Chapter 23
Tears welled up in Eric’s eyes, he choked “Wanda, I finally found you.”
up,
The familiar voice behind her, made Wanda turn around in disbelief. When she saw Eric standing in the dark, her eyes widened in shock. “What are you doing here?”
She knew the fact that she was still alive could
not be hidden forever. However, she would never guess Eric would be able to uncover the truth in less than a year. He even found her.
As Eric looked at Wanda, there were stormy emotions in his eyes. Hundreds of sleepless nights, a mountain of longing and regret. All of his regrets condensed into a single
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Chapter 23
Tears welled up in Eric’s eyes, he choked up, “Wanda, I finally found you.”
The familiar voice behind her, made Wanda turn around in disbelief. When she saw Eric
standing in the dark, her eyes widened in shock. “What are you doing here?”
She knew the fact that she was still alive could not be hidden forever. However, she would never guess Eric would be able to uncover the truth in less than a year. He even found her.
As Eric looked at Wanda, there were stormy emotions in his eyes. Hundreds of sleepless nights, a mountain of longing and regret. All of his regrets condensed into a single
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Chapter 23
sentence, “Are you okay… this past year?”
Out of all the reactions Wanda had envisioned
Eric would do, like anger, accusation and demand, she had never imagined he would ask if she was doing well.
She tightened her grip on Richard‘ s arm and instinctively stepped back. Wanda politely answered, “I’m fine. If there’s nothing else,
I’ll head inside.‘
The sound of the door closing showed Wanda’s world and Eric’s world separated again. Yet, this time, Eric did not feel any despair.
He had come in a hurry that I had not prepared to have a heartfelt conversation about the past.
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It did not matter, as long as Wanda was here,
he still had time to make things right. As for the man beside her, he did not want to think
too much about it.
No matter what she did, it wasn’t
unjustified.
Wanda could not fathom why she had dragged Richard into her apartment. They were not that close but the moment she saw
Eric out there, her mind went blank. She even did not know how and when she sat on the
sofa.
When she had regained her clarity, Richard who was supposed to be her guest, served her a cup of hot tea. He said, “Warm your hands.”
He knew that man outside was Ben Gordon,
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Wanda’s ex–husband. He also knew the reason
she faked her death was because she had to
escape that toxic father and son.
From the moment he met her, Richard had secretly told people to investigate the twenty years they had been apart. If she had been really happy, he would always be a regular customer at her milk tea shop.
Yet, the report revealed a different story. Eric had been cheating on her in the second year of their marriage. He even allowed his
mistress to repeatedly humiliate and provoke
Wanda.
Richard’s heart ached when he remembered
the pain and heartache she felt, yet he did no
dare to admit that he knew.
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It was fortunate, he dared to take a leap of faith to meet her again. However, he did not dare to tell Wanda just yet that he knew about the past. He was willing to wait for her to speak when she was ready.
*x*x
After hesitating for a while, Wanda decided to be honest with Richard about her past. ” He.. is my ex–husband.”
Once she spoke the first sentence, the rest flowed more easily than she had anticipated.
He sat quietly as Wanda recounted the years after her parent’s deaths and each hardship
she had faced.
However, he was not as calm as he appeared
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“After that, I settled in France and then I
met you.” After she said that, Wanda smiled helplessly.
Then she added, “We‘ re just friends for now, so if you mind that I’ve been married or have a child, we can stay that way.”
Richard couldn’t reconcile the timid, self- effacing woman before him with the warm, optimistic girl he had once known.
Yet apart from being puzzled, he was more heartbroken about her. Without any hesitation, he pulled Wanda into his arms.
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Chapter 24
