Chapter 14
The torrential rain poured down like a waterfall, exploding into thousands of silver threads on the French windows. The glass trembled with a buzzing sound, resonating with the thunder.
Marcus knelt in the midst of the mess, with pieces of his suit and shards of glass mixed with drops of blood falling down.
The lingering scent of orange blossoms on the dressing table enveloped his nostrils, reminiscent of the morning dew that clung to Alicia’s hair tips during their first kiss at eighteen, stirring up waves of pain in his heart.
In this huge villa, there was no trace of Alicia to be found.
Only the empty jewelry box under the dressing table held a pale blue letter, like a frozen sea.
His hands trembling, he opened the letter and saw her beautiful handwriting.
“Marcus, I spent three years atoning for Callie; for the rest of my life, I will live for myself.”
The letter paper was crumpled, and the pale blue letter rustled between the fingers, sounding like butterfly wings eroded by the sea breeze.
He thought of the day when she lay in a pool of blood, her dilated pupils reflecting the backs of him and Mandy leaving.
“Ally…”
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In a panic, a silver ring fell out of the pale blue letter as he got up. With a ding, it felt as if a thousand pounds had crashed down on his heart.
He gently picked up the silver ring, his breath stopping for a moment as he focused.
The moment the lightning split the curtain of rain, the scars on the inside of the ring were seared into his retina.
It was the wedding ring that he had thrown away years ago. Inside the ring, deeply engraved, are the words “A&M forever“.
Outside the window, thunder cracked through the rain curtain, illuminating his pale face devoid of its former color.
The jarring sound of a cell phone ringing suddenly filled the air.
Just then, the detective’s low voice came through the screen.
“Mr. Daston, the results of the investigation you commissioned have been sent to your phone.”
Marcus opened the document on the screen. “After investigation, it was found that the medical records of the bone marrow tumor were fake. The surveillance video from the flower room is attached below.”
He clicked on the video, and inside was Alicia sitting alone by the flower bed with a lonely figure.
“Callie… I miss you so much… Are you doing well up in heaven….. I came here today to tell you that I have finally figured it out and decided to let go…”
In
Alicia’s sorrowful whispers came, each word hitting his heart, causing it to ache unbearably.
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He watched as Alicia beat the burning embers with her bare hands, the flames licking at the faded cotton of her skirt.
Mandy’s diamond–studded high heels crushed the scattered flower petals on the ground, the crimson nail polish gleaming like snake venom in the firelight.
“Callie, I let go.”
In the video, Alicia’s sobbing mixed with the crackling sound of an explosion, startling the crows perched outside the window.
Marcus’s eyes gradually took on a fierce look.
The phone in the pocket suddenly vibrated, and at the moment when the pregnancy test report sent by Mandy lit up on the screen, it reflected the slanted dressing mirror in the room.
“I was pregnant with your child, and we are getting married tomorrow.”
Marcus sneered as he dialed the phone, “Do you need me to send you last year’s sterilization report? And, do the forged bone marrow tumor medical records and deliberately set fire surveillance videos enough to send you to jail for a few days?”
He chuckled lightly into the phone, his tone carrying a chilling coldness that made one shiver.
Afterwards, he pressed the power button and submerged the phone into the chilled champagne bucket.
Marcus looked up at his withered reflection in the mirror, his eyes frozen with sinister bloodshot veins.
Over the past three years, his delusional hatred has blinded him, turning himself into a sharp blade of revenge.
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But little did he know that the blade had long been corroded in the flesh and blood.
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He remembered that late autumn evening again, with the sycamore leaves falling outside the French window, fluttering down like golden autumn butterflies dancing in the sky.
Callie introduced her best friend to him with a smile, the warm light in the coffee shop casting a soft yellow glow around her. When he first called her name, her long eyelashes quivered, and a hint of a smile played on her lips.
Marcus despairingly lifted his head, the glaring incandescent light on the ceiling making him dizzy.
The self–righteous hatred that had been building up for three years suddenly collapsed into a black hole, twisting the insides into a bloody
mess.
Originally, the most chilling snowstorm did not come from the cold winter, but from the suspicion and paranoia that howled out of one’s own chest.
“Ally… the roar hit the walls and bounced back into the chest, shaking the throat with a metallic sweetness.”
Marcus pressed the silver ring against his chest, the ring already warmed by his body temperature.
Over the past three years, Marcus has burned all the evidence of their past love, but now his heart is pierced by the memory’s flames.
Marcus looked at the scab forming in the palm of his hand and
suddenly remembered Alicia always saying that wounds itch the most when they scab over.
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There used to be some pain, and one had to tear open the flesh to see the bones to truly feel the heartache.
Originally, he never stopped loving her, he just used the name of hatred to repeatedly confirm the lingering warmth of love in the self- destructive fire.
