When Wesley heard what ir said, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, paralyzed by her words. "No, I don''t," he replied.


    ir wouldn''t let the matter drop. She hurried over to him and asked, "Then why won''t you take my gift?"


    After giving it some thought, Wesley grabbed the bag in her arms and took out his phone. "How much was it? I''ll pay you back. WeChat Pay okay?"


    "No, you don''t have to. I—" She wanted to tell him that she had money now; her aunt had floated her some funds.


    But Wesley interrupted her. "It''s not easy to win a schrship. You''re taking the GRE test, right? Studying abroad is expensive. You shouldn''t be spending money on stupid things."


    ir said dully, "My uncle will help me out."


    Since she would have to ask her uncle to help her with living expenses and schooling once she was overseas, she didn''t think the meager thousands of bucks she had spent on the lighter would make much difference.


    "In that case, let me buy your ticket. It''s the least I can do."


    ir was disappointed seeing how persistent he was to pay her back. "Seriously, guy? Why can''t it just be a gift? No strings."


    Wesley had never gotten a present from a girl before, so he had no idea how to handle this. He gave her an infuriating answer, in his single-word style: "Because," he said eventually.


    For a moment, ir didn''t know what to say, nor did he; the apartment fell quiet. After a while, she smiled, "Okay. I''ll remind you to book a flight for me before I leave."


    Her smile was so sweet, but Wesley wasn''t fooled. The sadness behind her expression was obvious. "No problem," he said.


    ir decided she needed to get out of there, but needed a way to make a graceful exit. She didn''t run away.


    She walked straight to the door and then stopped. Without turning back, she asked, "Wesley, the kisses we shared...were those...just punishments?"


    That question caused him to think of so many things—his future, her future, their future...


    ir left his ce without waiting for an answer. If that were true, she didn''t want to hear it. Being rejected again and again would finally break her heart. She might be a confident, skilled woman, but underneath she was just a girl with a fragile heart, after all.


    Wesley eventually had to go back to work. Once he was back on base, the hellish days for his soldiers began. He was merciless—the slightest mistake meant a harsh punishment. Meanwhile, Wesley wasn''t easy on himself either. He put himself through strenuous training exercises: hiking up mountain trails with a loaded backpack, kicking a tree to toughen his feet until he could barely walk, thrusting his fists into ice-water, and lifting weights until he dropped from exhaustion, shuddering from muscr failure. Se


    Drugged one night by her ex-boyfriend, a mysterious man took advantage of her in an ecstatic night filled with sex.


    To take her revenge, she married the man, and used him.


    "As long as I''m alive, I''m still his legal wife, while all of you are just his mistresses."


    She remained adamant even when he was involved in scandals with other women.


    Eventually she stormed off after she learned that he had betrayed her again.But life brought her back to him a few yearster, to his astonishment.


    traffic jam. Hearing the sirens, they fell silent. Since the emergency vehicles hade, they realized that someone must have been hurt. Something serious had happened.


    ir was soon able to see what was going on. There was a car ident. One car had plowed into another, caving in its back end. A military vehicle was also there.


    That section of the road had been cordoned off. A crowd gathered, as well as the usual EMTs and police. There were three emergency vehicles. The police and the firemen were all actively working. A few of them were out with signs and shlights, trying to redirect traffic and keep it flowing.


    Right then, another car pulled up. A woman got out of the Porsche and walked over to a man who was lying in the street and drenched in blood. "How did this happen? Why is he dead? Who did this? And you! You are soldiers. You save people. How could you let this happen?" she yelled like a crazy person, obviously distraught.


    People attempted to calm her down, but to no avail.


    ir and Wesley were doomed to meet at random.


    Like right now.


    The scene unfolding before her eyes made her sad. ir was going to walk away when she heard a familiar voice. He said to the grieved woman, "We know this is a difficult time for you. Sorry for your loss. Your husband died during the ident. We wanted to save him, but we couldn''t—"


    The woman let go of the man in her arms, and shouted at Wesley, "Bullshit! You didn''t do your jobs! Is this how you operate? It''s a wonder you''re still alive."


    The onlookers couldn''t stand her wild usations anymore. A murmur traveled through the crowd. But since she was grieving, none of them came forward to confront her.


    Talbot and Bowman, who were standing next to Wesley, took one step forward, intending to reason with the woman, but Wesley stopped them.