“Hey! Watch it! You just spilled tea on me!” Because I stood up too fast, I accidentally knocked over Mom's tea, and she was looking daggers at me. However, I had no time to take care of that. “Um, I'll head out for a while. Don't follow me, Smokey!” I hurriedly said as I dashed toward the door. Ignoring Mom and Dad, I quickly got out and locked Smokey inside the house. Is he back from Anglandur? Didn't he say he'd only be back after the New Year? It's New Year's Eve today. Did he come back to celebrate with me? I slapped myself on the face to calm myself down. He probably came back to do something important. I shouldn't be overthinking. However, my legs were not listening to me as I continued to sprint forward.I ran all the way downstairs and could barely catch my breath by the time I reached the entrance. Where is he? I took a good look around, and all I could see were youngsters playing with firecrackers. I fished out my phone and texted Dominic: Where are you? Show yourself, you jerk. I've been waiting for a minute now and you've yet to respond to my text. Eventually, I decided to call him. If he dares to pull a prank on me, I will ignore him forever. However, his phone was switched off. He's really playing with me! I was so infuriated that I wanted to strangle him to death. “Okay, Dominic. Nice one. I'll block you now and that's it! We're done!” I mumbled to myself. As I gritted my teeth in rage, I tapped into the chat room again, intending to scold him one last time.“Hey! That's my phone! What are you—” “Did you miss me?” “Dominic?” I threw away my phone because I was frightened, thinking that I ran into a hooligan. Dominic hugged me from the back and said hoarsely, “Yeah, it's me. Did you miss me?” “In your dreams, you jerk. You've startled me! And now my phone is broken. Are you going to pay for that?” Dominic's grasp tightened, and he sneered, “I'm sure you've been missing me. Otherwise, you wouldn't come down so fast.” Upon hearing that, I recalled how I couldn't reach him a short while ago. “How dare you mention that? Did you switch off your phone on purpose?” “I came back in a hurry, so I forgot to charge my phone. It died right after I sent you the text,” explained Dominic.“You just came back? And you came all the way here?” “Yeah. Let's find a place to sit and talk. I'm tired of standing.” He sounded weary, and I could see that he was exhausted after the long flight. He didn't have to do this. Right then, I felt bad for him. “Where do you want to sit? I think everywhere is fully booked since it's New Year's Eve.” Dominic let go of me and held my hand. “Let's sit in my car. At least it's not that cold in the car.” “You just got back, and you already have a car?” I asked as I went along with him. “Calvin prepared for me.” Right. The mighty assistant, Calvin Merchant. In the car, Dominic turned on the heater while I rubbed my hands. Ah, this feels much better. “Didn't you say you'll be back after the New Year? Why are you back today?” I asked after giving it some thought. Dominic pulled my hands and held them with two of his hands. “I want to spend my first moment of the new year with you.” Cheeky. His words stunned me, but he didn't continue his sentence when I anticipated it. “My family's waiting for me!” I refuted. Dominic kissed both of my hands and laughed. “I told Calvin to prepare a lot of fireworks. They're in the trunk. Let's go and light them up.” Hearing that, I was all the more infuriated. Fireworks? “No, I'm not interested. I'm not a kid. Didn't you say you're tired?” Dominic chuckled and caressed my face, but I slapped it off immediately.“Well, I'm not that tired.” With that, he got out of the car and pulled me out. I was rendered speechless. Is he sick in the head? Dominic stood motionless when we went to the trunk and signaled me to open it myself. He had been acting strangely since we met, and I was terrified that something as strange as him would jump out. I was in a foul mood before opening the trunk, but upon opening it, I was surprised. There was nothing strange about it, and the trunk was packed with purple roses. The bright fireworks erupted like a sea of flowers in the night sky as I was captivated by those purple roses. My eyes were filled with colors as I watched. “Did you prepare those fireworks too?” I couldn't help but wonder because everything was too coincidental.“Do you like it?” Dominic asked while giving me a gentle smile. I looked at the flowers and the fireworks. “Dominic, we've already bro—” Before I could finish, Dominic abruptly pulled me into his arms and kissed me. As his warm lips touched mine, he muttered, “Don't say a word if you haven't thought it through.” He stood up straight and put a bracelet on my wrist. On the gorgeous bracelet was a little key inlaid with diamonds. “This bracelet comes in a pair. Its name is Cherished Love,” he said as he held my hand. “Cherished Love...” I subconsciously repeated the name.