3
Bella had been Ryan’s partner since their special forces days.
Everyone in the SAR team knew that they were once the most outstanding sniper and spotter.
On the battlefield, a spotter and a sniper need to be in perfect sync to complete their missions.
So after retiring from the military, Ryan and Bella joined the SAR team together, working in perfect harmony as if they were one person.
I once secretly looked through Ryan’s old photo album.
In the photos, Bella wore a uniform, her eyes bright and spirited, exuding a charm that ordinary people like me could never achieve.
And Ryan stood beside her, looking down at her with such gentle eyes.
Later, people in the team told me that Ryan had pursued Bella for five whole years.
From boot camp to special forces, from training grounds to battlefields, everyone thought they would end up together.
But in the end, Bella still rejected him.
“We’re not suitable for each other. You deserve better, she said.
She said this just before a mission, and Ryan still loaded her bullets for her.
They remained the best partners, as if nothing had happened.
But in the dead of night, Ryan would practice shooting alone on the training ground until his fingers bled.
Later, Bella voluntarily applied for a transfer to a remote SAR branch.
On the day she left, Ryan stood outside the airport, watching her silhouette disappear into the security check.
His fingers unconsciously fiddled with the ring he had never given her.
The team said that was the most lost and dejected they had ever seen Ryan.
1 met Ryan six months after Bella left.
At that time, he was like a dead pond, even his smile was cold.
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But I didn’t care. Young and impetuous, I thought time would wash away all the past.
“He’s never had eyes for anyone else. You think he’s being gentle? That’s just his professional habit. Not just you, even those Instagram models who send him flowers, beautiful women, he smiles and accepts them, then throws them away as soon as they leave.”
That’s what an old team member once told me.
They couldn’t stand seeing me running to the SAR team time and time again, kindly warning me not to embarrass myself.
But I didn’t believe them.
I told myself that the past was in the past. Even if I was just continuing someone else’s story, I accepted it.
Even the on–duty nurse at the SAR team couldn’t bear to watch anymore: “Lily, why don’t you understand? Ryan goes to the border to see Bella every year without fail. They may be separated by mountains and rivers, but their feelings are deeper than every day you spend by his side.”
I really didn’t understand.
I didn’t understand why Ryan would accept my pursuit, why he would marry me.
Thinking back now, perhaps from the day I used my second life to save his teammate, he had already been planning something.
The rescue that changed everything happened in my second year of knowing Ryan.
Heavy rain caused a landslide, burying an entire village.
Ryan led the team at the forefront, with his lifelong friend Leo Sanders covering the rear.
No one noticed the massive boulder teetering overhead.
“Ryan!” Leo’s voice cut through the curtain of rain.
The moment Leo pushed Ryan away, the boulder came crashing down.
“No!”
Ryan rushed towards the rubble like a madman, held back by three team members.
Back at the SAR team compound, he knelt in the rain, his whole body shaking like a wounded animal.
It was the first time I had seen him lose control.
Ryan, who was always calm and composed, could actually be driven to such despair.
Leo was Ryan’s brother in all but blood. They had grown up together, joined the military together, entered the special forces together, and later retired to join the SAR team together. Their relationship was closer than real brothers,
When Leo was rescued, his heart had already stopped beating.
The doctor said that even if they could save him, he would need a heart transplant, and the treatment would cost at least five million dollars.
“Please, you must save him, Ryan gripped the doctor’s hands, his voice hoarse. “I’ll find a way to pay, no matter how much it costs.
But he had only recently retired from the military, and his salary was mostly going towards his mortgage.
His teammates pitched in, a thousand here, ten thousand there, but they only managed to gather half a million.
I watched him pacing back and forth in the hospital corridor, his eyes bloodshot as if he hadn’t slept for days.
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