Chapter 5
There was a hint of crying in her voice,
“Chase, where have you been?”
The beep sounded that the plane was about to take off.
I didn’t answer, turned off the phone, leaned on the seat and fell asleep.
Maybe it was because there were too many things happening during this period and it was too tiring.
I had been suffering from insomnia for a long time, but I actually slept well on the plane.
But in the dream, I could still see Audrey’s face.
When I was seven years old, we played
house together.
She said she was the bride and I was the most handsome groom.
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When we were eighteen, we established a relationship.
She said she would make a lot of money, give me the grandest wedding and build the happiest family.
When did our feelings begin to change?
Was it after Harold appeared, or earlier?
I couldn’t remember.
Audrey almost filled my entire first half of
life.
No matter how I kept calm, putting her down was a gnawing pain for me.
After getting off the plane, I didn’t even have the courage to turn on my phone.
“Chase!”
Dad waved to me among a group of blond
foreigners.
I had not seen him for decades.
He was no longer the man in my memory,
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crying on the sofa waiting for my mother to come home.
He was old, but more dazzling than when
he was young.
“You’ve grown so big.”
Dad kept touching my face and saying sorry over and over again.
I threw myself into his arms.
“Dad, I don’t blame you. You told me that men must have their own dignity. Instead of waiting to be loved, it is better to love yourself first.”
Dad twenty years ago and me twenty years later.
They all made the same choice.
“Chase, Audrey called me.
Dad wiped the tears from my face, but his own tears fell first.
“Dad, I still say the same thing, no matter what choice you make, I will support
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you.”
My phone was densely packed with calls and text messages from Audrey.
Before I had time to finish reading, a new phone call came.
“Chase…”
Audrey’s voice trembled with relief.
I had never seen her look so nervous.
I couldn’t understand why Harold still cared so much about me as a substitute now that she was back to him.
“Chase, have you read my diary? That’s not true. There is nothing between Harold and I. I just treat him as a younger brother. You must be very sad. I saw the tears you left in your diary. I admit that I have been too neglectful of you during this period, but I never wanted to hurt you.”
I was in a daze.
“Audrey, I know you married me because
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of pressure from your elders. So I chose to leave to make things possible for you and Harold. What else are you unhappy about? Why are you crying?”
In Audrey’s diary, Harold was a gleam of light in her downtrodden years.
It was the most colorful moment in her life.
I completely forgot about that time.
How much effort had I made to get her to make a comeback.
While she and Harold were enjoying the best time in their lives.
It was me who used all my savings to fill her shortfall.
It was me who went door to door to find
partners and knelt down and kowtowed to
them.
It was me who drank and socialized day and night until I had stomach bleeding…
She didn’t remember anything.
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She only remembered that Harold gave her an amazing and haunting experience.
She tattooed Harold on her chest and lied to me that she wanted to remember those miserable years to encourage herself.
In fact, the only thing she wanted to remember was the passionate Harold.
Now, she got her wish and found the only love in her life.
Why did she start to miss me again?
your
“Chase, you ran away from marriage to get back at me, right? You have me in heart, you love me so much. You complained about my neglect of you during this period, so you did this on purpose.”
She continued, “It doesn’t matter, I will forgive you. Chase, no matter what you do, I will forgive you.”
I was dumbfounded and for a moment I didn’t know what to say in reply.
When I was young and ignorant, I also had
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a temper.
I cried, made trouble and ran away from home.
But no matter what I did, Audrey would just watch with cold eyes.
She wouldn’t coax me or scold me.
He just looked at me as if nothing was wrong and looked at me sadly, waiting for me to take the initiative to bow my head and admit my mistake.
I thought that was her character.
Unexpectedly, she knew everything.
She grew up with me and knew me inside and out.
I was convinced that I loved her and couldn’t live without her. With my love, she was confident.
She didn’t expect that I would suddenly leave so decisively.
All of this was beyond her control.
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She was scared.
Afraid of losing me forever.
After thinking about all this, the last bit of nostalgia I had for Audrey disappeared in an instant.
“Audrey, I am very grateful to you for the tenderness you gave me during the saddest time in my life.”
I continued, “For this, I am willing to forgive you for all the harm you have done to me. Escape from marriage is not my revenge, it is my choice. From now on, I have no love or hatred for you. I hope that we can be well and never see each other again.”
After saying all this, I added Audrey‘ s number to the blacklist.
I raised my head and smiled at my father, but for some reason, the tears just kept falling.
I couldn’t tell whether I was happy or sad.
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Dad patted me on the shoulder.
“It’s all over. Dad will take care of you
and let us welcome a new life together.”
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