Chapter 15
If only Vincent had been a little more attentive, he would have noticed the gradually fading light in Claire’s eyes.
If that day, he had chosen to stay at the bridal shop, waiting for her and gently helped her into the beautiful wedding dress–lifting the veil and kissing her, telling her how stunning she looked- would things have turned out differently?
She was so shy, so she would have blushed and begged him to stop teasing her. Then, they could have taken photos together, shared them on social media and basked in the compliments of friends. Would the
result have been different?
But in this world, regret doesn’t change the past.
Claire wouldn’t come back and she would
never forgive him.
Vincent clutched the new wedding dress.
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tightly, crying uncontrollably in a house where Claire was no longer present.
Xxx
I was in a research institute located deep in
the mountains.
Before I removed the SIM card, I saw a barrage of calls from Vincent and his friends. Among them was a photo from the proposal scene. He had arranged a bouquet of flowers with my initials and Vincent‘ s
name.
Oh, the proposal was the “surprise” he was talking about. But by then, I no longer needed it. I did not reply to anyone and permanently blocked this useless cell phone.
Time at the institute passed quickly and ten years had passed in the blink of an eye.
And the various medicines we secretly developed were also put into market use.
In the eleventh year, a group of researchers
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Chapter 15
and I were invited to participate in an academic exchange meeting abroad. We were escorted by security guards the entire
time.
Afterwards, we gave an interview to
reporters.
As we were leaving, my junior tapped my shoulder. “Senior, someone has been staring at you for a while.
I looked up and saw Vincent.
He was no longer young and spirited nor a young man with a broad style. Now that he had entered middle age, he had aged so much that he was about to be
unrecognizable.
Our eyes met from a distance and the past flooded back for a moment, but it felt like it belonged to another lifetime.
He quickly walked toward me, but security stopped him.
“Claire, it’s me, Vincent.”
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His voice cracked with desperation.
“Claire, please, just give me a few minutes.”
After a thorough security check, we sat across from each other in a conference
room.
Seeing him again, I felt nothing. No emotion stirred in me.
In fact, my junior had told me about him after I joined the institute. She said that after I left, he fell into alcoholism and slowly deteriorated.
His company almost went bankrupt several times, but thinking of me kept him going, working hard, afraid that he might lose any way of finding out about me.
My house, after the restriction period, het spent a large sum of money to buy it back, though I never knew why.
Without his help, Zoe‘ s family had fallen on hard times.
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Eventually, Zoe sought money and became. the mistress of a married man. When his wife found out, she publicly beat her up. Zoe tried to escape but was hit by a car. She would probably spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
Hearing all this, I didn’t feel any different. After all, compared to national matters, these personal dramas seemed trivial.
Seeing my indifferent expression, his voice cracked.
“Claire, I’m sorry.”
99
I tugged at the corner of my lips. It was too late. I didn’t need his apology anymore.
“Do you still blame me?”
For me now, Vincent was just a fleeting figure in my life, insignificant. He wasn’t worth any extra emotion.
And after all those years of love and hate,
all after over ten years had dulled it all and I had long since let go.
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But now it seemed Vincent couldn’t
forget.
He wept in regret, in pain, as tears
streamed down his face.
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