Hamish’s gaze passed Louis in front of him and fell on Elisa as she walked gracefully into his line of sight.
She was wearing an oversized men’s white shirt, the hem reaching down to cover her thighs, looking as if she had nothing on underneath, her straight, long legs resembling the finest white jade.
Elisa had just finished showering, her long hair loosely tied with a disposable hairband, wet strands hanging behind her head, a few damp strands falling from her temples, adding a touch of charm to her appearance.
Hamish had imagined a dozen different scenarios of seeing Elisa, but he never expected it to be in the most piercing and heartbreaking way.
This was their long-awaited reunion, and she appeared in another man’s room, wearing his clothes, bare-legged, a sight even he had never seen before.
At that moment, his heart felt as though it had been sealed with countless thumbtacks, the pain so intense that he couldn’t feel his heartbeat, struggling to breathe, suffocating until his eyes turned red.
Hamish’s hands involuntarily clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white with force, trembling, the veins on the back of his hands bulging, blood rushing frantically into his throat, he even tasted a strong, metallic taste, as if with just one word, the blood would uncontrollably spew out.
What had happened between Elisa and Louis during these few hours? Why had she showered? And why did she emerge from inside with her clothes disheveled?
Hamish dared not continue to think, he gritted his teeth, his tongue pressing hard against them, his chest filled with surging blood, and he looked at Elisa with red eyes, resembling an abandoned dog.
Internally, he called out “Elisa’s” name, but when he truly saw her again, he was unable to make a sound, his soul detached from his body, his eyes already dry.
…
Elisa had just come down after her shower, her hair still damp. She had searched for the hairdryer for a while but couldn’t find it. She had texted Louis, but he hadn’t replied, so she decided to go downstairs.
When she reached the ground floor, she found the kitchen empty and was pondering when she heard voices coming from the front door.
Elisa thought it might be someone related to Louis’s work, but if they saw her here, it might not be good. She was about to quietly go back upstairs when she heard a familiar voice.
“Where’s Elisa? She’s here… I need to see her.”
Her slightly dizzy brain immediately woke up upon hearing this voice.
This voice had accompanied her until the moment before her death in her previous life, a voice she would dream of even when she was asleep, a voice that would startle her with nightmares every midnight.
Elisa pursed her lips. She subconsciously wanted to hide upstairs, but she quickly thought, why would Hamish be here and calling her name? Had he recognized her?
How could that be possible?
Elisa dared not act rashly. She knew Hamish too well. Once he set his mind on something, he wouldn’t give up until he achieved it. If he had already made it here, there was no way she could hide forever.
If she truly tried to hide, it would seem like she was guilty, which would only raise his suspicion.
Fortunately, she was at Louis’s place now; she didn’t have to face this danger alone.
Elisa took a deep breath and walked slowly towards the direction of the front door, calling out in a gentle voice, “Big Movie Star, who are you talking to out there?”
She was used to calling Louis “Big Movie Star,” and this unfamiliar way of addressing him carried a hint of intimacy in her mouth.
Louis turned around, seeing Elisa fresh from her shower, her face still damp, her eyes hazy, a sight that made him want to hold her close and keep her hidden.
“It’s cold outside, you should come in,” he said, not forgetting to reply to Elisa’s question, “A distant relative, not someone I know well.”
Elisa stood still, glanced at Hamish, and obediently turned to leave.
“Elisa, don’t go!” His voice was hoarse, his eyes filled with hostility, a taste of rust growing in his throat.
Elisa turned her head, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “Mister, do we know each other?”
Hamish’s eyelashes trembled. If he could, he wished Elisa would forget about him, forget about the past, so they could start anew. But he knew she was pretending.
She was a natural actress. Pretending not to know him was too easy for her.
So, the pain in his heart grew, like a blunt, rusted knife stabbing into his heart, causing severe pain with the slightest pull. Hamish had to lean on the doorframe to support his trembling body. He pressed his pale lips tightly together. “Elisa, you may deceive everyone else, but you can’t deceive me. Do you know that when you try to hold back, your eyes look downwards? When you lie, your hands sneak behind your back. And… if you truly don’t recognize me, why is there so much resentment in your eyes when you look at me? Wasn’t it you I saw in the elevator at the teahouse last week?”
Elisa hadn’t expected him to remember that scene from the elevator last week. She had thought it was a fluke and now… she realized she couldn’t escape this person.
Elisa concealed her smile. Her gaze turned cold. Even if he recognized her, did he still expect her to forget the past and start anew with him?
Louis, hearing their inexplicable conversation, felt uneasy and guarded, standing at the door to prevent Hamish from coming any closer.
Elisa let out a cold laugh, looking at Hamish with disdain and indifference in her eyes. She turned around without hesitation.
Suddenly, Hamish’s voice turned hoarse. “Elisa, don’t you want to see Mimi? Do you remember Mimi? The cat that tried to save you in the fire, it lost an ear, its front paw was disabled, and its tail was even partially burnt. It’s been waiting for you in Chiwood.”
He knew what Elisa cared about. If he showed her a bit of kindness, she could let people into her heart. Like Micah, Hattie, Mrs. Rugger, and that cat… And once upon a time, he had been on that list, but now, he was probably nothing but ashes.
