Chapter 1

Katie's POV

"Terry, you're absolutely amazing."

I stood outside the tennis court on my tiptoes, craning my neck to catch a glimpse of Terry. Just moments ago, he'd won the men's singles championship at the school's open tennis tournament, and not long before that, he and George had claimed the doubles title.

Oh, damn George was hugging Terry so tightly, completely blocking my view, preventing me from seeing Terry's triumphant expression at all.

I suppressed the urge to rush toward Terry, taking a deep breath. I couldn't be impulsive. Our relationship hadn't been made public yet. Right now, I was just the tennis team's data analyst. I couldn't... God, why was Terry so handsome, captivating me every single moment?

I settled back into my seat, organizing the match footage, editing Terry's highlight moments into short clips and uploading them to the fan account I'd created for him. Within minutes, the inbox flooded with messages, all praising Terry.

I noticed someone asking why, among all the excellent youth athletes at our school, I was so devoted to Terry.

Now that was a pleasant memory to recall. I loved tennis, but my talent was truly limited. My family had invested time and money cultivating this hobby of mine, but my skill level was at most that of a school team substitute. Thinking about it made me a bit angry—my teammates didn't even acknowledge my substitute-level abilities. On the court, I was constantly subjected to verbal ridicule. They mocked me, saying I should just be a good spectator and not meddle in the sport.

That's when Terry descended like a guardian angel. He took my racket from me. "Who cares if you play well or not? What matters most is that you enjoy it." He played in my place against my opponent, hitting baseline shots and quickly moving to the net for a kill shot, swiftly winning a point. Then came a series of consecutive aces, smoothly winning the set. He mimicked the words that person had used to belittle me, asking if he too should just be a spectator. After Terry left the court, I had no heart left for playing. My heart had already departed with his figure.

Even now I remember that day's scene. Yes, the impression was especially profound—I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. I once told Terry that he had been bathed in golden light that day, like a deity descending to earth, arriving suddenly and departing just as quickly.

Perhaps God heard my prayers, because I actually encountered Terry at school. He transferred to our school, smoothly joined the tennis team, and naturally became the team's star player.

I was genuinely happy for Terry. He was so talented, and so many people could witness his excellence. But honestly, some people were just too shameless—hiding in Terry's locker room, blocking his path to school and forcing kisses on him. This was terrible. These people would definitely affect Terry's path to becoming a great player.

I began helping Terry fend off these crazy girls, allowing him to focus on his studies and his tennis. Terry quickly noticed my presence and asked if I'd be willing to become his girlfriend.

Had I heard wrong? Was he sure it was me? Katie, an ordinary, unremarkable high school sophomore? I covered my mouth, unable to respond for a long time. He thought I was unwilling and said it was fine if I wasn't, we could just be regular friends. I quickly grabbed Terry's hand—of course I was willing, I'd be willing even in my dreams. I didn't dare hide in Terry's locker, didn't dare block his path. If I'd had that kind of courage, I would have done it long ago.

The only regret was that we had to keep our relationship secret. This wasn't Terry's fault—at that time, he was a rising tennis star in our high school and even in our community, with the strength to impact the top 50 in the US Open junior division. A small accident occurred, and Terry didn't make it into the junior tournament. He couldn't enter college through athletic recruitment and had to apply to universities like me.

Thinking about it now, we were truly destined lovers. I helped him catch up on coursework he'd fallen behind on, and we applied to Claremont Hills College together. He joined the school tennis team, and I applied for an internship position as a tennis data analyst in the school's athletics department.

Now that confident Terry had returned, and I was so happy.

Today the tennis team held a brief victory celebration for Terry in the team's conference room. I'd personally decorated the conference room, and Terry's giant poster was one I'd carefully selected from thousands. It was a photo I'd taken during his first PTT tour match that I'd accompanied him to. He would definitely love that arrangement.

I followed the team members to the celebration. Terry had already changed out of his tennis clothes into a suit, the Windsor knot sitting precisely at his shirt collar, making his jawline appear even sharper and more defined. At this moment he stood at the front, soft lighting falling on him like a groom who'd been waiting long for his bride.

He must be waiting for me! I couldn't keep him waiting. I gathered up his tennis bag—after the celebration ended, I'd need to remember to help Terry restring this racket, and the string bed needed a good cleaning too.

