“Do you think I would still like the child stained with your blood after everything I’ve been through?” Elisa spat out these venomous words, though inside, her heart ached terribly, as if a small hand were clenching it tightly.
Elisa’s eyes felt as if they were dripping blood, becoming sore and uncomfortable. Despite the pain, she couldn’t shed a tear. “You will never know how I counted through that hour, and those ten calls… I called you ten times. Why didn’t you answer? If you had, maybe Autumn wouldn’t have died.”
She wasn’t afraid of the pain in her hands, nor was she afraid of being disabled. She just couldn’t accept the departure of the most important person in her life.
He had been the light in her heart for over a decade, something she had silently safeguarded within. Yet, it had been so easily extinguished by Hamish’s casual actions.
Hamish’s throat tightened. He picked up Elisa’s coat and wrapped it around her to cover the wounds on her neck. Holding her tightly, tears fell directly onto Elisa’s neck. “You should hate me. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but Elisa, I only have you. Truly, only you. I know I am unforgivable, but you have to give me a chance to atone.”
Elisa’s body stiffened like a puppet. She gazed at the street outside, continuously receding. The window was slightly ajar, and a gentle breeze flowed in, as if a tender hand was wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Hamish, I’ve given you a chance. I married you for five years, a full five years. I, who am so afraid of pain, disregarded everything, harming myself only for love of you. But now I realize, it’s all my own doing. No wonder people online curse me and tell me to die.”
“I also feel despicable and foolish. I’ve toiled for the better part of my life only to end up with nothing, not even recognizing the person who saved me as a child…”
Elisa’s soft breath landed on the nape of his neck. Hamish felt as if thunder had struck on a clear day, his scalp tingling. At that moment, he truly didn’t know what to do.
Elisa knew, she knew everything. She had not only regained her memory but also discovered that it was Autumn who had saved her and not him.
Hamish was in a panic, trembling as he held Elisa’s hand. The chill in his heart spread through his veins, causing even his toes to shiver and curl.
He couldn’t bear this fear. For a moment, he wanted to escape, but if he did, the Elisa before him would disappear. Hamish’s breathing trembled. Taking a deep breath, he said, “I won’t let you go. Never, ever!”
These words were meant for Elisa as well as for himself. He absolutely couldn’t let go of Elisa. Even if it meant death, he had to hold onto her.
How could Elisa not know what he was thinking? No one understood better than she did how selfish and ruthless this man before her was.
Before their divorce, he had entrapped her as if she were a lunatic. After their divorce, perhaps he would just lock her away in some remote place?
This was his usual method, after all, once she had been locked up by him like a dog.
“Now, I both hate and feel fortunate about you. Fortunately, the person who saved me eighteen years ago wasn’t you. I mistook the person, but I didn’t mistake love. Luckily, I didn’t love someone like you, a heartless creature.”
Hamish’s ears buzzed, his heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife, and there seemed to be a taste of blood in his throat. For the first time, he experienced what it meant to feel tortured and pierced to the heart.
“We’ve been together for so many years. Did you really never have even a shred of affection for me?” Hamish asked.
Elisa tilted her head, smiling wryly. “I only loved that memory, and that memory has nothing to do with you. Hamish, you’ve usurped a place where you don’t belong. How could I like someone like you?”
Hamish held her shoulders, staring directly into her face and eyes, hoping to find a trace of sincerity in her words. “I don’t believe it. I saw the box you’ve hidden in the basement, the diary you wrote, the scarf you knitted for me, and even the painting of me. I don’t believe all of that was fake!”
Elisa suddenly pushed him away. With wounds on his hand and just having had his stomach pumped, he was weak. He stumbled and hit the car door, his head shaking.
“It’s all real, but all of that was based on the premise that I thought you were the person who saved me back then. Unfortunately, I was mistaken, and I wasted my sincere feelings on a dog. Since you’ve read that diary, you should have seen how disappointed I was in you.”
Hamish thought of the last line in the diary: “If there is another life, let’s part ways in peace and joy.”
Just the thought of their ending filled him with deep pain.
As he watched her suffering, Elisa felt a hint of pleasure rising within her. As much as she had loved Hamish back then, now she hated him just as intensely. No, her hatred now surpassed a thousandfold.
She involuntarily leaned back against the car door, her elbow pressing against the window button.
“Do you believe in karma, Hamish? What goes around, comes around. Good people eventually find happiness, while evil ones fall into hell.”
Hamish pursed his lips and then bitterly smiled. “I do. If I fall into hell, I will take you with me.” In life and death, they would always be together.
“Haha…” Elisa suddenly burst into laughter, as if she had heard a joke, laughing until it pained her, tears streaming down her face.
Hamish felt a sudden panic at her laughter. Her laughter was more grotesque than tears, and he felt as if he had been doused with cold water.
Elisa couldn’t stop laughing. Her eyes widened, her expression twisted. “I was born in hell long ago, Hamish. I’m waiting for you and Lila in hell.”
As if something had shattered, what did she mean by saying she was born in hell? Before Hamish could comprehend her words, he saw the window behind Elisa suddenly open.
The wind rushed in, tousling her long hair. He couldn’t help but shiver, the scene unfolding before his eyes as if in slow motion…
After finishing her words, Elisa turned, bracing herself against the car window, and with a single push, she flipped out…
She wore a smile on her face, without a trace of fear. As she tumbled out of the car, her coat billowed like wings…
As if she had grown wings once more…
The driver ahead automatically shut off his hearing, pretending not to have heard or seen anything behind him. He drove nervously, then suddenly, there was a loud “thud,” as if something had fallen out.
“Elisa!”