Q3
The next day, I found the friend I had contacted earlier.
He let me stay at his place for a few days, buying clothes and some necessities for me.
He also got me a ferry ticket.
Today was the day I was set to leave.
We drove to the dock, but there was a huge traffic jam.
Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through the noise.
It was Fiona
She was no longer the composed and dignified woman she used to be. Now, she was hysterical, crying into the phone, “Mom, his diving gear washed up on shore. I’ve called everyone to help search, but we can’t find him.
I shouted his name to the sea, but there was no answer. He loved me so much He would never ignore mel
Do you think… maybe he ..
I instantly understood.
D
6:07 PM
And yet, I felt a strange surprise.
I didn’t think it would take Fiona all these days to realize I was “dead.”
However, I thought that she had probably spent the days before staying with her dear Johnny.
Johnny was right beside her, playing the role of the concerned, loving man, gently comforting her.
Once she hung up, Fiona suddenly pushed him away.
She looked at him with a flicker of suspicion in her eyes.
I guessed she might have finally realized something was off.
After all, Johnny and I had been so close under the water.
Under normal circumstances, the air valve wouldn’t have closed by itself.
I leaned in closer to the window, watching secretly.
But at the sight of Johnny’s pitiful eyes, Fiona immediately believed him.
She leaned on his shoulder, sobbing louder.
I felt a bitter disappointment.
Then, I couldn’t help but laugh at myself.
I didn’t know what I was expecting.
I thought, “Did I really think Fiona would question Johnny, the man she loved so much, for what happened to me?”
The traffic started moving again, and our car slowly advanced.
The landscape outside the window receded, getting farther and farther.
As we passed the traffic jam, the car picked up speed, and soon, Fiona’s figure was no longer in sight.
I boarded the ferry smoothly, heading for the other side of the ocean.
And when the coastline was out of view, I finally looked away.
I thought, “Fiona, this time, it’s truly goodbye.”
At the Avila Manor, the air was thick with the smell of alcohol.
This was Fiona’s fifth day wandering the beach.
She wanted to find Bainbridge’s body but also feared finding it.
After much internal struggle, she realized it was all for nothing.
She hadn’t found anything.
Drunk out of her mind, she sank into despair.
Half–conscious, she murmured, “Bainbridge, I’m tired. I just want to sleep.”
Before, there would have been someone to lift her up and tuck her into bed gently.
But tonight, she called out several times. After a while, someone finally picked her up.
She tried to grab the person’s collar but heard an unfamiliar voice.
“Fiona, please don’t like this. I really care about you.”
She froze, her eyes flying open. She soon realized that the one holding her was Johnny.
She pushed him away, stumbling to her feet.
D
Johnny’s eyes flashed with a dark look, but he still spoke patiently. “Didn’t you always say that Bainbridge was just a pathetic lapdog? You wouldn’t care if he died?
Fiona, I love you! I had no choice but to leave before, but now I’m back. And I know you love me, too.
That lapdog is gone now, making way for us. Why don’t we get married? I promise…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a slap landed hard on his face.
Johnny stood there, stunned, staring at Fiona in disbelief.
Fiona, equally shocked, didn’t comfort him like she had before.
Instead, she pressed her forehead and said, “Don’t ever call Bainbridge that again. I’m tired. Please leave me alone for a bit.”
Johnny clenched his teeth as though wanting to say something, but just then, the door opened.
Leslie slowly walked in.
Johnny eagerly stepped forward to greet her but was coldly pushed away by Leslie.
She scoffed, “I saw how you flirted with my daughter and then abandoned her. I watched as she suffered for you!
Get out before I say something even worsel”
Johnny’s face shifted through a range of emotions, but in the end, he left without a word.
Leshe’s gaze softened as she looked at Fiona, filled with quiet, motherly sympathy,
After a long hesitation, she placed a document on the table.
6:07 PM
With a sigh, she said, “The last time you were this heartbroken was when Johnny dumped you. Back then, Bainbridge was there to save you. Now… I don’t know who could help you out of this pain.
I don’t know if this will help, but Fiona, you need to know… I’ll always be your rock.”
After waiting a long time for a response and receiving none, Leslie quietly left.
When Fiona heard the door close, she slowly climbed to her feet.
She picked up the papers and rubbed her temples as she read.
When she saw the title of the document, she froze.
From sunset until nightfall, Fiona remained frozen in place.
