Chapter 409
Tilly’s long, dark eyelashes fluttered, dampened by tears until they glistened wetly.
Her voice came out soft and hesitant. “Are you going in?”
Elara shook her head. “Let Merida handle her own things. Besides, Shirley’s helping her.”
They then walked out of the dressing room area together.
Tilly paused mid–step as she watched Elara’s retreating figure, then summoned her courage to say, “I truly do envy you.”
Elara turned to face her.
Tilly’s gentle eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “You were always a genius–just a diamond buried in the rough. Even after leaving the Fishers, you’ve thrived!
“Without the Mrs. Fisher title, you’re still Joss Tech’s VP, and Mr. Snapp’s girlfriend… But most women have nothing when they leave their husbands‘ families!”
When speaking of Elara’s achievements, a faint smile touched Tilly’s lips. Her gaze remained tender, as if acknowledging that Elara’s future represented heights she herself could never reach.
Elara and Tilly weren’t close friends. Two people with similar pasts and parallel regrets only reminded each other of painful histories when they met.
They treated each other with careful distance, afraid any gesture might stir up old wounds. At school events, they exchanged only polite greetings.
Countless times, Tilly had opened up Elara’s contact on WhatsApp, wanting to say something, only to close it again as she was unwilling to burden her.
Elara gently reminded her, “Tilly, you were a dance prodigy admitted to Capitol Dance Academy at 16. You’re also the Capitol Ballet Troupe’s principal dancer. Your musicals sold out every performance…”
“I can’t dance anymore after having had Shirley.”
A dancer’s career was fleeting. When she’d gotten pregnant well–meaning friends urged her to terminate the pregnancy. Yet she’d chosen to permanently leave the stage instead.
Tilly lowered her lashes, twin shadows settling in the hollows of her eyes. “I don’t have your courage to start over. No matter how hard I try now, I’ll never catch up to my 17–year–old self!”
Elara kept her gaze ahead as she spoke. “It took me years in that endless marriage to recover. To relearn how to love life, to strive forward. I had to redeem myself–raise myself all over again like a seedling, regrow from the
roots up.
“Stop competing with your past self. Gather your strength and look ahead.”
Time and youth had slipped through their fingers, becoming irretrievable. Some opportunities, once missed, could never be reclaimed even with a lifetime of effort.
Yet one couldn’t remain trapped in the past, shrinking back like a turtle retreating into its shell.
As Tilly walked out, she spotted Darcie storming down the hallway toward the academic building. Noticing their attention, the dance teacher stopped and sneered. “Happy now? I got fired!”
Elara responded calmly, “You could use some professional ethics training,”
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Chapter 409
+25 BONUS
Darcie’s lips twisted in contempt, though her eyes glittered coldly. “So, Desmond White really is your patron!” Elara countered without explanation or self–justification, “When you rely on Rosalie as your backer, I suppose everyone else looks connected too.
“After today’s humiliation, your patron has fallen. Staying at Summit Academy will only make things worse for you.”
A flicker of fear crossed Darcie’s face. Elara wasn’t wrong. She’d accepted too many favors from Rosalie lately. Already, she sensed the other teachers‘ resentment growing.
Previously, she’d flaunted her connection to Rosalie while sneering at colleagues from ordinary backgrounds.
