Chapter 3

From a timid girl to the capable CEO she was today, I had watched her grow, step by step.

The first warm pumpkin spice latte of autumn, the first roasted chestnut of winter – these few small moments of warmth left me like a drowning man grasping at straws, desperately searching for traces of Seraphina's love in the tiniest things.

[System, Seraphina loved me once, she just doesn’t anymore, right?]

I humbly sought an answer from the system.

[Host, you have forty minutes left.]

The system's evasiveness made me feel like a stray, utterly lost and pathetic. It was ridiculous.

I wiped the tears from my face and called Seraphina.

She rejected the call.

But I was persistent, calling more than twenty times.

Finally, she decided to acknowledge me.

“Asher Hayes, are you *annoying*? Didn’t I say I was busy?”

Through her impatient voice, I heard the raucous celebration of a bar, followed by an unfamiliar yet familiar male voice.

“Sera, who is it? Is it your spouse checking in on you?”

His tone was flirtatious, laced with casual indifference.

Like it was just an idle question.

“No, Asher and I… our relationship is just, you know. Just a temporary arrangement, a practical partnership.”

Her voice grew flustered, as if she was worried Blake Sterling would ignore her.

“Oh, if the passion’s gone, then just cut ties, right? I seem to recall you and Blake having some unfinished business back in the day.”

Someone started to egg them on, shouting, “Get together! Get together!”

I don’t know how Seraphina faced those taunts.

All I had,

Was the cold silence after the call disconnected.

My hands and feet were icy. I slid down the wall to the floor, asking the system in my head in a hoarse voice:

“As a strategist, was I a complete failure? I couldn’t save Seraphina, and instead, I sacrificed myself.”

The system was silent for a long time. It seemed unable to bear my miserable state and finally spoke the only somewhat human-sounding sentence.

[Host, this merely indicates a strong attraction between the male and female leads. Furthermore, you have taught the female lead self-reliance and confidence. Even if she ends up with the male lead, she will not fall into the passive situation of the original plot.

After your death, I will send you back to your original world.]

While comforting me, it still didn't forget to urge me to die quickly.

To have the system care about me before I died,

It was a pretty new feeling.