Chapter 1

"Mr. Langston, sign me up for the cryonics experiment," Sebastian Lowell said calmly.

Howard Langston's voice came through on the other end of the line. "Are you sure about this, Sebastian? I know the cancer diagnosis hit you hard, but there's still hope for treatment—"

"It's stage four of lymphoma," Sebastian interrupted. "There's no cure."

Howard let out a long sigh. "But the research team's cryonics technology is still far from perfect. They've never tested it on a living person. There's a high chance you'll die the moment you're frozen! Please, think it over."

"I've made up my mind, Mr. Langston," Sebastian replied with a smile.

With that, he hung up.

His phone screen displayed a headline from a few minutes ago.

In the photo, Keith Jefferson and Cassandra Yeager were holding hands. On Keith's ring finger was a blue diamond ring.

Even through the screen, the gemstone's brilliance burned Sebastian's eyes.

He bit his lip hard, but it wasn't enough to stop the tears. They streamed down his face uncontrollably.

It was Cassandra's birthday today. She was the person he loved most in the world. Yet, she had just given the ring he designed to someone else.

Why must Cassandra do this? Sebastian wondered if she hated him that much.

The steaming food slowly cooled. As he sat at the table, his heart grew cold as well.

…

At 2:30 am, the front door finally creaked open. Cassandra stepped inside, bringing the icy night air with her.

"You're still awake?" When she saw Sebastian, her expression grew colder. "Didn't I tell you I'd be with Keith tonight? I said I'd be back late."

Sebastian kept his head down, silent for a long moment before mumbling, "...Happy birthday."

It was already past midnight. The day wasn't even her birthday anymore.

"Why are you doing this, Sebastian?" Cassandra snapped. "Keith is my boyfriend. It's only natural for him to celebrate with me. Who do you think you are?

"We're not even related by blood. I'm at most your guardian! Know your place! There's no chance between us. The thoughts in your head just disgust me!"

With that, she slammed the door and left again.

She was probably going to find Keith. After all, she'd just said he was her boyfriend.

Sebastian kept his head lowered and stared at his feet. His voice was barely a whisper as he said, "I'm sorry, Cassie. It won't happen again. This is the last birthday I'll ever spend with you."

The room was freezing.

Sebastian wondered if the cold of a cryogenic chamber would be worse than this empty place.

He hated the cold ever since he was a child. In winter, he would walk barefoot with a stuffed rabbit and go to Cassandra, asking to sleep next to her.

Back then, Cassandra had been nice to him. She had never spoken to him harshly. Instead, she'd pull him into bed with a smile and tell him stories until he drifted off.

Keith posted a picture on Instagram of him and Cassandra holding hands. He was wearing "Mermaid's Heart", the ring Sebastian had designed.

In the caption, Keith proudly announced, "We're engaged!"

Just then, Sebastian received an email from the cryonics research team. He opened it to find the consent form for the experiment attached.

He didn't sign it right away. Instead, he picked up his phone and called Cassandra.

The call went to voicemail. Undeterred, he dialed again and again. After five attempts, she finally picked up.

"What now, Sebastian?" Cassandra's voice was laced with irritation.

Sebastian pressed his lips together before saying softly, "I just wanted to say congratulations."

Upon hearing that, Cassandra scoffed. "Let's hope you actually mean that."

Sebastian fell silent for a moment, staring at the floor. Then, he asked, "When's the wedding?"

"December 12th," she replied coldly.

That answer felt like a dagger to his heart.

December 12th was his birthday.

Chapter 2

Sebastian's parents were both gone.

An old, faded newspaper still bore the gruesome headline, "Socialite Snaps: Stabs Husband Over 100 Times Before Hanging Herself, Leaves Behind Their Only Son."

Sebastian was that son who was left alone in the world. The Yeager family had taken him in out of kindness.

Cassandra was older than him by a few years. Maybe it was out of pity for all he had been through, but she doted on him endlessly. She would find a way to give him whatever he wanted, even the stars in the sky.

