Chapter 25%
It wasn’t until the lights upstairs went completely dark that Lucien impatiently shoved his hands into the pockets of his trench coat, his expression filled with disgust.
“Thayer, what are you–a dog? Always circling around someone else’s girlfriend like you can’t let go?“>
“Oh wait, correction–she’s about to become my fiancée.”
The cold and distinguished man stared at the figure stepping out from the shadows. Even after a year in prison, Thayer’s defiant and arrogant aura remained completely intact. The madness and danger that once clung to him seemed to have faded–but Lucien didn’t relax for even a second.
In Junaria, it was always said. Alcott in the south, Merrick in the north. And though the Alcott Family had fallen from grace, a starved camel was still bigger than a horse.}
He had placed layer upon layer of protection around me, yet somehow, Thayer still broke through every one of them–and appeared here.} “You two once saved my life. I bear you no ill will- I just want to see Althea one last time before I leave for good.”
Thayer didn’t look at the man beside him. His gaze remained fixed on the window above.§
The way he spoke my name was unbearably gentle–stripped of madness and hatred. In that moment, he seemed like the warm, sunny boy next door, the kind whose smile could easily capture anyone’s heart.§
Lucien seemed to understand, for a brief second, why she once fell for him. But so what?
He was nothing more than a beaten dog now.
The two men–equal in looks and presence–stood silently beneath the window. Their appearance quickly drew the attention of passing girls, who peeked and whispered from a distance.
Through the glass, Thayer thought he caught a glimpse of the woman’s silhouette. It made his thoughts drift back to the day we first met.! Back then, he’d been standing upstairs and the moment he saw the baby girl my mom had brought home, he cried and insisted on hugging her, demanding to keep her in his room–just for himself.
The adults around him teased gently, saying, “You can’t do that.“>
“If you like her, then when you grow up, you’ll have to marry her properly.“>
He tilted his head up and asked earnestly, “If I do that, does it mean only I can look at her?”
Someone beside him chuckled and tapped his forehead. “A wife is someone to be respected. It’s only mistresses–those you keep in the dark–that get hidden away.”
Back then, he cradled me, the chubby, doll–like baby girl in his arms and made the very first vow of his life. He would grow up quickly and steal me away to be his secret lover.”
He didn’t want a wife. He just wanted me, as his one and only lover.
But in the end, he had thirty–nine lovers. Not a single one was me.”
But that wife who was supposed to be respected- was never me, either.”
In five years of marriage, he had never once given me respect.
“I’m sorry, I was wrong. Althea… in this lifetime, please don’t forgive me.”>
The man in black turned and walked away, his deep–set eyes glimmering faintly with tears. As he left, a strange and chaotic firework show bloomed over Junaria’s skies.}
Countless sequences of 0101 lit up above–confusing to everyone who saw them. Only 1, hiding behind the curtain, understood.”
That was the core code of the first technology I ever developed, back in middle school.
My vision blurred. It felt as if I had returned to that distant afternoon.}
The sunlight was as bright as fireworks and Thayer was teasing me with a smile.§
“Althea, my dear, you’ll be my wife in the future. So–what do you want for your wedding gift?”
I glared at the person in front of me, full of resentment, forbidding him from calling me by such an improper nickname. Propping up my chin, I casually made a request.
“Hmm, I don’t really want anything… I just hope that more people will get to see the technology I create someday.“}]
That simple wish angered Thayer so much that he didn’t eat for a whole day, grumbling non–stop that I didn’t care about him. And yet, he still mysteriously told me he had prepared a surprise.”
Later, I learned the truth from Harvant. The first was the fireworks–five years too late. The second was the title of Chief Researcher of the Alcott Family–a title that felt more like an insult than an honor.!
As my eyes drifted back to the fireworks in the sky, I whispered a silent farewell to the man walking away.
“Goodbye, forever.“}
Thayer, in the rest of this life–please, let’s never meet again.
(The End)