She finally realized that the love she thought Bainbridge had for her had never existed. It was all just a contract that had kept him by her side.
She realized that his humility had been nothing but an act.
She realized that she wasn’t a lapdog and that he had just been doing his duty.
Fiona finally understood what had happened between them, and she trembled violently.
She wanted to cry but couldn’t.
She didn’t even know what she should feel at that.
Finally, she trembled and whispered, “Did you ever… love me, even a little?”
Sadly, there would be no answer.
That night, Fiona searched frantically through the house.
She wanted to find something, anything, that would remind her of Bainbridge.
It was only then that she realized how little of his things remained.
In the corner of the wardrobe, she found a few boxes.
The contents were gone, but the shipping labels were still there.
All the sender’s addresses were from Aeloriade.
Fiona stood frozen. She had been with Bainbridge for so many years, but she had never heard of him having any friends in Aeloriade.
Then it hit her. She had never really asked where Bainbridge was from. She didn’t know where he had grown up, who his friends were, and she had never even met his parents.
After a brief moment of contemplation, she opened her phone and booked a flight to Aeloriade.
Even though it was late, she still wanted to know more about Bainbridge.
Five days later, I finally stepped onto the land of Aeloriade.
This was the small island where I was born and raised, at the edge of the country.
I was taken away when I was twelve.
I hadn’t been back in years, and the familiar sea breeze hit me, almost like it was welcoming me home, a lost child returning.
Dragging my suitcase, I walked with a sense of memory, heading straight to a large, rusted gate painted in blue.
I knocked on the door.
A face that was both unfamiliar and familiar appeared at the door. The person froze for a second when she saw me.
But after a closer look, a surprised smile spread across her face.
‘Bridge! What are you doing here?”
As I walked inside, I glanced around.
There were a dozen or so children playing nearby. Some were missing limbs, and others had disfigured faces.
The only one who seemed normal was a deaf child.
This was an orphanage.
Or maybe even worse than that.
Thes place took in children abandoned by their parents because of congenital defects.
I had once been one of them.
My parents‘ faces had faded so much in my memory that I couldn’t picture them anymore.
But i still remembered their disappointed eyes when I couldn’t speak when the other kids my age could do well
rd forgotten what they looked like, but I never forgot the look they gave me that day.
Later, doctors diagnosed me as mute by birth.
My parents had come to Aeloriade to work, their finances were tight.
Upon hearing the news, they chose to abarglon me on a cold winter street
But fortunately, I was found by Jaqueline tender from the orphanage.
Shat was a thin old woman with a sharp tongue always callino me a ‘tatie mute“, savion I was like a dud brat.
6:07 PM
But it was she who tirelessly helped me learn to speak.
When she first heard me speak, she cried with joy.
。
Jaqueline spent all her savings and did everything she could to treat me.
Eventually, she found me a good family, and I was adopted.
Most of the children in the orphanage weren’t from Aeloriade.
On the day she sent me off, Jaqueline kept straightening my collar.
She said, “The other side of the sea is your home. You’re going home now, and you’ll be happy.”
And for a few years, I was happy.
But then, my adoptive parents died in a car accident.
Their relatives didn’t want to take me in, and I didn’t want to burden Jaqueline again.
I worked hard to put myself through school, determined to get into the best university.
I thought if I found a good job and earned a lot of money, I could send it back to Jaqueline, buy her new clothes, and pay for the medical treatment of
other kids.
But I wasn’t growing up fast enough. As a newly graduated university student, no matter how talented I was, there was no way to make much money.
My salary at the time was barely enough to cover the monthly medical expenses for the children at the orphanage.
It was around this time that Fiona’s mother appeared.
She gave me a contract, offering me a job with a handsome salary.
That was how I became Fiona’s “lapdog.”
Later, I became her husband.
“Bridge, thanks to the money you sent back, my legs are so much better after the surgery.
4
Too bad Ms. Mendez couldn’t see you return. I buried her in a flower–filled cemetery just a few miles away. If you have time, I’ll take you there.”
I’m the director here now. Oh, I forgot to mention. I married Ethan…”
Carlee Hudson’s endless chatter brought me back to reality.
It began to soothe the ache in my heart.
The once fragile kids were now all grown, standing on their own feet.
I smiled with satisfaction.
When she asked when I was leaving, I shook my head.
“I’m not leaving. I plan to stay here for good, guarding the orphanage with you, and guarding Ms. Mendez.”
