The driver’s door opened, and Tobias stepped out of the car, looking at Elisa. His expression was complex. After hesitating for a moment, he called out, “Mrs. Burns.”
Elisa frowned. “Tobias, the Elisa from back then died in that fire. Even if she wasn’t burned to death, she and Hamish had already divorced. I really can’t bear for you to call me Mrs. Burns.”
Tobias lowered his head, somewhat hesitant to meet Elisa’s sharp gaze. “I’m sorry.”
This apology, on one hand, was due to his slip of the tongue in the moment, and on the other, an apology for his own past indifference as a bystander.
“Miss Powell, what I’m about to say might be a bit much, but I still want to say it. I hope you can give Mr. Burns another chance. He truly knows he was wrong. In the three years since you left, he has been barely living, and last night, when you casually tossed your hair tie into the river, he desperately tried to retrieve it and almost died in the water…”
Elisa clicked her tongue. “That would have been a shame.”
Elisa’s words were somewhat sarcastic and gloomy. “If you think it’s too much, then don’t say it. You have no idea how painful it is when the injury isn’t on you. As a mere bystander offering apologies, what right do you have to persuade me to forgive him? These people are always apologizing, but they’ve never held back from inflicting pain.”
Tobias’s face stiffened. Elisa was speaking the truth; he truly had no standing. Yet, having witnessed how Hamish had managed to survive these three years, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of compassion.
Human hearts are unfair; his stance had leaned towards Hamish from the very beginning.
“Miss Powell, I know that no matter what I do, I can’t make up for the pain you suffered back then. When you drugged Mr. Burns and hurt his stomach, these past few years his gastric illness has been so severe that he often bleeds. Even though he should seek treatment, he refuses, saying he must endure the pain you experienced.”
“Do you remember the year you stabbed his palm with a silver fork? He has a permanent scar on his left hand and has damaged nerves, rendering it semi-paralyzed.”
“He even pulled out all the nails from his feet, and his left hand’s nails as well. Just like you did back then, he burned the word ‘Elisa’ into his left chest with a cigarette and cuts his legs with a knife every day. He truly experienced all the pain you endured.”
“Miss Powell, you should know that Mr. Burns lost both his parents at a young age. Do you know how they died? They died protecting him in a car accident, right in front of him. He stayed in the car with his parents’ bodies for nearly three hours. When he was finally rescued, he was drenched in blood from head to toe, and since then, he has been afraid of water and unable to swim.”
“Mr. Burns grew up in a dark environment, not understanding love and too afraid to love. When he fell into the water, you saved him. Although it was just a blurry figure, he remembered it for a lifetime. If it weren’t for Lila’s appearance and impersonation, things wouldn’t have turned out this way. But even so… Mr. Burns still fell in love with you. When he agreed to take you as a hostage to exchange for Lila, it was also to divert the attention of the kidnappers. Mr. Burns has too many enemies around him, and this was the only way to shift their focus away from you and stop threatening you.”
“After you lost your memory, there were reasons for it. When you were rescued, you were mentally shattered, and only hypnosis could save your life. The forced abortion was also because you had stomach cancer and needed treatment. After losing the child, he didn’t feel well either. He cried in pain holding the ashes of the child countless times. I have never seen Mr. Burns like that before. He tried so hard to please someone, sacrificing his dignity and kneeling on the ground.”
“Miss Powell, in the three years since you died, the most frequent thing he said was asking when he could grow old. He always remembered the last call you made to him, asking him to live until old age. So, he chose to live in such a self-destructive manner.”
As Tobias spoke, his eyes had turned suspiciously red.
Elisa chuckled. “Tobias, you’ve said so much. But you forgot, Hamish’s parents’ deaths weren’t caused by me. But my father’s death, my injuries, are closely related to him. I saved him. Even if he later confessed to the wrong person, that does not justify harming another. I admit I was also at fault. I shouldn’t have insisted on marrying him. Back then, I should have let him be with Lila. Scoundrels should be together. It was my own foolishness and recklessness that destroyed this marriage.”
