It was December 8th, just seventeen days before Christmas and also the day of Hamish and Lila’s engagement banquet.
After learning about Hamish’s left hand injury, Lila personally prepared a pot of soup and took it to the hospital, thinking it was just a minor injury, but to her surprise, his left hand was heavily bandaged.
“How did you get such a serious injury?”
Hamish was dozing when he heard Lila’s voice, and his eyes, as sharp as a hawk’s, suddenly opened, emitting a cold gleam.
“Why did you come?”
“Hearing that you injured your hand, I came to see you,” Lila said. She looked at his left hand, frowning. The injury was so severe, would he still be able to wear a ring on the day of their engagement?
“Get out!”
Previously, Hamish had only felt some resentment towards some of Lila’s actions, but now he truly felt some disgust towards her, with a cold look and tone that did not conceal any emotion.
Unperturbed, Lila placed the thermos on the table. “No matter how much you despise me, in a few days, you will still be engaged to me.”
“You don’t need to remind me,” Hamish said coldly. “Even if you marry me, I won’t touch you.”
Unconcerned, Lila replied, “Is that so? It seems you said the same thing when you married Elisa.”
Hamish’s expression darkened. “Lila, I don’t love you anymore. Even if you marry me, you won’t get anything.”
“Is that so?” she chuckled. “As long as I marry you, Elisa will forever be a mistress in the shadows.”
This was the same thing Elisa had said to strike back at her initially, and now Lila was throwing it back exactly as it was.
Seeing Hamish’s gaze growing colder, Lila felt a twinge of fear and took a step back. “That’s what Elisa said back then.”
“So, this is all to get back at her?”
Lila had suffered humiliation at Elisa’s hands. What was wrong with a little retaliation? Who made Elisa steal what didn’t belong to her? This was what Lila thought, but she dared not say it. “No, it’s because I love you.”
“If I had no money, became a cripple, would you still love me?” Hamish retorted.
“Of course, I would still love you,” Lila said with a pause in her breath.
There was a trace of sarcasm in Hamish’s eyes as he looked at Lila from a distance of three meters, his cold gaze making her feel uneasy.
“Take your soup and leave. Don’t come back.”
“But our engagement…”
Hamish interrupted her, “Rest assured, I will go on the day of our engagement. But don’t forget to take care of your blood, don’t let anything dirty get into Elisa’s body.”
Lila’s face turned somewhat unpleasant as she quickly picked up the thermos from the table. As she turned to leave, she suddenly thought of something, turned back, and asked, “Hamish, I’ve always had a question. If it wasn’t me who saved you nine years ago, would you have asked Elisa for blood when I was dying in the accident?”
Hamish’s eyes flickered slightly, his heart skipping a beat. “There are no ‘ifs’ in this world.”
With a self-mocking smile, Lila’s eyes held an indescribable sense of desolation. She tightly gripped the thermos in her hand. “Can we really not go back to the past?”
“In this world, there are no feelings that can go back. Even if we did go back, everything would be different. The only thing that can go back is memory, and those memories of you are not worth recalling for me.”
He should have understood earlier. He and Elisa also couldn’t go back to the past. He had no right to salvage what he had done to this relationship. Unfortunately, he understood too late.
“I understand,” Lila said as she turned and left. It wasn’t her who had saved Hamish nine years ago, so there was no possibility between them.
…
Once Lila left, the quiet hospital room resumed its emptiness. A healthcare worker came to check on Hamish and asked, “How much longer do I have to stay in the hospital?”
“You just came in yesterday. You’ll have to stay for at least a week, especially with your hand in a cast. It would be inconvenient to do anything even if you went back, so it’s better to rest well in the hospital.”
Hamish looked somewhat impatient. It was just a hand injury; he wasn’t disabled. Why did he have to stay in the hospital for so long?
Justtwo days and he was already feeling restless. How did Elisa manage to stay in such an environment for ten days or even half a month?
