Synopsis：On my birthday, I arrived right on time at the upscale Blood Banquet Lounge Daniel Cook had reserved, genuinely looking forward to the night. By the seventh time a blood servant waiter came by with a polite smile to ask if I was ready to order, my phone finally lit up with a message from Daniel: “Something urgent came up with the Elders’ Council. Go ahead and get yourself a glass of Blood Plasma. Don’t wait for me.” A moment later, I scrolled straight into a fresh Instagram post from his first love—Camila Bennett, a Pureblood Elite. In the photo, Daniel was seated at a table, casually flipping through the menu, handing a fine silk blood napkin to someone just out of frame, his attention clearly elsewhere. The caption said: “I’ve been asleep in the Old World for so long. Someone was worried I’d come back to New York and starve because I can’t read the menu, so he’s treating me to a proper feast.” Just like that, the entire evening went tasteless. I passed the menu—written entirely in archaic Latin I couldn’t even begin to read—back to the blood servant and said, “I’ll take one of everything from your signature Blood Reserve selection.” By the time I finished feeding and had the rest packed to bring back to my Underground Manor in Manhattan, my phone was flooded with missed calls, all from Daniel. The last one was a voice message: “Hey, don’t overthink it. Camila just woke up and she’s not familiar with New York yet. I was only helping her pick a proper coffin for Torpor. Next time, I promise I’ll make it up to you with an even better birthday dinner.” I never replied. When a relationship survives only on promises of “next time”… is it really worth waiting for—especially for someone like me, a vampire with endless time ahead?