After the dinner, Cream drove Amy back to the home she and Shadow shared together. It was a nice district in the mountains. Every inch of land was highly valued. This was where Amy and Shadow lived. As they approached, Cream stopped her car in front of the villa. The rain had stopped after washing off the dirt from the sidewalks. The warm yellow street light hit the puddles, and rays of light reflected in all directions.

After saying bye to Cream, Amy reached into her bag for the key to the main door. After the rain, the flowers that were blooming in the front yard had all but fallen, leaving her with the smell of flower essence and rain.

Even though the villa was not far from the main gate, Amy strolled towards it slowly. If Shadow was back from Rome, would he be back tonight, or would he be staying elsewhere? After the incident three months ago, Amy was not able to face him. The very thought of meeting him would cause her to shudder. She stood at the door of the villa with eyes closed. She took deep breaths before retrieving her keys to open the door. Other than the two part time cleaners, there were no other long term helpers in the villa, causing it to be extremely lonely.

She stood at the entrance and scanned the living room. Confirming that she was the only one in the house, she slipped out of her shoes and started making her way upstairs. Only after making sure that upstairs was also empty, she finally started to relax. He was not in the villa currently, but would he be back? It was currently mid night. These past few months aside, Shadow would occasionally drop by the villa with no particular schedule but never later then one in the morning.

It was twelve in the morning right now, so if he was not back in another hour, it was highly likely that he would not be coming back tonight.

Hours passed and when the clock finally hit one in the morning, she relaxed even more. She had been stressed the entire day. Now she could do what she wanted without worry. She collapsed onto the sofa in exhaustion. It was one in the morning, he definitely wouldn't be coming back tonight.


Amy waited for herself to fully calm down before raising from the sofa. She took a set of clothes and headed up to the bathroom. She left the bath running while she removed her makeup in front of the vanity table. When she was about to squeeze toothpaste on her toothbrush, she heard footsteps outside and splashing water. She froze, but her hand tightened on the brush. She stood at the sink area for a long time before pushing the bathroom door open. Outside, Shadow was sitting on the sofa.

Amy had been feeling uneasy the whole night, not knowing if he was going to come back. Only when she saw daybreak did she finally calm down, knowing it was too late for him to come back. At this moment though, she was not prepared to face him as her anxiety crept back up.

When she had pushed the door open, Shadow turned his head slightly. She looked away and lowered her head. She knew that she would be ignored if she spoke to him. After a slight hesitation, she smiled up at him, "You're back?"

Shadow clenched his lips and looked away, ignoring her words, and lifted his hand to unbutton his suit. Amy was used to him ignoring her. But this time was different. After that event, she could sense how much colder he was to her.

"Well, my bath should be ready, I'll go now."

He ignored her as she left, tossing his suit onto the sofa before taking long strides out the door of the master bedroom. Only after a long while did Amy get done with her bath. When she opened the door to the main bedroom, she saw Shadow was dressed in his pajamas and sitting on the side of the bed that he usually sleeps on. He had both of his hands behind his head and his eyes were closed.

Amy averted her gaze before taking a peak of him in his sleep. She couldn't help but look at Shadow. She used to only steal quick peaks, but now he was asleep. After confirming that he didn't open his eyes, she admired him quietly from the view of her mirror. His face was imprinted into her mind. She could remember every detail of Shadow's face with her eyes closed. Ever since they met thirteen years ago, she had never stopped getting butterflies just by looking at his face.

With his eyes shut, Shadow seemed to be less cold, the frosty aura seemed to disappear also, and his features softened. Amy was so mesmerized that she accidentally dropped the facial cream she had been holding in her hands, and it hit the floor. Even if the crush was one sided, just being able to watch Shadow up close was enough to make her happy. If his eyes were open, Amy would have never dared to look at him like this. She fell into a trance. She impulsively lifted her hands, caressing his reflection in the mirror, starting from his eyes, then the bridge of his nose, and stopping on his lips. She remembered when she kissed those lips.

Even though it had been three months ago, the memory was still crystal clear. She remembered everything. Her heart race quickened, and just as she was about to sink into a daydream about him, his phone went off loudly. His eyebrows furrowed as he was annoyed by the disturbance. His eyes opened and she jumped from her side of the bed and bent down to retrieve the cream she had dropped earlier.