And she truly did give him a star.

The tragic death of his parents left him deeply traumatized, instilling an overwhelming sense of insecurity.

So, on a quiet night, Cassandra climbed onto the roof with him. "Seb," she said, pointing at the brightest star in the sky, "see that star? I bought it."

She handed him the certificate of ownership for the star, then lightly tapped his nose with her finger before saying gently, "That star is yours now. It'll always watch over you when I can't."

…

Sebastian walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside to look at his star again.

But the sky was shrouded in heavy clouds. His star was nowhere to be seen.

The next morning, a call from Reuben Hart, the head of the cryonics research team, woke him up. They wanted him to come in for a medical evaluation.

"Is that really necessary?" Sebastian's smile was tinged with bitterness.

What was the point? He was dying. No amount of testing would make the cancer cells disappear.

"Mr. Lowell, we need to assess your condition to determine the best freezing process and period," Reuben explained. "This will improve your chances of survival. Please cooperate."

Sebastian didn't have a reason to refuse, so he drove to the cryonics research facility.

After a whole day of tests, the evaluation finally came to an end. As he was about to leave, Reuben handed him a large stack of documents. "The shape of the cryogenic chamber and its future storage location are both customizable. Here are the relevant materials for you to review."

Sebastian nodded. He quietly thanked him and took the documents home.

He noticed that the living room lights were on when he entered the house. His heart skipped a beat. Was Cassandra home?

He was so pathetic. Despite everything—the cutting words, the cold shoulders—he couldn't stop himself from wanting to see her.

As he tried to steady his racing heart, he hurried into the living room.

Unexpectedly, he was greeted by Keith, lounging on the couch in a partially open robe.

"Seb, you're back!" Keith said, standing to greet him with a grin. "Had dinner yet? Cassie's in the kitchen cooking. What do you feel like eating? Just tell me. I'll have her make it for you."

The way he spoke and carried himself made him seem like he owned the place.

A sharp pang hit Sebastian in the chest. He shook his head, about to say he wasn't hungry when Cassandra emerged from the kitchen with a freshly prepared dish.

"Perfect timing," she said. "Since Keith and I are engaged now, he's the head of the house from today. From now on, he'll be the one making all the decisions here."

Sebastian lowered his head and muttered quietly, "Got it."

Cassandra had expected him to cause a scene, but to her surprise, he accepted it so calmly. A rare hint of astonishment flickered in Cassandra's deep eyes.

"Oh, don't be so intense. You're scaring him," Keith said with a smile. "Don't mind her, Seb. Let's go eat."

As he said that, he reached out and grabbed Sebastian by the arm, pulling him toward the dining room.

The sudden movement startled Sebastian and the documents he'd been holding slipped from his grasp, scattering haphazardly across the floor.

Frowning, Cassandra bent down to pick up a cryogenic chamber design from the floor and coldly asked, "What's this?"

Sebastian's heart raced, but he forced himself to look calm before explaining, "It's a cryogenic chamber design. It's for my summer assignment.

"Before the break, the professor gave us an open-ended project to design a product. I thought I'd try designing a crystal coffin to preserve corpses, so I printed some reference materials for inspiration."

He was a college freshman studying design, so the explanation wasn't entirely far-fetched.

But Cassandra's expression didn't soften. "Are you out of your mind?"

Chapter 3

Cassandra helped with Sebastian's parents' funeral.

On the day of their burial, Sebastian locked himself in the wardrobe again.

Cassandra found him, but she didn't force him to come out. Instead, she opened the door and climbed in to sit with him.

"Cassie, is it this dark and cold inside a coffin, too?" he asked with red eyes. "I dreamed my mom asked me to join her in the coffin. She said she was cold and scared, all alone in there."

"That was just a dream," Cassandra reassured him. "Don't worry. You're not going anywhere. I won't let anyone take you away from me."

Sebastian hugged Cassandra tightly as he whispered in her ear, "As long as you're with me, I wouldn't be scared, even if I were locked in a coffin."