The human heart is small. Elisa had wanted to contain too much, and that’s why she had been hurt so deeply.
“You can wait, but Mimi can’t. A cat’s lifespan isn’t long, and the fire took away half of its life.”
There’s a saying that the person who understands you the best is always your enemy.
Hamish knew her weakness and how to use it against her.
Elisa’s initial plan was to become strong enough to eliminate the threats before facing Hamish again. But she had underestimated Hamish’s intuition. She hadn’t expected that just one look would give her away.
She could meet the person she wanted to see later, but she had forgotten that some couldn’t wait for her, like her Mimi.
She missed that ragdoll cat that had tried to save her in the fire so much.
Hamish had recognized her, and she would eventually face the same situation again. Once a spirit is stirred, there’s no escaping it.
“Are you trying to threaten me with a cat?” Elisa didn’t turn back, her thin figure straight, with a stubborn refusal to surrender.
“I’m not trying to threaten you. I just… want to talk to you alone,” Hamish choked out, his eyelashes already damp. He was pleading with Elisa.
“You’ll talk for a few words and then give me the cat?”
“Yes, I’m not lying; I’ll bring Mimi to you. It’s rightfully yours.”
Elisa cared more about a cat than him. This time when she turned back, her eyes showed no disguise of indifference, and when she locked eyes with Hamish, he felt as if ants were biting around his eye sockets, causing intense pain. He couldn’t help but furrow his brow, enduring the stinging ache in his eyes.
Louis spoke up, asking Elisa for her decision. If she wanted him to allow Hamish in, he would; if not, he wouldn’t let Hamish take a step closer.
“Yeah, just for a moment,” Elisa replied.
Louis’s face darkened. From what Hamish had said, he could sense the significance of that cat to Elisa. He had no right to stop her. “I’ll leave this place to…” “No need,” Elisa interrupted him. “I’m going with him. We’ll be back in ten minutes at most.” She was afraid of making a mess of Louis’s home.
Louis stared at her for a while, then nodded in agreement. He took a coat from the coat rack by the door and walked over to Elisa, draping it over her shoulders as if they were close. “Put on the coat, it’s cold outside. Do you have your phone?” Elisa didn’t refuse his kindness and started putting on the coat. “I have it, and the location is on,” she said.
Only then did Louis feel somewhat relieved. It was still raining outside, so he opened an umbrella and handed it to Elisa, then took a mask from the cupboard. “Wear the mask so no one recognizes you. Hurry back, your hair is still wet. I’ll blow-dry it for you when you return, so you don’t catch a cold.” “Okay, I’ll do as you say,” Elisa said, putting on the mask before she left.
Outside, Hamish felt like an outsider at the door. He tried to maintain his composure as he turned away, trembling. This scene was too much for him. He wanted to throw away Elisa’s coat and even break the hands that had touched her.
Concealing his violent emotions, Hamish said to the bewildered Tobias, “Go wait in the car.” Tobias nodded and quickly left.
Elisa went outside with an umbrella. It was raining, and the weather was cold, especially when the rain was mixed with the wind blowing on her face.
Elisa glanced at the road signs and walked toward the riverbank, with Hamish following closely behind in silence, only the sound of their shoes on the ground breaking the quiet.
“What do you want to say to me?” he asked. He had a lot to say to Elisa, but when it came down to it, he couldn’t find the words.
Hamish stared at the familiar figure ahead. He reached out his hand, feeling like he could touch her with just a light grip, but he suppressed his inner desire.
For these three years, he didn’t know how he had endured. He hadn’t slept well a single day, and not a day had passed when he hadn’t thought of her. Hopeless longing could corrode one’s soul. He thought he would live a life worse than death, but he hadn’t expected a second chance from fate.
Elisa had returned to his side, and they were very close. He could hear her breathing and feel her warmth. It didn’t feel strange to him at all that she had “come back to life.”
“Have you been here these three years, never gone away?” Hamish asked. His mouth carried a bitter smile. “It’s as if three years ago was just a nightmare, and you’ve been here all along, there was no fire, you didn’t die…”
Elisa interrupted Hamish’s soliloquy with a contemptuous chuckle. She stopped in her tracks, as if she had heard an enormous joke, and laughed until her body convulsed, her eyes reddening from the laughter.
She turned to touch her own face, and with a hoarse voice, she asked, “Hamish, looking at this face that doesn’t belong to me, this intact body, a stomach not ravaged by cancer, can you still deceive yourself that I didn’t die?” Yes, he couldn’t deceive himself. Elisa had indeed died once, in that fire, set by Finn in retaliation against him.
He still remembered the corpse dug out of the junkyard, Elisa’s burned face, and the bracelet that had fallen off her hand bone, which he still wore on his wrist.
“Elisa, I know that whatever I say is meaningless, but I still want to ask you to give me a chance. Can you forgive me? I’ll give you everything…” Hamish looked at her longingly, and after saying this, tears streamed down his cheeks.
Elisa looked disgusted. She stepped back, distancing herself from him. Over these three years, during a thousand nights and days, Hamish was no longer the superior Hamish.
“You want me to forgive you?” she said, surprised that Hamish would even say such a thing. Could a casual forgiveness from her flip the page? Could it erase the lives of five people? Her home was destroyed, people died, and she was imprisoned at home, treated like a breeding tool…