I had just reached the conference room doorway when lively music played inside—the party had already begun—but George blocked my path.

"George, what is it? Terry's still waiting for me!" My gaze shifted from Terry at the center of the celebration to George's face. He'd better have a legitimate reason for stopping me.

"Have some awareness, will you? This kind of grand occasion isn't for a lowly intern like you to crash." George's eyes held disgust, as if looking at garbage. "Do you know how annoying and troublesome it is when you cling to people like this?"

What? Had I heard wrong, or had George gone crazy? I looked at George in disbelief, momentarily at a loss for words.

Everyone didn't know about my relationship with Terry. Perhaps I paid more attention to Terry than to the others in daily life, but this was entirely reasonable because Terry was the team's absolute star player. If that accident hadn't occurred back then, he would absolutely be on Stanford's tennis team right now, heading into D1-level competitions next, winning championships, competing for main draw wild card qualification, pursuing a professional path much earlier.

"Move aside! You're being extremely rude." Terry was still waiting for me. I decided not to dwell on George's rudeness. I pushed past George, but he still gripped my arm tightly, not letting me move forward.

"If it weren't for Lily's encouragement, Terry wouldn't have won the championship."

"What?" My voice came out somewhat shrill. George must have been consumed by jealousy. He must be jealous that Terry received the team's best resources.

The Lily he mentioned was the school board chairman's daughter, and she was also the tennis team's largest individual sponsor. I believed she, like me, saw Terry's potential—this was perfectly normal. Anyone who understood tennis and had watched the school team's matches would certainly support Terry with everything they had.

George suddenly whistled toward Terry. I followed his gaze and saw Terry opening his arms, smiling as he embraced Lily.

That smile was all too familiar to me. Whenever Terry won a match, he would smile at me just like that, his blue pupils sparkling like they were filled with gems.

Only now...

A flame seemed to ignite in my heart, a flame of anger. What did Terry mean by this? Why was he being so intimate with Lily? My mind was in chaos, and my chest felt like it was being crushed by a large stone, making it hard to breathe.

George shook his head triumphantly. "Look at that, such a perfect match made in heaven. Don't you think so, Katie?"

I'd never found George so irritating, his noise so vexing. Terry was a tennis player, Lily was a sponsor—their intimacy must be for social purposes, it had to be that way, it must be!

I glared at George. This nonsense-spouting guy must have misunderstood Lily and Terry's relationship. It was surely his fantasy. After all, he was also a team member and certainly hoped the team would maintain long-term sponsorship. And Lily was their cash cow.

While George and I were arguing, Lily walked step by step from the center of the celebration toward me, and then all eyes fell on us.

My palms suddenly became sweaty, my fingers clutching Terry's tennis bag tightly.

I had to admit Lily was very beautiful. Her long golden hair was soft and smooth, clearly regularly maintained. I often stayed up late working on data, accompanying Terry to various competitions, and had cut my hair short long ago because long hair was too much trouble. Lily walked right up to me. Was she five centimeters taller than me? No, at most three centimeters taller.

I straightened my back and stood up straight. Lily's perfume had already reached my nose—undeniably, it smelled really good.

"Hi, Katie." She was speaking to me, her voice also pleasant. "Terry's waiting for you to join the celebration."

I exhaled quietly in relief. Just as I thought—Terry had been waiting for me all along. He and Lily were just in an ordinary relationship.

Lily winked at me. "Terry says he has a surprise for you."

A surprise? Oh my God! Was it the surprise I was thinking of?

When I was seventeen, just after meeting Terry, he'd rushed through the night after a competition to attend my birthday party. That runner-up medal was his surprise for me. He said he'd give me championship medals in the future.

When I was eighteen, Terry and I were already secretly dating. That time he was attending training camp and we hadn't seen each other for a long time. On Christmas, I received his surprise gift—a Federer-signed tennis ball that must have changed hands several times.

When I was nineteen, we applied to this college together. We went to chase the aurora together. Standing under the starlit sky, he was confident about breaking into professional main draws. He said he'd take me to the summit with him, like Medvedev did when he gave his wife a Grand Slam as their third wedding anniversary gift.

What kind of surprise would Terry give me tonight? Would he announce our relationship? That would be perfect—it would shut up petty people like George.