04
Thanks to my education and the projects I had worked on at the company, I was able to find a decent job here.
The salary was good, the work wasn’t too busy, and it was close to the orphanage.
Whenever I had time off, I would visit the children.
Their world was missing something.
Jaqueline had been a woodcarver. Whenever a child was missing something, she would happily carve it out and give it to them.
When it was my turn, she struggled for a long time.
She could carve arms and legs easily, but how could she carve a voice?
In the end, she carved a figure of me with my mouth wide open as if I were chattering nonstop.
Over time, woodcarving became a tradition at the orphanage.
Even though Jaqueline was gone now, the children had learned to carve for themselves.
When I donated all the money Leslie had given me to the orphanage, Carlee tried to refuse.
I told her, “Just send me the children’s works, and treat it as though I’m buying them.”
Years passed, and I ended up collecting several large boxes of wood carvings.
That day, I was in the workshop, carving.
Suddenly, voices from outside caught my attention.
The voice was so familiar that I froze
But then I thought, perhaps I was overthanking things
I knew Fiona’s favorite was Johnny, and she had probably married him by now.
i though, “Why will she drop everything to some here?
Besides, for seven years, she hasn’t cared about me. How would she even know this place?‘
Holding & chód an enw airns. I was teaching ham how to carve oves when the door suridentu awunn anen
a
6:07 PM
Holding a child in my arms, I was teaching him how to carve eyes when the door suddenly swung open.
Carlee walked in, puzzled. “Are you Bridge’s friend? He never mentioned you…”
I froze.
I looked up and found myself face to face with a look of wild joy.
Fiona stood there for a long time, her face streaked with tears, as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
She suddenly threw herself at me, hugging me tightly, like she was holding something she thought was lost forever.
She cried out, “You liar! How dare you deceive me! Do you remember what you said at our wedding? That you’d always be with me, that you’d never lie
to me!
But now you’re not only lying, you’ve abandoned me! Do you know what I’ve been through these last few days?!”
I was a bit helpless, opening my mouth, but only a sigh came out.
“But, from the moment we met, it was all a lie.” Fiona paused.
She looked at me seriously, shaking her head. “I’m not mad at you for lying. I just want you to come back with me. Please?”
Fiona had always been proud, especially looking down on me.
But now, her tone was almost pleading.
Looking closely, I noticed a slight tremor light in her eyes.
A strange feeling rose in my chest. In just half a month, it seemed like our positions had completely reversed.
But I still shook my head.
From the moment I decided to leave, I never thought about going back.
I pushed Fiona away, deliberately being cold to her. “You want me to come back? Fine. When I was begging you for forgiveness back then, I was humbled. Now, don’t you think it’s time for you to be humble too?”
Fiona froze, her expression unreadable.
I thought that someone as proud as her, who had been pampered since childhood, would never want to appear humble.
I only hoped she would give up.
But to my surprise, Fiona looked at me calmly, took a step back, and actually bowed.
This time, it was me who was stunned.
In the end, I still didn’t agree.
I urged Fiona to go back, but she wouldn’t give up. She even decided to stay here.
No matter what I did, even if I were working, she would always be nearby.
She kept sneaking glances at me.
Once, I was the one constantly pestering her, making her feel annoyed.
But now, I didn’t initiate contact, didn’t care for her.
I didn’t even spare her a passing glance.
This new me was strange to her, making her uncomfortable, but she felt more intrigued.
One evening, after dinner, she helped me clear the dishes.
Suddenly, she turned to me and, with a serious look, asked, “Do you know why I gave up everything back home to come here and find you?
Bainbridge, I think I’ve liked you for a long time. I just didn’t realize it back then. I was too naive.”
Her feelings for me weren’t surprising. In fact, I had sensed it long ago.
I knew that when she held my hand, when she wanted me to have dignity and stop being a doormat, and when she chose to disappoint Johnny but refused to divorce me.
me
But it changed nothing.
I replied calmly, “Even if you liked me long ago, don’t forget, that wasn’t the real me.
This is who I really am?
I wanted her to know that this cold version of me, the one who argued with her, the one who ignored her, who stayed silent in front of her, was the real
Fiona didn’t get discouraged. Instead, she suddenly smiled.
She reached out a hand to me.
“Then let’s get to know each other again. It used to be you chasing me, now it’s my turn to chase you”
From that day on, Fiona truly started pursuing me
She set off fireworks for me and spent nights learning wood carving just to impress me
Even though she had never done housework before, she began learning how to cook for me.
She was just like I used to be, full of hope and ariety, always appearing in my line of sight.
She would perusty sak in a tore filed with noticisation nod fear. “Halsbridge in these seven years did you ever like me? Even Just a little?”
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6:07 PM
She would nervously ask, in a tone filled with anticipation and fear, “Bainbridge, in these seven years, did you ever like me? Even just a little?” Just like in the old times, when she always kept her silence in front of me, I responded with silence.
