But Lex didn’t give her the chance. His hand closed around her arm, and he dragged her toward the exit without a word.
Watching her leave, I almost felt… disappointed. Not for me—for her. She’d miss the moment I was invited on stage as one of the standout speakers.
She’d never see what I’d become. I didn’t need anyone–I had my own back.
The second half of the panel rolled around, and the organizers asked me to speak.
As I stood, I felt it–someone watching me. That stare followed me all the way to the stage.
I didn’t bother searching for it. Didn’t matter.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Audrey…”
When I finished, applause shook the room. I smiled, calm and collected, scanning the crowd. My eyes accidentally locked on Lex.
Something flickered in his expression–amazement, maybe even admiration.
I turned away. Whatever.
After the event, Lex pushed through the crowd, stopping dead in front of me.
He stared like he didn’t recognize me. “Audrey, I didn’t expect you to be this… incredible now.”
I met his eyes. “I have you to thank for that.‘
Three years ago, when Lex dumped me in the countryside, I had noth
That first year wrecked me. Depression hit hard, and I even tried to end it.
No one.
The last time I landed in the hospital, the girl in the bed next to mine loved filming videos. She said she wanted to capture all the beauty in the world so she wouldn’t feel like her time here was wasted.
Something about that stuck. I picked up a camera and started filming too–anything, really. Little fragments of beauty I hadn’t noticed before.
Through that lens, I stumbled across intangible cultural heritage—traditions fighting to survive, to mean something, to not disappear.
Just like me.
Maybe that’s what I was doing too: searching for my own reason to keep going.
At first, I filmed to help people remember. Because being forgotten? That’s the same as disappearing. But then, my videos started gaining attention. People noticed. Somehow, I became a modestly successful content creator.
A year later, I met Joshua.
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Chapter 8
He’d been sick and came back to the countryside to recover. I was still living in the Hamiltons‘ old house, filming bits of my daily life.
One snowy day, while I was recording the storm, he wandered right into my frame.
He saw the camera but didn’t duck out. Instead, he smiled.
“You’re that YouTuber, Evening Breeze, right? I’m Joshua. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a while.”
After that, he started traveling with me. We explored every corner of the country, learning about those old traditions.
During one project, we were filming the intricate process of making a phoenix coronet when he proposed.
Thinking back, I smiled faintly.
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