Irene could not resist the faint smile that graced her lips as Ilyan's words from the new year's night reverberated in her ears.
His every word of assurance to eliminate the self-doubts that Sydney's attack on her past had evoked, his every gentle attempt to calm her frighteningly suffering heart, and his every sweet gesture to make sure that she felt better - still warmed her heart just as much as it had that night.
The night was unforgettable to her. The memories of that night could never be wiped off her mind. Neither the bitter ones that Sydney had created nor the sweet ones that Ilyan had created.
She had never thought that she would see him again. She had never thought that she would get to know him. Had she known, she would have never let him know the things that she had, that night.