Harper placed the hairpin Little Henry had given her into Samuel Grant’s hand.

“What’s this?” Samuel Grant took the hairpin and asked instinctively.

“Oh, Little Henry just gave it to me. I have nowhere to put it.” Grace Harper said casually, as if she didn’t care at all about the hairpin she could have worn in her hair at any time.

“Oh—” Samuel Grant, after hearing Grace Harper’s words, gave a start, and the hairpin slipped from his hand, rolling perfectly into the gap of a sewer grate.

Samuel Grant hadn’t expected the hairpin to fall into the sewer, and said a bit regretfully, “Sorry, Wan’er, I was too careless. I’ll buy you a better one later.”

What surprised Samuel Grant even more was that Grace Harper actually nodded. “It’s fine if it’s lost. Just buy me another one when you have time. Let’s go.”

Little Henry’s face turned a bit pale. How could he not know that Samuel Grant did it on purpose? What made him even more upset was Grace Harper’s attitude. He had only not seen Grace Harper for half a month, so how could she have changed so much? In his memory, Grace Harper was never like this.

“Wan’er, I want to talk to you for a bit.” Seeing that Grace Harper was about to leave, Little Henry spoke up again.

Grace Harper seemed to know what Little Henry wanted to say. She turned back and said gently to Little Henry, “Little Henry, I know what you want to say. But I’m about to graduate, and I can’t keep playing around. You should know in your heart that there’s too much of a gap between us—it’s absolutely impossible for us to be together. I was immature before, but now I understand. I hope you won’t come looking for me again. It’s better for both of us.”

After saying this, Grace Harper ignored Little Henry completely, walked straight to the blue sports car, opened the door, and got in.

Watching the blue sports car spit out a puff of white smoke and disappear without a trace, Little Henry felt as if his heart was bleeding. He didn’t understand why Grace Harper had become like this; she was completely different from the Grace Harper he remembered.

Are all women this fickle? Even though he came from a poor background, he never felt he wasn’t good enough for Grace Harper, and Grace Harper had never disregarded his feelings like this before.

“Xiaocheng, what are you doing standing here?” A crisp voice interrupted Little Henry, who was still lost in confusion.

Little Henry’s face was a bit pale. He looked up and saw a short-haired, delicate-looking girl, and instinctively said, “Lillian Reed…”