“You want to tell everyone that I forgave you when I saw that you tormented yourselves. If I didn’t, I would be callous and narrow-minded and saw you suffering this cold.”
“Clara!” Luna turned pale at my words.
But she didn’t say anything more.
I took off the fur coat and gave it back to Folly, “Thank you.”
She took it and said, “It’s late, and how about staying here tonight?”
I shook my head, “I drove here.”
I left with another look at these people.
It was snowing heavily.
I didn’t know whether Dennis went back.
I stayed in the bedroom, awake all night.
Now whatever I did, I was wrong.
In the morning, the city was blanketed in white.
I looked at the clock. 5 am.
Time to get up.
I went downstairs and the light was on in the sitting room.
Dennis didn’t come back.
As usual, I made breakfast and waited for Clarrie to rise.
And I drove her to school.
Maybe it was too early, the school was still closed.
“Mom, it’s too early. I am sleepy.” She yawned and closed her eyes in the car.
I rubbed her hair and let her sleep.
Around half an hour later, Clarrie went into the campus.
I returned home.
I checked on the phone and was attracted by the news that Nova had bullied her classmates in college and had been videoed.
In this information era, everyone could hurl diatribes against a wicked stranger.
As a white-collar of high position, she would be laid off.
And this news diverted some attention paid to me.
Folly came in, her clothes covered with snow.
She took it off and patted the snow off, “The road might be blocked.”
I took her coat and put it on the racket.
I made her a cup of tea and asked, “Did this ever happen?”
She warmed her hands with the hot tea and sat on the sofa, “sure, and quite often. The roads in this city are notoriously jammed. And now it will be more dangerous if the iced roads don’t get blocked.”
I nodded and stood up to get her some fruits.
She pulled me down on the sofa and said, “Don’t bother with the snacks. Let’s talk.”
“Talk about what?”
“Dennis and the Lewis family.” She was always straightforward.
“I won’t persuade you to forget what happened four years ago. You don’t have to force yourself to forgive. I know you are the most agonized.”
I found she was like Diana.
She went on, “I know you don’t know what you should do now. But we should move on, Clara. Don’t let the past fetter you. Just follow your heart.”
I nodded. I had known that.
She held my hands and said seriously, “You are my friend and I don’t want you to be sad.”
I smiled, “Thank you.”
She sighed, “I hated Luna at the beginning. She was very ambitious and could sacrifice others to achieve her ends. She seemed innocuous but she was harmful.”
I didn’t comment but I agreed.
She continued, “And that’s also why she had looked for you for 26 years. I knew that she ever went into some poor villages alone and that she got cheated once. And what you probably don’t know is that she gave money to every village she went to. She was expiating her sin.”
I pressed my lips, “I thought about these things in the past four years.”
She nodded, “That’s why she spoiled Olivia when she met her. It was because of her care and love for her daughter. She was a great mom. But her love was extreme and scary. I don’t want to persuade you to forgive her or forget this. What I want to say is that you are in a dead-end now and the only way out is to move on and look forward.”
I was silent. I knew better than anyone else that what Luna did was for her daughter.
Olivia was in love with Dennis and she got to get rid of me.
When Dennis switched the DNA of me and Olivia, everything went wrong.
I lost the love of my mother and my child.
I should hate him but I couldn’t.
Love could make you forgive your nemesis. How ridiculous.
Folly went on, “I hated her since she went into the Lewis family. She was too ambitious and too flagrant. She will probably invite disasters to the family. And I wanted to drive her away from the beginning.”