Chapter 8
For a full nineteen years, Nathaniel and I were childhood sweethearts, inseparable since we were little.”
I always thought the bond between us was like that of an older brother and younger sister.”
Until the night of the graduation party, when he blushed and confessed to me, I ran away.”
That same night, I met Damien.
He drove a supercar and gave me a ride home when I was caught in the rain by the roadside.}
From that day on, I began to look into Damien’s news whether intentionally or not.”
It wasn’t until I found out he already had a girlfriend that I forced myself to stop thinking about him.”
Later, when I heard that the Cole Family had gone bankrupt, I couldn’t help but worry and went to the Cole Family home. But there, I ran into Vanessa, who was boldly announcing the breakup of the engagement right at the door.
Seeing Damien humiliated, I lost my mind and rushed out without a second thought.”
After that day, even Nathaniel’s enthusiasm for me faded away.”
On the eve of my wedding with Damien, he slipped a somewhat modest pendant into my hand.
“Elena, remember this. I want you to be happy more than anyone else. But if you’re ever unhappy, anytime you tell me, I will take you away.“!
The next day, he didn’t attend my wedding.
His parents told me that he had gone abroad to study.
Since then, neither of us took the initiative to reach out again as if we had been scattered by the wind.“]
But in the end, true care was something people just couldn’t drift apart from.
“Here’s your noodles,”
Nathaniel interrupted my memories, holding a steaming bowl of soup. Green onions floated gently in the golden egg drop broth.
I praised his cooking in my clumsy sign language and he grabbed my hand, looking at me with utmost sincerity.
“Elena, you don’t have to be so polite with me. Remember, from now on, I’m your family.”}]
Together, we went to choose a cemetery plot.”
Nathaniel was bold. He bought five graves all in a row at once.
I asked him why he needed so many.”
He proudly pointed to the plots and explained, “See, your mom will live next to your dad, your sister will be in the middle and these two spots are reserved for the two of us.”
“A family should stay together. It’s livelier that way.“}
I teased him for talking nonsense, but inside, I couldn’t help feeling a warm glow.
“You’re planning to marry into our Hart Family? Aren’t you afraid that your dad will beat you up?“}
He tilted his head, wearing a carefree, devil–may–care expression. “What’s there to be afraid of? Sooner or later, they’ll understand that grown children shouldn’t be held back.””
After settling things for my parents and sister, Nathaniel completely settled into my rented apartment.”
He insisted on taking me to psychological counseling every day, dragged me to exercise and was gentle and caring towards me.”
But secretly, I went to see Damien behind his back.”
I didn’t take the initiative, but when the prison called to say Damien was on a hunger strike and wanted to see me, I didn’t refuse.}
Damien had lost weight and his beard wasn’t as neatly shaved as before.}
When he saw me, his misty eyes suddenly lit up with a spark as if I were his only hope.”
From that first time on, he wanted to see me almost every month.”
If I didn’t come, he would start a hunger strike.”
What Damien said to me was nothing more than ordinary, everyday greetings. “How have you been recently? Are you eating well? Sleeping well? Do you miss me?“}
He missed me terribly, sometimes dreaming of me and also dreaming of Lily and our parents.”
When our conversations ended, he would always press against the thick glass and shout hoarsely, begging me to wait for him.
Not once did I respond.”
This went on for three years.
–
One day, after Nathaniel and I finished visiting the graves and were heading down the mountain, he stood by the car waiting for me. A truck carrying steel coils passed by and it seemed the coils weren’t properly secured Just as the truck was about to pass by Nathaniel, one of the steel coils fell off.
they were wobbling dangerously.