…

It seemed like Cassandra still remembered what Sebastian had said.

She misunderstood. She thought he was using the cryogenic coffin as a roundabout way to confess his feelings.

"If you don't like it, I'll choose a different product," Sebastian said softly. "It's just a summer assignment. Don't be mad."

Cassandra kept a cold expression and didn't respond. Keith, on the other hand, chuckled and tried to lighten the mood. "Yeah, you probably should. Coffins are quite morbid, don't you think? Young people shouldn't have such dark thoughts. Be a bit more positive."

Sebastian picked up the scattered papers from the floor and tossed them all into the trash in front of Cassandra. Only then did her expression soften slightly.

Later that night, once everyone had gone to sleep, Sebastian quietly got up again and dug through the trash to retrieve the papers.

As he returned to his room, Keith emerged from Cassandra's room, wearing a robe. His chest was covered in unmistakable marks and scratches.

It didn't take much imagination to know what he had done with Cassandra in the room.

Sebastian forced himself to look away, repeating in his mind over and over not to dwell on it. Keith was Cassandra's fiancé, so what they did wasn't wrong.

Cassandra loved Keith, and he could give her happiness. That was what mattered.

"Why can't you look at me, Sebastian?" Keith's voice was mocking. He was completely different from just a few hours ago. "Are you still struggling to accept that Cassandra loves me and not you?"

Sebastian lowered his gaze. "No, I've accepted it."

"Stop pretending. I can see right through you." Keith sneered. "The way you look at Cassandra is not normal.

"Sure, she's not related to you by blood, but she raised you. She's like a mother to you… Sebastian, are you some kind of psycho?"

Sebastian bit his lower lip hard, remaining silent.

Was he really a psycho?

No wonder Cassandra had started to loathe him once she realized his feelings for her. To the rest of the world, his feelings were something to be ashamed of.

"I heard the reason you became an orphan is because your mom snapped and stabbed your dad over a hundred times in the middle of the night, killing him."

Keith slowly stepped closer, deliberately provoking him. "No wonder you're messed up. It's in your blood. Your mom was a twisted psycho, and so are you."

Sebastian could tolerate Keith insulting him, but he couldn't let him trash his late parents.

"Shut up!" He lunged at Keith and grabbed him by the throat. "You don't know the full story. You have no right to—"

Before he could finish, a sharp voice interrupted, "What are you doing, Sebastian?"

Cassandra had woken up at some point. She stood in the doorway, glaring at Sebastian.

Chapter 4

Keith seemed to lose his balance and slumped into Cassandra's arms. His voice trembled as he spoke, "Cassie, don't blame Seb. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come out dressed like this looking for water.

"I thought he would already be asleep by this late hour, so I didn't bother putting on a coat. I just wore my robe. But I ran straight into him when I opened the door. He saw the marks on me and called me shameless, saying that someone like me didn't deserve to be with you."

With just a few words, he painted Sebastian as a twisted psycho who stayed up late at night lurking outside her doors, eavesdropping. Consumed by jealousy, he resorted to beating Keith up.

"He's lying! I didn't say that." Sebastian's eyes turned red-rimmed. "He deliberately mentioned my parents, and... and... he called my mom a psycho!"

Back in elementary school, Sebastian had been bullied because of his mother, Mariah Duffy.

His classmates had surrounded him and threw trash at him while calling him the son of a madwoman. At that time, Cassandra would step in to stop them.

Sebastian believed Cassandra knew he would never lie about this as this was a pain he would carry forever.

"What psycho? What are you talking about, Seb?" Keith asked, feigning confusion. "I know your parents died when you were young, but I don't know anything else."

Cassandra softly reassured Keith and then turned to look at Sebastian with a cold gaze.

"Sebastian, I never thought you'd stoop so low as to say something like this just to smear Keith." Her gaze was filled with disappointment. "Keith doesn't know anything. I've never told him about your past!"

