Chapter 7
Love breeds resentment.
But all that rose in my heart was panic, fear of being dragged back into the past. I hailed a cab and fled, almost recklessly.
Lance Mitchell kept calling me, so I simply turned off my phone.
Actually, even when we were still in the divorce cooling–off period, I had received a friend request from Brooke Taylor.
I refused, but she persisted in adding me.
After I accepted, she sent me a voice message.
She said: “If you’ve let go, please don’t look back. Can you leave him alone?”
She was never just a one–sided ideal love; she loved Lance Mitchell too.
It’s just that she, coming from an ordinary background, couldn’t resist the
temptation.
My dad offered to send her abroad for school, which seemed like an irresistible path to a bright future in her eyes.
So she didn’t say anything.
But she couldn’t forget Lance Mitchell waiting outside her house on the eve of her
departure.
“I’ve met many people since then, but none of them were him.”
She said: “Samantha, you can’t break us up twice, can you?”
“His father saved your life.”
Everyone reminded me of this, and now even she was reminding me.
I calmly promised her that I would have done so even if she hadn’t asked.
“I will never have any connection with him in this lifetime. I wish you both
happiness.”
Those words came from the bottom of my heart, yet now he says he likes me? But I no longer need his love!
Mitchell’s mother called me late at night.
It felt like half a century had passed; we were both a bit awkward.
She said: “Mitch went to find you. Did you meet?”
07
I made a sound of agreement, and she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “I couldn’t stop him. Since you left, he’s been like a different person.”
She said Lance Mitchell kept going to my parents‘ house to ask about my whereabouts.
Even when he was turned away, he didn’t get angry. Instead, he would casually bring me up when having dinner with her.
“Will Samantha answer your call?”
Mrs. Mitchell said Lance Mitchell often asked her that, using her phone to call me. When he discovered I had blocked her number too, he sat in the living room all
night.
“Samantha, come back. Mitch said he didn’t cheat.”
I didn’t respond and hung up the phone.
Once, what stood between Lance Mitchell and me was hatred and rebellion. Now, the gulf between us is unbridgeable because I no longer love him.
He can no longer bind me.
Brooke Taylor came after him two days later, looking at me with a sad face.
“You promised me, Samantha.”
Lance Mitchell arrived hastily upon hearing the news, his face cold as he grabbed.
her arm to lead her out.
Her eyes were rimmed with red, desperately clinging to the doorknob, refusing to
let go.
“You said you loved me, Lance Mitchell. How could you change?”
Her tears fell in large drops, her finger trembling as she pointed at me.
“She’s the reason your father died! It’s because of her that you couldn’t become a police officer!
“You said you married her because you were disheartened. Now that you’re divorced, why are you still looking for her?!”
Lance Mitchell’s face darkened under her relentless accusations.
- however, grew increasingly calm. I’d heard these words countless times before.
2/3
07
At first, they would make my heart ache, keeping me awake all night.
But now, they didn’t stir even the slightest ripple in me. I turned and walked
towards the counter.
From a distance, Lance Mitchell turned his head to look at me.
“Brooke, of all the things I’ve said, are these the only ones you remember?”
The color drained from Brooke Taylor’s face in an instant.
Lance Mitchell continued:
“Don’t you remember I said I don’t think I hate her?
“I told you I couldn’t sleep for nights after she left, don’t you remember that
either?
“I also said I realized I actually love her, but I just used the wrong approach.” He looked at Brooke Taylor: “How come you don’t remember any of this?”
I didn’t want to hear any more. I got up to change in the back.
After asking the store manager for leave, I headed to the beach.
The wind blowing through the car window seemed to blow his words away too.
I made a call to Mrs. Mitchell.
“Aunt, please take Lance Mitchell back. I don’t want to see him.”
She was silent for a long time, crying a bit suppressed.
I paused, then said: “I don’t owe him anything anymore, Aunt.”
