Chapter 542: The Life I want.

The days passed peacefully.

For the first time in a long time, Thoren found himself living a life that did not require him to constantly worry about what would happen tomorrow.

Every morning he woke up knowing exactly where he was going, who would be waiting for him, and what he would be doing.

Although his work could sometimes be exhausting, it was the kind of exhaustion that came with satisfaction rather than fear.

He would wake up early, prepare himself for work, and leave the apartment with Mabel beside him.

Sometimes, she would complain about being late because Thoren took too long getting ready.

Other times, he would tease her for spending too much time choosing what to wear despite the fact that she had an entire wardrobe filled with clothes she barely used.

Their arguments were never serious.

They were the ordinary arguments of a young couple who had become comfortable with each other’s presence.

And somehow, those ordinary moments became the happiest part of his life.

At the office, Thoren quickly became one of the most reliable people in the company.

He worked hard.

He learned quickly.

Whenever a problem appeared, he was one of the first people to find a solution, and whenever a difficult project landed on his desk, he would spend hours studying every detail until he understood exactly what needed to be done.

His relationship with Mabel also remained strong despite working in the same company.

Although they both made an effort to separate their personal relationship from their professional lives whenever they were around other employees.

Of course, everyone knew.

It was impossible to hide.

Mabel was the owner’s daughter, after all, and Thoren was her boyfriend.

At first, there were plenty of whispers. Some people believed he was only dating her because of her family.

Others called him lucky.

A few even mocked him behind his back, claiming that he had climbed the corporate ladder by sleeping with the boss’s daughter.

Thoren heard some of those rumors.

He simply ignored them.

He knew what he had done.

He knew how hard he had worked.

Thoren’s hard work eventually became impossible for even the company’s upper management to ignore.

He was promoted again and again, eventually becoming the Chief Engineer of the company.

The promotion created an entirely different atmosphere around him. People who had once ignored him suddenly greeted him with smiles.

Employees who had once whispered behind his back now approached him respectfully.

Even senior employees who had been working in the company longer than him had to acknowledge his ability.

Thoren became the envy of almost everyone in the company.

A beautiful girlfriend.

A successful career.

A respected position.

A comfortable home.

He wanted to wake up beside the woman he loved, go to work, return home, eat dinner with her, complain about their day, watch television together, and eventually grow old beside her.

That was enough.

Sometimes, after returning home late from work, Mabel would lie beside him and complain about how boring adulthood was.

Thoren would laugh while telling her that she was the one who had insisted on becoming an adult.

Other times, they would simply sit together on the balcony, looking at the lights of the city while discussing meaningless things that neither of them would remember the next morning.

Yet those meaningless conversations were precious.

Because they were theirs.

One evening, while sitting beside Mabel, Thoren looked at her for a long time.

She eventually noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You’ve been staring at me for five minutes."

"Have I?"

"Yes."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"You’re planning something."

Thoren smiled.

"Maybe."

Mabel immediately became curious.

"What?"

He shook his head.

"You’ll find out."

She pouted.

"I hate surprises."

"I know."

"Then tell me."

"No."

"Thoren."

"No."

She eventually gave up, though her expression made it clear that she was not happy about it.

What she did not know was that Thoren had already made his decision.

He wanted to marry her.

Not because of her family.

Not because of her position.

Not because he believed she was beautiful.

He wanted to marry her because after all those years together, he could no longer imagine his life without her.

So, a few days later, Thoren secretly visited a jewelry store.

He had spent nearly an hour looking at different engagement rings, carefully comparing each one while imagining how Mabel would react when he finally placed it on her finger.

The thought warmed his heart.

He was finally going to propose.

After everything they had experienced together, he was ready to take the next step. He left the jewelry store with the ring carefully secured inside his pocket.

His heart was strangely light.

He walked along the sidewalk, occasionally touching the pocket containing the small box as if he needed to reassure himself that it was still there.

The city was busy around him.

Cars passed.

People walked.

Everything was peaceful.

Suddenly, a loud honking sound echoed on the street. A truck suddenly came speeding through the intersection.

Thoren’s head snapped toward the road.

A young man was crossing the street which seemed to be distracted.

Perhaps he had not heard the horn.

Someone shouted.

"Watch out!"

The young man turned and his expression changed instantly.

His eyes widened and his body froze.

Bang!

The truck slammed into him and the young man’s body was thrown several meters through the air before crashing onto the road.

Thoren stood motionless as his eyes were fixed on the young man’s body.

Blood slowly spread across the asphalt as a red pool formed beneath him.

Watching the scene, something about the scene disturbed him.

It was not simply the accident.

He had seen accidents before.

Yet something about this particular scene felt wrong.

Terribly wrong.

He stared at the dead young man.

"He’s dead..." A middle-aged man close to the young man shouted.

The moment Thoren heard the word dead, something deep in his soul seemed to resonate with the young man’s dead body.