Hamish watched the distant silhouette of the car as it faded away, feeling a sudden emptiness in his heart. How could there be eyes so similar in this world? Even the gaze was exactly the same as in his dreams, causing him unbearable pain just to reminisce.
Tobias panted as he ran up to him, “Mr. Burns, what’s wrong with you?”
Hamish murmured, “I just saw Elisa.”
Tobias paused for a moment, carefully recalling the scene just now, “You mean the woman who entered the elevator just now was Elisa?”
Hamish remained silent, effectively confirming it.
The woman who entered the elevator had her face tightly covered with a mask, only revealing a pair of eyes. Tobias couldn’t understand how Hamish recognized her as Elisa. After all, they all knew that Elisa had died three years ago on the snowy Christmas day, burned alive in a fire.
“Mr. Burns, she has been dead for three years, you couldn’t have seen her.”
Of course, he knew Elisa was dead. He had personally placed Elisa’s body in the crystal coffin, and he had verified 76 DNA tests, each confirming her identity. Yet, in that moment in the elevator, he felt as though Elisa had returned.
Looking into those eyes, he couldn’t help but recall these painful three years, during which he felt like he was barely alive. Every midnight, he would dream of his past with Elisa, seeing her struggling in the operating room, the stillborn infant being taken from her belly, and her twisted legs from the car accident, her desperate struggle in the fire before she died… All of these undeniably reminded him of his deep-seated guilt.
Tobias would remind him from time to time that it was all in the past, but only he knew he couldn’t get over it…
Elisa, to punish him for his misjudgment, allowed Finn to set the fire that led to her own death.
In these three years, he had either been guarding a lonely grave or gazing at the sea.
Thinking of all this, his eyes couldn’t help but moisten. He stood on the busy street, watching the car disappear, filled with as much disappointment as anticipation, standing there isolated, like a child waiting at the end of daycare for someone to pick them up.
“Her eyes are so much like Elisa’s, especially alike. For a moment, I thought it was her looking at me.”
“There are many people who look alike in this world, Mr. Burns. In the past two years, many women who look like Elisa have been around you, but you know they are just look-alikes, not her.”
Tobias always spoke bluntly, hitting the nail on the head. Yes, they were not Elisa, at most just resembling her… A year ago, Finn even tried to introduce a woman to him, someone who bore a 60 to 70 percent resemblance to Elisa, even changing her name to match.
But what did that matter? Resemblance and name… none of them were her.
Elisa, to punish him, died in despair.
“If there were reincarnation or soul possession in this world, it would be great.”
Tobias shook his head helplessly, as Hamish once again indulged in his wild thoughts.
“Mr. Burns, Mr. Zhao and the others have already arrived in the private room upstairs, and they’re asking when we will join them.”
Hamish turned around, his whole demeanor reverting to the cold and aloof appearance he had worn just now, but upon closer inspection, one could see the weariness and exhaustion in his eyes.
Hamish went upstairs to discuss the collaboration. In his work, he was methodical, only in moments like these did he seem truly alive.
After finishing work at five in the afternoon, he returned to the villa on the island, which was decorated according to Elisa’s preferences. Three years could thoroughly erase a person’s presence, no matter how hard he tried to preserve even a hint of her essence.
Even the couch where Elisa used to lie down had become unfamiliar.
Hamish sat despondently on the couch, looking at the photos on the coffee table, all of Elisa. It had taken him a long time to find these.
Elisa’s photos were placed in every corner of the house, from infancy to adulthood, from sleeping peacefully as a newborn to blowing bubbles at a hundred days old, from the first birthday, to elementary school, junior high, high school, and college…
From a person’s photo to a group photo and then back to an individual photo.
Hamish traced the outline of the photos, as if he could touch Elisa’s face through them, speaking to the photo, “Today I saw someone, her eyes really resemble yours… just like when you used to resent me for not loving you…”
“You say it’s been so long since I’ve seen you smile, even in my dreams, you never forgave me.” A tear fell on the picture frame.
Hamish quickly took out a tissue and gently wiped it, as if handling a fragile treasure.
Someone he hadn’t treasured in life, he now faced inanimate photo frames.
In the photo, Elisa wore a school uniform, smiling brightly under the sunlight. At that time, the dimple on Elisa’s cheek carried a hint of sweetness.
He was almost forgetting that Elisa had once been happy too.
Hamish reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and dropped it on the floor. It was a cigarette his business partner had given him today. He absentmindedly put it back in his pocket.
At this moment, he wanted to take a few puffs, but he picked it up, rubbed it between his fingers, and then, after a while, he crushed it and tossed it into the trash can.
Elisa didn’t like the smell of smoke, and if she saw him smoking, she definitely wouldn’t visit him in his dreams.
After Elisa’s death, Tobias arranged his daily routine, making sure he ate, reminding him to sleep, fearing that he would neglect his own health.
Tobias had dinner delivered, two dishes and a soup, but Hamish set the table for two, out of habit. He carefully picked the fish, removing the bones, and subconsciously reached out to put it into the other empty bowl, “I’ve removed the bones from the fish, it’s your favorite belly meat…”
He extended the fork with the fish to the other side, only to suddenly come back to his senses. The person who loved the fish belly meat was long gone, but some habits were etched into his memory. Even after three years, he still remembered.
He smiled with his head down, tears flowing from his eyes. He carefully put the fish in the empty bowl, then picked up another piece and began to eat.
The mixture of tears and food slowly went down his throat, leaving a bitter taste in his stomach.
Late at night, when there was nothing to do, Hamish couldn’t help but think of Elisa, suffering heartache as if he were coughing up blood.
His nerves had been disordered since two years ago, occasionally splitting, occasionally going mad…
Every room in the villa was lit, because he knew Elisa was afraid of the dark, and he hoped she could see the light waiting for her to come home.
Maybe she could come back…
The tableware in the kitchen was washed every day. Hamish hugged Elisa’s photo on the sofa for a while.
He heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs and lifted his head.
Apart from him, there was a hideous cat in the villa, the same one Elisa used to hold in her arms, calling it Mimi, her big baby.