"That doesn't mean he can't look it up online," Sebastian said, his voice hurt. "It's not something hard to find—"

"Enough!" Cassandra cut him off before he could finish. "Do you think everyone's as devious and full of lies as you?"

Sebastian froze, stunned by her words.

Devious and full of lies... Was this how she saw him?

At that moment, any explanation seemed meaningless.

"Apologize to Keith right now," Cassandra ordered coldly.

Sebastian bit his lip and stayed silent. He refused to apologize. He hadn't done anything wrong. The one who should be apologizing was Keith!

"I've really spoiled you." Cassandra's voice grew even colder. "But I won't let you off so easily this time. You're grounded. Stay in your room and think about your behavior. You can come out only when you've realized what you did wrong and are ready to apologize."

Sebastian had always been the one Cassandra favored, but today, she had chosen another man.

Locked in his room, Sebastian curled up on the bed, hugging his knees, but he still felt a chill deep inside.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed. It was a message from Reuben.

"Mr. Lowell, your medical evaluation report is ready. According to our team's findings, the best time for your cryogenic freezing will be between December 7th and 21st. You may choose any day within that window for the procedure."

Next month would be December.

Sebastian's chest tightened again. December...

He remained silent in the darkness for a long time. Trembling, he slowly typed out his choice for the date. "December 12th."

December 12th was his birthday and also the day that Cassandra and Keith would be getting married.

He decided he wouldn't attend their wedding. Cassandra had already had enough of him anyway. If he went, he'd only be an eyesore.

He would leave quietly without bothering anyone.

Chapter 5

December was just around the corner. Sebastian's time was running out.

There were still many things he needed to do, and he didn't want to waste his precious days locked away in his room.

So, the proud young man lowered his pride. He found Cassandra and, biting his lip, apologized, "Cassie, I've thought it through. It's all my fault. I'm sorry."

But Cassandra remained cold. Her gaze was devoid of the tenderness and affection she once showed him. "Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Keith."

Sebastian bit his lip until it bled. The taste of iron flooded his mouth. At that moment, he painfully realized that all the warmth and care he once received from her had long been given to Keith.

"Fine! I'll apologize to him!" His emotions were so overwhelming that his whole body trembled uncontrollably. "I'm sorry, Keith! I acknowledge you as my brother-in-law!"

The mention of "brother-in-law" caused Cassandra to stiffen for a moment; her eyes flickered. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she had heard him right.

"Will this do, Cassie?" Sebastian smiled bitterly. But as he smiled, tears welled up in his eyes. "Are you satisfied now?"

Cassandra should have felt satisfied, but hearing his apology and his acknowledgment of Keith as his brother-in-law left her heart feeling unexpectedly heavy.

She quickly averted her gaze, no longer daring to meet Sebastian's eyes. She coldly responded, "From today on, you're moving downstairs."

Sebastian froze for a moment before quickly realizing that she had believed Keith's words.

He couldn't believe that she really thought he was the kind of psycho who would hide outside her bedroom door and eavesdrop on her with another man.

The cold feeling washed over him again. Sebastian felt his world spinning. He almost collapsed, but he didn't fall. He steadied himself against the wall and gritted his teeth to push through. "Alright."

If Cassandra wanted him to move downstairs, then he would. After all, there wasn't much time left for him anyway.

That evening, Sebastian drove to the cryonics research facility again.

He needed to discuss with Reuben where his cryogenic chamber would be placed after his freezing.

"I read that you have cryogenic chamber storage rooms under the sea. Is that true?" Sebastian asked.

"Of course. In fact, most of our storage rooms are under the sea," Reuben replied. "It's because maintaining cryogenic temperatures on land requires a massive amount of electricity.

"But if we store the chambers underwater, the temperature is naturally low, so the energy consumption is much lower."

"That's great." Sebastian smiled. "I want my cryogenic chamber stored underwater."

"Can I ask why?"

Sebastian was still smiling as he replied, "Because the stars won't be able to find me there."

