Chapter 1

The day I left the Lynn family, I cut my hair short and moved to a new city.

I canceled my phone number and changed my surname back to Shaw.

On a remote street corner, I took over a small flower shop.

The Lynns all assumed I couldn't survive without them -- that I'd starved to death on the streets by now.

Seven years later, a distinguished guest in a tailored suit walked into my shop.

He held a pot of withered bellflowers and asked if I could revive it.

Our eyes met. My former brother, Lincoln, who once sneered at me, looked like he'd been struck by lightning.

"Nina? You've been here all along? The whole family thought you were..."

I lowered my eyes, ignoring his trembling hands.

Staring at the bellflowers I'd once given him, my voice was flat and emotionless.

"Sir, bringing dead wood back to life is a lie. Dead flowers stay dead."

---

Lincoln looked down at the bellflowers, then back up at me.

"Nina, how can you say that?"

I picked up my scissors and snipped off the last withered stem in the pot.

I swept the dead stem into the trash.

"Sir, the flower is dead. It can't be saved."

"When a person's heart dies, that can't be saved either."

Lincoln reached out to grab my wrist.

I laid the scissors flat on the counter, blade pointing outward.

He froze, hand suspended in midair, then withdrew it awkwardly.

"Where have you been these seven years?"

"Why didn't you contact anyone?"

"Do you know how long Mrs. Lynn and Mr. Lynn searched for you?"

I almost laughed.

"Searched for me?"

Lincoln's Adam's apple bobbed.

"The family thought something happened to you."

I emptied the soil from the pot.

The roots had rotted through completely.

"Mr. Lynn, wasn't it your family who published that newspaper announcement severing all ties with me?"

"Weren't you the one who personally threw my belongings out of the Lynn mansion?"

The color drained from Lincoln's face.

Seven years ago, that rainy night.

Lily rolled down the stairs clutching her stomach, crying that she'd lost her baby.

I'd been standing ten feet away -- I never even touched her clothes.

But Mrs. Lynn slapped me across the face.

"Shaw Nina, how can you be so vicious?"

That slap made my ears ring.

Mr. Lynn forced me down in front of Lily's hospital bed.

"Kneel. Apologize to Lily."

I said I didn't do it.

Lincoln rushed over, grabbed the wooden figurine I'd spent three nights carving for him, and smashed it on the floor.

I was thrown out of the Lynn mansion.

I knelt outside their door all night.

Rainwater flooded down my throat until I couldn't even cry anymore.

I knocked, begging them to open the door.

Mrs. Lynn stood by the window, glanced at me once, then turned to peel shrimp for Lily.

That night, I finally understood.

Blood ties are worthless.

The only person they would ever love was Lily.

Lincoln's hands trembled.

"Nina, we didn't know the truth back then."

"These bellflowers -- you gave them to me."

"I've kept them all this time."

I looked at the rotted pot.

Yes, I'd given them to him.

The first year I returned to the Lynn mansion, I thought I finally had a big brother.

I clumsily researched and learned that bellflowers symbolized gratitude and gentle love.

When I handed the flowers to Lincoln, he casually left them in a corner of the balcony.

Later, Lily said the pollen made her allergic.

He had the servants move them to the storage room right in front of me.

Now he was holding this dead plant, coming to talk about sibling affection.

How ridiculous.

"Didn't you kill it?"

Lincoln's eyes brightened slightly.

"From the day you discarded it, it was already dead."

His lips trembled.

"Lynn Nina..."

"Don't call me Lynn Nina."

I looked up at him.

"My surname is Shaw."

"Shaw Nina."

The bell by the door chimed.

My apprentice, Sophie, pushed the door open carrying lunch.

She saw Lincoln blocking the counter, then noticed the scissors on my desk, and immediately grew alert.

"Nina, should I call the police?"

Lincoln looked like he'd been slapped in public.

He picked up the dead plant and stepped back.

"I'll come back."

I pushed the trash can toward his feet.

"Next time, don't bring garbage into my shop."

Lincoln stood there for a few seconds, then turned and left.

On his way out, he nearly tripped over the threshold.

Sophie poked her head out to look.

"Nina, who was that?"

I cleaned the scissors and put them back in the toolbox.

"Someone too cheap to buy fresh flowers."

She made a sound of understanding and set down the food.

"Well, he's really stingy then."

I couldn't help but smile.

My phone screen lit up.

Video call.

I answered, and the next second, a chubby little face filled the screen.

"Mommy!"