After Gu Yanzhou and Su Hang left, the flower shop became quiet again.

The bell above the door stopped moving.

The sunlight returned to the small room.

But my hands remained still for several seconds.

Not because I was sad.

Not because I wanted them to stay.

Because after six years, I finally realized something.

The past could come back.

But it could never take me back to who I used to be.

Mrs. Zhang walked in carrying an empty bowl.

She looked toward the street where the Maybach had disappeared.

“Xiao Su.”

I continued trimming the flowers.

“Yes?”

She hesitated.

“Those two men…”

I smiled.

“They were customers.”

Mrs. Zhang looked at me.

“You really don’t want to talk about them?”

I shook my head.

“No.”

And that was the truth.

Six years ago, I would have spent days thinking about why Gu Yanzhou came back.

I would have wondered if he regretted leaving.

I would have searched for meaning in every look.

But now?

Now I only cared about whether tomorrow’s flowers arrived on time.

Whether my customers were happy.

Whether my little shop could continue running.

That night, after closing the store, I watered the plants and prepared the flowers for the next morning.

Just as I was about to turn off the lights, my phone rang.

It was an unknown number.

I ignored it.

A few seconds later, a message appeared.

“Su Yan, we need to talk.”

I knew immediately who it was.

Gu Yanzhou.

I deleted the message without replying.

Another one arrived.

“I know you hate me.”

I stared at the screen.

Hate?

No.

Hate required caring.

And I had spent six years learning how not to care.

The next morning, when I opened the shop, there was someone waiting outside.

Su Hang.

He stood there wearing the same expensive clothes as yesterday.

But today, he looked different.

Less like the arrogant heir of the Su family.

More like a man who hadn’t slept all night.

I unlocked the door.

“Sir, what flowers would you like today?”

His expression changed.

“Su Yan.”

I sighed quietly.

“Again?”

His eyes turned red.

“Do you really not recognize me as your brother?”

I looked at him.

Then I placed the flower scissors on the table.

“Do you want the truth?”

He nodded.

“Six years ago, when you pointed at the door and told me to leave, you already answered that question.”

His face went pale.

“I was angry.”

“You were twenty-two.”

I looked at him calmly.

“You were old enough to know what you were doing.”

Silence.

The first time I returned to Beicheng after leaving, I had secretly hoped someone would come looking for me.

My brother.

My fiancé.

Anyone.

But nobody came.

Not once.

Su Hang lowered his head.

“Do you know what happened after you left?”

I didn’t answer.

He continued.

“Father regretted it.”

I smiled slightly.

“Regret is easy.”

He looked at me.

“What?”

“People regret hurting someone when they realize that person is no longer available to hurt.”

My words made him freeze.

Because they were true.

A person who leaves you when you have nothing is not afraid of losing you.

They only become afraid when they realize you survived without them.

Before he could speak again, a black car stopped outside.

This time, I already knew who it was.

Gu Yanzhou stepped out.

He walked into the flower shop.

His eyes immediately found mine.

“Su Yan.”

I continued arranging flowers.

“What would you like to buy?”

His jaw tightened.

“Do you really have to treat me like a stranger?”

I looked up.

“Yes.”

The answer came naturally.

Because that was exactly what he was.

A stranger who knew my past.

Nothing more.

Gu Yanzhou looked at the flowers on the counter.

Then he said quietly:

“I didn’t know.”

I paused.

“Know what?”

“That you left Beicheng with nothing.”

I laughed softly.

“You knew.”

His expression changed.

“No.”

“You knew enough.”

I looked directly at him.

“You knew my family kicked me out.”

“You knew I had nowhere to go.”

“You knew I had no money.”

“And you still ended our engagement in front of everyone.”

His face became complicated.

“I thought…”

“You thought I wasn’t suitable for you.”

The words hung between us.

Six years ago, those words destroyed me.

Today, they felt empty.

Gu Yanzhou lowered his voice.

“I was wrong.”

I said nothing.

“I spent six years looking for you.”

My hand stopped.

For one second.

Only one second.

Then I continued working.

“That sounds difficult.”

His eyes moved.

“Su Yan.”

“What?”

“I really did look for you.”

I nodded.

“Then you found me.”

He looked surprised.

“That’s it?”

I smiled.

“What else should there be?”

His expression became painful.

Because he finally understood.

The woman standing in front of him was not the same girl who waited for him six years ago.

That girl loved him.

This woman didn’t need him.

At that moment, Su Hang’s phone suddenly rang.

He answered.

After a few seconds, his expression changed.

“What?”

He looked at Gu Yanzhou.

Then at me.

“Father collapsed.”

The room became silent.

I lowered my eyes.

Six years ago, that man had chosen to abandon me.

Now his family was standing in my flower shop again.

Not because they remembered my value.

But because something had happened.

Gu Yanzhou looked at me.

“Su Yan…”

I knew what he wanted to say.

But before he could finish, my phone rang.

It was my lawyer.

I answered.

“Yes?”

His voice came through.

“Miss Su, I finally found the document you asked me to investigate.”

My expression changed slightly.

“What document?”

“The one related to your expulsion from Beicheng six years ago.”

I became silent.

The lawyer continued.

“And there is something you need to know.”

I gripped the phone tighter.

“What?”

A pause.

Then he said:

“The reason your family and Gu Yanzhou abandoned you…”

My heartbeat slowed.

“Was because someone deliberately made them believe you betrayed them.”

I looked at Gu Yanzhou.

At Su Hang.

At the two people who had once destroyed my life.

And for the first time in six years…

I wondered if the story I knew was never the complete truth.

Because someone had been hiding behind the scenes.

And that person was the real reason I lost everything.