Cassandra had gifted him a star and told him that no matter where he went, the star would always follow, watching over him on her behalf.

But now, she no longer cared for him, and he was going to die.

To watch over a body no one cared for seemed too sad. So, Sebastian decided to give the star its freedom. He would sink quietly into the ocean where it couldn't see him and leave the world without causing trouble for it.

Wanting to avoid Keith, Sebastian deliberately stayed out late before returning home. But when he arrived, the villa was brightly lit. Cassandra sat in the living room, waiting for him with a stern look on her face.

"What's wrong, Cassie?" he asked, confused. He had no idea what he had done wrong. He had been out all day.

Just then, Cassandra threw a stack of papers in front of him. Holding back her anger, she asked, "What is this, Sebastian?"

Sebastian lowered his head and saw the cancer diagnosis report among the scattered papers across the floor.

Chapter 6

"Why did you go through my things?" Sebastian panicked. He didn't want to directly respond to Cassandra's question, so he tried to shift the conversation. "I'm already 18! You can't just barge into my room and rifle through my stuff."

Furious, Cassandra slammed the cup on the table to the floor. "Is that the point?"

The cup hit the floor with a dull thud, and Sebastian flinched.

"Seb, you've misunderstood Cassie," Keith said, stepping forward with feigned innocence to ease the tension. "She didn't go into your room. It was me. I didn't have any clean clothes, and the ones I wore yesterday were..."

His face turned red, and he paused for a few seconds before continuing, "I had nothing to wear, so I went into your room, hoping to find some old clothes of yours to wear. But I found your cancer diagnosis report on your desk by accident."

He was clearly lying.

Sebastian had locked away the diagnosis report the very first day he received it.

Keith's story made it sound like Sebastian had intentionally left the report in a conspicuous place and was expecting them to find it.

"You're so young, Seb. How could you possibly have cancer?" Keith placed a hand over his heart, looking heartbroken. "Be honest with me. Is this diagnosis real, or is it just a prank you're playing?"

Sebastian turned to look at Cassandra. Only then did he realize that the look in her eyes was filled more with anger than concern.

Before he returned home, Keith must have brainwashed her. Now, Cassandra didn't believe the diagnosis. She thought he was just pretending to be sick to get her attention.

Sebastian thought to himself that maybe this was for the best. At least his secret would stay hidden.

"It's a prank," he said softly. "I was just messing around with some friends. I didn't expect you to find—"

Before he could finish, Cassandra suddenly stood up with a stern face as she interrupted him, "Let's go to the hospital for a checkup."

The hospital would give the final verdict on whether this was a prank or not.

"Cassie..." Sebastian didn't want to go, so he weakly resisted.

Cassandra's icy gaze cut through him. With just one look, he knew there was no way out. He understood her well enough to know that this checkup was non-negotiable.

By the time they arrived at the hospital, it was already past midnight.

Normally, no departments would be open at this hour except the emergency room, but Cassandra had called the hospital director in advance.

The director didn't dare offend her, so he arranged for a doctor to come in immediately to give Sebastian a thorough examination.

The cancer test would take at least two hours to process.

For those two hours, every second felt like torture to Sebastian.

He couldn't stop wondering if Cassandra would be upset if she knew he was going to die soon.

Or maybe he was nothing more than a burden to her—a burden twisted in character, consumed by jealousy. She'd probably wanted to get rid of him for a long time.

Sebastian wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually, the doctor came out with the results.

"Ms. Yeager, the results are in. Mr. Lowell is in perfect health. There's no sign of cancer."

Sebastian never expected to hear such a result after so much anxiety. He immediately turned to look at Keith, knowing without a doubt that he was behind this scheme.

"Thank goodness." Keith heaved a sigh of relief. "It was just a prank after all. Seb's fine. We can finally relax."

But Cassandra didn't say a word. She looked at Sebastian deeply, then suddenly realized that his face was an unnatural shade of white.

The person she had carefully nurtured seemed to be slowly withering away.