Donald gazed at Mabel's peacefully sleeping face, his heart feeling as if it were being stabbed with a thousand needles.
The girl he adored was right there, holding his hand, yet in her dreams, she whispered another man's name—a man who already had a fiancée.
With his other hand, he gently caressed Mabel's cheek, feeling the soft warmth of her skin beneath his fingers. His gaze slowly drifted to her full lips.
As if drawn by an invisible force, he leaned in closer to Mabel's face. To him, she was like a vibrant rose in full bloom, just waiting to be picked.
Suddenly, Mabel murmured in her sleep, “Cyrus, why are you treating me this way?”
That sleep-talking jolted Donald back to reality. He watched Mabel's oblivious face in silence, as a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
If b