“Mr. Burns never loved Lila,” Tobias instinctively retorted.
Elisa sneered, “That just makes him even more despicable, doesn’t it? He wanders among the flowers, untouched by any, loving no one, yet he forcibly entangles two women, trying to have the best of both worlds. It’s clear as day how despicable that is.”
Tobias fell silent. He seemed powerless to argue.
“Miss Powell, I have said so much just to tell you that Mr. Burns loves you. He is kneeling here because he has experienced all the pain you have suffered.”
“And so?” Elisa’s eyes held a hint of mockery.
Tobias hadn’t expected that even after saying so much, Elisa remained unresponsive.
After a two-second pause, Elisa said, “So if he knows regret, I’m supposed to forgive him? If he loves me, I’m supposed to accept him? There’s no such convenient thing in the world. Tobias, since you understand and care for him so much, why don’t you be with him? I wish you both a long and happy life together.”
Tobias was left speechless, caught between a rock and a hard place.
Elisa gazed at him, her laughter shining brightly, gentle and understanding, reasonable and empathetic.
“Please stick to your role as a bystander. If you still want to persuade me to forgive him, why don’t you first experience a broken home and the loss of your loved ones?”
Tobias pursed his lips, watching Elisa, but he didn’t say a word for a long time.
In this world, there is no true empathy. The so-called empathy is nothing more than watching a fire from across the river.
Elisa gently leaned her umbrella on her shoulder, lifted her foot, and walked away, brushing past Tobias. As she did, she said, “I have repaid in full what I owed him a long time ago, and he can never repay what he owes me. I need to see Mimi within three days. Also, since you now know that I’m alive, please tell Hamish that he needs to transfer the alimony after the divorce. Not a penny more, not a penny less, just a neat eight billion.”
Elisa’s car arrived, and she got in, lifting her skirt and shaking off as much rainwater from the umbrella as possible before wrapping it in a plastic bag.
The driver looked at her through the rearview mirror, curious. “What’s going on? Why is there a person lying on the ground? I think I saw blood.”
Elisa leaned back in her seat, her gaze calmly fixed on the scenery outside the window. The smile at the corner of her mouth faded away.
It was amusing. She had simply treated Hamish the way he had treated her, and yet he couldn’t bear it so quickly. After all, back then, she had fasted for four days, but he had knelt for a full half-hour.
Outside the car window, the wind and rain rustled the leaves.
Tobias helped Hamish up. “Mr. Burns, I did my best.”
Hamish was clearly delirious from the pain, repeatedly muttering the same words: “Elisa, don’t go…”
Blood still trickled from his mouth. Leaning against Tobias, his upper body convulsed. His already pale face, drenched by the rain, looked like a piece of old paper, devoid of any vitality, and if it weren’t for his faint breathing, he might have seemed frozen to death right there.
Tobias hoisted his cold body and hurriedly placed Hamish in the car, rushing him to the city hospital.
Naturally, the examination revealed severe conditions. Since last night, Hamish had been running a high fever, and this morning, before dawn, he had awakened, his first words being about Elisa’s whereabouts. He wanted to find Elisa.
Fortunately, when she left yesterday, Tobias had secretly arranged for someone to watch over this situation, so he knew right away when Elisa left in her car.
Hamish insisted on coming, leaving Tobias no choice but to take the car keys and drive him to the cemetery.
Without Hamish’s instructions, Tobias remained in the car, keeping watch. Although the car compartment was soundproof, he couldn’t hear their conversation, but by observing Elisa’s expression, he could guess the outcome.
To Tobias, Elisa had already died, died in that fire. Even if she had come back to life, she was no longer the same Elisa she once was.
Everyone understands this truth, but unfortunately, Hamish does not.
Tobias didn’t realize that the blow from Elisa would be so big that it could cause Hamish to almost die.
Not only did Hamish have a high fever, but he also had a perforated stomach, an inflamed throat, damaged vocal cords, and even his heart was in trouble, and as soon as he was admitted to the hospital, he was sent to the emergency room.