I died on a rainy day.

I should have seen mountains ablaze with maple leaves, but Gabriel couldn't wait.


I tumbled down the stairs, blood pooling beneath me.

He's still not satisfied with his revenge.

He pushed me down the stairs, again and again.


In agony, I could barely speak, yet I still managed to ask:

"W-why...?"


I couldn't understand.

Our families had always been close, and we'd grown up together.

For over a decade, my family had done everything to help him secure his position as heir.

Yet he set a trap, lured my father in, bankrupted my family, and caused my father's fatal heart attack.

"Why, Gabriel?" I clutched desperately at the hem of his pants.

Gabriel's face was ghostly pale. Though he had destroyed my family, his expression suggested I was the one who had wronged him.

"This is what you all... owe Vivian."

He spat through gritted teeth.

Vivian?

Vivian White?

The name felt strange, and it took me a moment to recall who she was.

And the innocent, delicate face behind that name.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Five years.

So in these five years, Gabriel had never forgotten her.

So for her death, he blamed me—blamed the entire Lindell Group.

"Gabriel, you're such a..."

Fool!

Before I could utter the last word, Gabriel's hands were already crushing my throat.

The oxygen in my lungs slowly drained away.

Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

Just like those mountains of red maple leaves.