Hamish felt bitter. Lila’s visit had stirred up many memories. He thought about how Elisa mistook him for Autumn and loved him for sixteen years. If she hadn’t mistaken him, would she have been with Autumn by now, perhaps even with children?
It was just a thought, but it made his heart ache terribly, as if it were being crushed by a heavy hammer, shattering his heart.
In a way, his and Elisa’s fates were similar. Both were saved by someone and then fell in love. The only difference was that Elisa had mistaken the person, while he had found the right one but loved the wrong person.
If Lila hadn’t been the one to save him back then, would the fate between him and Elisa have been completely rewritten?
…
Elisa could feel that her stomach ailment was no ordinary one. Hamish could fabricate her medical history, so bribing a doctor for a falsified medical report wouldn’t be difficult.
Perhaps she was already terminally ill, and Hamish had threatened her not to commit suicide. If that was the case, why not just get rid of Hamish? Stabbing him with the fork yesterday would have been a relief. Unfortunately, it only injured his hand; at most, he would be disabled like her, but it wouldn’t end his life.
The grass in the courtyard had turned yellow. Mr. Clegg had bought a box of weed killer a couple of days ago, and in just two days, the weeds had withered.
Elisa had swapped a bottle, keeping it under the bed. Mr. Clegg was busy outside arranging for the lawn to be trimmed and had no time to return. Mrs. Rugger and Mrs. Protich paid no attention to her.
Elisa brewed a pot of tonic soup. It was her first time poisoning someone. She only wanted to poison Hamish. A single bottle of weed killer, poured without hesitation, emitted a foul odor mixed with the aroma of the soup.
Elisa immediately retched. Covering her mouth, she rushed to the bathroom to vomit. After a few retches, the water in the toilet turned red. Wiping her mouth, she wondered, could fate snatch her life away, and could Hamish hold onto it?
Her body was already at its breaking point, like a dried-up stone-seemingly solid but easily shattered. She didn’t know how many days she had left, but as long as she was alive, she was determined to exact revenge on Hamish.
“Oh, why does this soup taste like this? Did it go bad?” Mrs. Protich stood outside the kitchen, pinching her nose.
Elisa calmly approached. “It’s tonic soup. The smell is normal.”
“Tonic soup?” Mrs. Protich tiptoed to peek into the pot. “I never saw your previous tonic soup turn out this color.”
“There are many kinds of tonics, not just the one I used to make. It’s normal for the color to vary.”
That made sense… Mrs. Protich curiously asked, “Mrs. Burns, did you make this tonic soup for yourself?”
“I made it for Hamish.”
Mrs. Protich looked at the dark liquid in the pot. Unless Hamish lost his sense of taste or had a screw loose in his head, he wouldn’t drink it.
Elisa placed the thermos she liked on the counter. The pot of tonic soup was hot, and she took a damp cloth. Mrs. Protich quickly took the cloth from her. “Mrs. Burns, let me pour it.”
Elisa’s hands were not agile, and spilling a pot of soup was a minor concern, but she might get scalded.
Elisa quietly stepped aside and watched as Mrs. Protich gently poured the pot of medicated soup into the thermos. There were still some residues in the casserole, so Elisa pointed to the trash can, “Pour that out.”
Only after Elisa saw Mrs. Protich wash the casserole did she feel relieved. Then, carrying the thermos, she called the butler outside to accompany her to the hospital.
Outside the ward, two bodyguards stood by the door, while Hamish himself was busy with work inside the ward.
When he heard that someone had brought soup, Hamish instinctively thought it was from Lila again. Annoyed, he said, “I don’t want it, tell her to go back.”
The door was merely closed, not soundproof, so naturally the person outside could hear the voices from inside.
“Since he doesn’t want it, let’s go.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Hamish, ignoring the fact that his right hand was still attached to an IV, abruptly stood up, “Wait, I’ll have it!”
Elisa carried the thermos, followed by Mr. Clegg.