On top of a pile of junk was what looked like a decorative painting. Hamish went over and flipped it around. He was stunned when he saw it was actually his and Elisa’s wedding photo.
He vaguely remembered this wedding photo. He recalled that he had smashed it originally and made Elisa throw it away. How was it now perfectly intact and among this pile of junk? Had she secretly framed it and hidden it away? If she had hidden it for four years, why was it now discarded among this junk?
Hamish couldn’t describe what he was feeling. Recently, he had been denying Elisa’s change of feelings toward him, but now, seeing this abandoned wedding photo, he had to admit that Elisa had truly given up her feelings for him.
In the past, he had always called Elisa cheap, confident that she would remain cheap forever. He had never thought there would be a day Elisa stopped loving him. This day had arrived unexpectedly.
Hamish clenched the photo frame tightly until his knuckles turned white.
When Elisa came out, she saw him standing there in front of the junk. As she got closer, she saw the object in Hamish’s hands was their wedding photo.
Elisa said, “In the past, I couldn’t bear to throw it away. Now that I’m moving and have no place to put it, looking at something so meaningless really irritates me. It brings back a lot of bad memories.”
“So you want to throw it away now?” Hamish’s originally sinister eyes grew even colder. It was as if two drops of ink had fallen into the black onyx of his pupils, fathomless and deep.
“If I don’t throw it away, leaving it here will annoy people, right? Don’t you also dislike it?”
Don’t you also dislike it? Yes, he disliked it, disliked Elisa and this wedding photo. Just as Elisa said, it evoked many bad memories for him. Something that should have been thrown away back then shouldn’t be kept now.
The two of them stared at each other silently. The atmosphere was somewhat rigid when knocking sounded from outside.
Elisa went to open the door. This time, it was an uncle who collected junk. The uncle held a rope pulling a cart behind him.
“Young lady, where are the things you don’t want?”
“They are inside. Please come in, uncle.” Elisa stood to the side to make way for the uncle to pull his cart through the door.
“Let me help you with the rope.”
The uncle waved his hand. “No need. I can manage myself. Just don’t mind that I’m dirty.”
The people living here were all wealthy. When he collected junk, his body was never completely clean, so he often encountered looks of disdain. This time, however, the young lady was very polite to him.
Elisa invited him in and even poured him a glass of warm water. After drinking the water, the uncle started working. Seeing the pile of junk, his eyes brightened. This would fetch a good price!
“You don’t want any of these?” The uncle asked the man standing there.
Hamish’s expression was cold. He didn’t respond, but Elisa beside him said, “Yes, just these for now. I’ll call you again after I finish moving.”
The uncle responded in acknowledgement. “Alright.” He began sorting through the junk, about to pick up the wedding photo, when Hamish, who had been silent up until now, suddenly spoke.
“Leave the wedding photo.”
Elisa, who had been helping sort the junk, looked up at Hamish. Hamish felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, but now that he had spoken, he naturally couldn’t take back his words. Even he didn’t know why he wanted to keep that photo. But now he had no choice but to come up with a reason.
“We’re not divorced yet. It looks bad for the house to not even have a wedding photo.”
Elisa directly interrupted his flimsy excuse. “We didn’t have one before either, but things were fine.”
Hamish’s expression chilled. “Elisa, do you need me to remind you of what I told you at the hospital?”
The corners of Elisa’s lips curled up into a faint smile. She bent down and carefully placed the wedding photo from the floor onto the coffee table.
She remembered every word Hamish had said, very clearly too. He told her to be obedient. Alright, she would be obedient then.
The uncle quickly finished packing up the junk. He pulled it outside cart by cart, while Elisa followed behind sweeping the floor. Bent over, the loose T-shirt she wore today sagged down, revealing her protruding collarbones.
It seemed her body hadn’t fully recovered yet. After just a short while, a thin sheen of sweat had appeared on her face.