One day, an uninvited guest arrived on the island
Johnny, with a group of people, came to take Fiona back home.
His face was full of jealousy as he stared at me, as if surprised I hadn’t died and furious that I had taken Fiona from him.
I didn’t want to get entangled with him, but he rushed at me, grabbing me, trying to play his fake little trick.
With tears in his eyes, he pretended to speak sincerely. “Bainbridge, I’m glad you’re okay. You don’t know how worried I’ve been about you… I…” I scoffed and interrupted him.
I didn’t respond directly. Instead, I looked at Fiona.
“If I told you I never touched him, that he turned off my oxygen tank valve on purpose, that he really meant to kill me…
Would you believe him, or would you believe me?”
Fiona froze.
Her eyes swirled with doubt and hesitation.
Johnny, looking hurt, stared at her. “Fiona, I…”
Before he could finish, Fiona slapped him hard across the face.
She glared at him angrily, picked up a wooden stick from the ground, and started hitting him until he ran off.
Then, she turned to me and smiled.
“I admit, I didn’t do well before. I didn’t trust you, didn’t protect you.
But from now on, I want to change. Please, give me another chance.”
I stayed silent for a long time.
Then, I suddenly spoke. “It’s impossible.”
Fiona was taken aback, looking at me in confusion.
Seeing the expression in her eyes, I held up my bare ring finger and said, slowly, word by word, “You asked me if I liked you during those seven years, and my answer is I never did.
Go back. Whether it’s to inherit your family business or marry Johnny, it doesn’t matter. We’ll never be together again.
If, back then, when I was underwater, I wasn’t trying to escape but really counting on your help, then I might be dead by now.
The first thing I did when I climbed onto shore was throw away the wedding ring. I don’t want you anymore, Fiona. You can think of me as dead. Fiona’s face gradually turned pale with each word I spoke.
That day, it seemed Johnny forced her to leave.
Since then, I haven’t seen her again.
I quietly stayed on this small island, living my life between work and the orphanage.
About three years later, I suddenly received a package.
It was from Fiona
Inside was a donation letter saying that her company would donate eight million dollars to the orphanage to help treat the children’s illnesses.
It also mentioned hopes for a long–term donation relationship, with plans to offer jobs to the children.
In addition, there was a letter.
Fiona wrote that she hadn’t married Johnny. After returning, she kicked him out,
She expelled him from the company and from her home.
She had investigated his background and discovered he owed a lot of money abroad. His return wasn’t for her but to scam her into paying his debts. So she sent him back, and the moment he stepped off the plane, his creditors were there to take him away
1 imagine his fate wasnt a pleasant one.
At the corner of the package, there was a small red velvet box.
My beat shipped a beat I opened it
nude, a diamond ring was quietly resting there
frant my pans over its edges. The terrier scratches and texture told me thes wasn’t a new ring it was the nne I had thrown into the sea
05 Award has on the vast ocean for three years
| coldali maque mud front was unang when she diving time and again relentlessly searching and she finally retifeved it.
The fact that she found it was a marche wit
itayed for a long time before i peek the danged ng into the trans
Glancing at the babe core
After i sobered For
skang out fron the wall, chose to agree
enly turned to wa nde
She stared at the blue iron gate for a long time, the light in her eyes dimming bit by bit before she finally turned and left.
Her slender figure, upright as always, seemed unchanged from three years ago.
In a corner where she couldn’t see, I watched her go.
She had asked me countless times, and Leslie had asked me too, and even Carlee and the children at the orphanage were curious about that question.
They wanted to know if, after seven years with Fiona, I ever had any feelings for her.
The answer was yes.
I suddenly remembered that time when I was about to graduate from university, running from one interview to the next.
On a scorching summer day, I squeezed through crowds again and again, only to come away empty–handed.
I lay on the steps, exhausted and on the verge of passing out.
Then, a girl handed me a bottle of water.
She was beautiful and young but wearing expensive clothes, surrounded by bodyguards.
She was clearly from a wealthy family, so different from
She glanced over my resume briefly before handing it to
dinate.
She smiled at me and said, “Don’t give up so quickly. You’re actually pretty good. When you have time, come for an interview at my company. It was over there.”
That was when I realized she was Fiona Avila from the Avila Group.
That was the first kindness i had received since my adoptive parents‘ death.
It felt like fate because not long after, Leslie contacted me and made me the offer.
And so, with the thought of “could she ever like me?” I slowly got closer to Fiona,
But unfortunately, our feelings seemed to have missed their timing.
Just a small misstep and we could never go back.
The sea breeze brushed against my face, and only when Fiona boarded the boat did I look away.
We were heading in opposite directions, one to the deep sea, the other to the isolated island, away from each other.
The End
