The man holding my wrist smiled.

“Come on, Hua Minh Duong.”

“One glass.”

“After all, we haven’t seen each other for ten years.”

“I’ll consider it giving you some face.”

The room became quiet.

Everyone was waiting for my reaction.

Ten years ago, I would have been embarrassed.

I would have tried to explain myself.

I would have lowered my head because I was afraid of becoming the joke of the group.

But ten years could change a person completely.

I looked down at his hand.

Then calmly pulled my wrist away.

“Let go.”

My voice was not loud.

But the entire room heard it.

The man’s expression changed slightly.

He didn’t expect me to refuse.

“What?”

“I said let go.”

I adjusted my sleeve.

“Your 1,000 yuan can be kept.”

“I don’t need it.”

Someone nearby laughed.

“Hua Minh Duong, don’t pretend.”

“You’ve been abroad for ten years and came back empty-handed.”

“Why act so proud?”

I looked at him.

“Who told you I came back empty-handed?”

The laughter stopped.

Tong Y stood aside, still wearing that gentle expression.

“Minh Duong, everyone is just joking.”

“You don’t have to take it seriously.”

I smiled.

“Miss Tong.”

“You seem to misunderstand something.”

She looked at me.

“I don’t care about jokes.”

“I just don’t like people touching me without permission.”

Her expression froze.

Because ten years ago…

I would never have spoken like this.

The person who once stood silently behind Co Tu Chau was gone.

At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind.

“What’s happening here?”

The room immediately became silent.

Co Tu Chau walked in.

Everyone quickly stood up.

The man who had grabbed my wrist immediately stepped back.

“General Co.”

“Nothing happened.”

“We were just joking with an old friend.”

Co Tu Chau looked at me.

His eyes stopped on my wrist for a second.

A faint red mark remained there.

His expression became colder.

“Who touched her?”

Nobody answered.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Because everyone knew…

Co Tu Chau might be indifferent to me.

But he had never tolerated anyone disrespecting people around him.

The man lowered his head.

“General, I didn’t mean anything.”

Co Tu Chau didn’t respond.

Instead, he looked at me.

“Are you hurt?”

I was surprised for a moment.

Then I shook my head.

“No.”

A simple answer.

No anger.

No complaint.

No expectation.

And somehow…

That made his expression even more complicated.

Because ten years ago, if he had asked me that question…

I would have cried.

I would have told him everything.

But now…

I didn’t need his concern anymore.

I turned away.

“I have to go.”

Before I could leave, Tong Y suddenly spoke.

“Minh Duong.”

“You really changed.”

I stopped.

She smiled softly.

“Before, you cared about Tu Chau so much.”

“Now you look like you don’t even know him.”

I looked back at her.

“Because I don’t.”

The room became silent.

Tong Y’s smile disappeared.

I continued:

“The person I knew disappeared ten years ago.”

“Or maybe…”

“Maybe I just never truly knew him.”

Co Tu Chau stood there.

He heard every word.

For the first time, I saw pain flash across his eyes.

But I didn’t stay to see more.

I left.

Outside the villa, the cold wind blew against my face.

I looked at the military region in front of me.

This place used to hold all my memories.

My love.

My youth.

My pain.

But now…

It was just a workplace.

Nothing more.

The next morning, the Military Region General Hospital announced the arrival of a special surgical expert.

The entire hospital was shocked.

Because the doctor who had returned from abroad was not just any military doctor.

She was the youngest person to complete the international military trauma research project.

The person who had successfully performed countless high-risk surgeries.

The person whose medical papers were studied by military hospitals around the world.

Her name appeared on the announcement board.

Hua Minh Duong.

When the news spread…

everyone who had laughed at me the night before fell silent.

Especially the people in the villa.

Someone looked at the announcement and whispered:

“Impossible…”

“She wasn’t someone who failed abroad?”

Another person replied quietly:

“Failed?”

“Do you know how many hospitals wanted her?”

At that moment, Co Tu Chau was standing in front of the screen.

He looked at my profile.

The same woman who once followed him everywhere.

The same woman who left without asking him for an explanation.

Now she stood at a height he could only look up to.

His phone suddenly rang.

It was his grandfather.

“Tu Chau.”

“Come to the hospital.”

“Your grandfather’s surgery will be performed by Doctor Hua.”

His fingers tightened around the phone.

“Her?”

“Yes.”

The old man’s voice carried a hint of curiosity.

“You two knew each other?”

Co Tu Chau was silent for a long time.

Finally, he answered:

“Yes.”

“We knew each other.”

But what he didn’t say was…

She was once the woman who loved him the most.

And he was the person who destroyed that love with his own hands.

That afternoon, when I entered the operating room preparation area…

I saw Co Tu Chau waiting outside.

For the first time in ten years.

The arrogant major general lowered his head.

“Minh Duong.”

I stopped.

“What is it?”

He looked at me.

There were many things in his eyes.

Regret.

Confusion.

Pain.

Finally, he said:

“Thank you for saving my grandfather.”

I nodded.

“You’re welcome.”

Then I walked past him.

Just like he had walked past me ten years ago.

But this time…

I was not the one left behind.

Behind me, Co Tu Chau stood frozen.

Because he finally understood.

The woman he abandoned did not spend ten years waiting for him.

She spent ten years becoming someone he could never get back.