The self-confidence and pride inherent in Elisa were things Aoife could never learn, but Aoife possessed a unique tenderness that Elisa did not have.
Finn found himself thinking about Aoife again. He couldn’t understand why, clearly, this was Aoife’s face and body, but it didn’t seem like her at all. This was Elisa, but where had Aoife gone, and would she ever return?
In Finn’s life, apart from his mother, there were only two women he held in special regard: Elisa and Aoife. In Elisa, he saw the shadow of his mother, because loving a man had consumed her entire life. However, his mother and Elisa were completely different. His mother was too weak, like a tuft of grass, only able to depend on a man, no matter how he treated her, she would look at him expectantly and plead with him.
Unlike Elisa, who could move from liking to disappointment, from disappointment to disdain, and once she made up her mind not to turn back, she wouldn’t. She even used suicide to retaliate against Hamish. He admired this determination in Elisa, but at the same time, he wanted to destroy it because it was something his mother didn’t have.
When Aoife liked someone, she was very much like his mother, weak and easily taken advantage of. Kindness and respect were unnecessary for her. During the time he was with Aoife, it felt like he was taking care of a pet. After getting used to it, he nearly forgot she was a person. She could feel pain and cry, and when she left, she was as resolute as Elisa, never looking back.
Finn brought the dipping sauce without coriander to his side and tasted it. In truth, whether it had coriander or not made little difference.
“When did you come back?” Finn implied something, but everyone at the table was engrossed in eating, and few noticed Finn’s words.
Finn’s question was directed at Elisa. Elisa paused with her chopsticks, “Do you remember Aoife’s birthday? That’s the day I came back.”
Aoife’s birthday was easy to remember, June 1st. Elisa returned that day, and Aoife died on that day.
“Are you sad?” Finn shook his head, his expression silent.
Elisa sneered coldly, “You are so much like Hamish, truly brothers. However, you are even more ruthless than him. At least Hamish would regret, but I can’t see it in you. People like you, who play with others’ hearts, aren’t you afraid of never finding true love in your lifetime?”
Finn self-mockingly replied, “Can you eat true love?”
“During the year when Aoife was with you, she cooked every day. What you ate, can’t be called a meal, is it more like feces?” Elisa’s mouth, when gentle, was as nourishing as water, but when cruel, it was as piercing as a knife to the heart.
Finn instantly lost his appetite.
Elisa couldn’t eat facing Finn either. Just then, a server came over, “Miss Powell, someone is waiting for you outside.”
“Someone is waiting for me?” Elisa touched her phone and saw an unread message from Louis.
“Are you still eating? I’m waiting for you outside.”
Elisa stood up abruptly, “I need to go outside to meet someone,” and hurried out.
“Why so urgent? Who is Elisa going out to meet?” “A friend, it can’t be a boyfriend, right,” everyone joked.
Asher calmly sipped his soup, raising his eyebrows, thinking to himself: Not a boyfriend, it’s a husband. Elisa is off to meet her husband, she hit the jackpot.
Elisa made a call and saw Louis. His arm was still wrapped in bandages, but the wound on his forehead had already scarred over, not affecting his looks in any significant way.
“Have you eaten?” Elisa ran over.
“Not yet. I had planned to celebrate with you somewhere, but little did I know your crew had arranged a wrap-up banquet for you,” Louis said, his mouth moving awkwardly. He had lost a tooth, and speaking felt strange to him. He was worried that Elisa would notice, so he kept his mouth mostly closed.
But even so, Elisa noticed.
“What happened to your tooth?” Elisa frowned, looking at his mouth.
Was it because his mouth was like Autumn’s, and she cared so much that she noticed so quickly?
Louis gripped his left hand, “I accidentally knocked it out.”
“How did you knock out a tooth?” Elisa reached out directly, touching his jaw. “Can you open your mouth and let me see?”
Louis turned his head, his complexion unnatural, “Okay, I’ll tell you. I didn’t knock itout, I had it pulled out. I thought those two teeth were affecting my looks and wouldn’t be good for acting, so I decided to pull them and get replacements.”
“Do teeth really affect your acting? Besides, your canine teeth don’t affect your looks at all.” Elisa kept staring at his mouth, feeling like Louis’s eyes were evasive. She let go, “Then why did you only pull one?”
Louis covered his mouth, trying to explain, “Pulling teeth hurts too much. I pulled one, and I’ll wait a bit for the other one. If I pull them all at once, it’s hard to eat, you see I’ve lost weight recently.”
When injured, one should eat lighter food, and after tooth extraction, one needs to be careful about what they eat and might not be able to eat much, as anything put in there would hurt.
From the moment Elisa first saw Louis, she felt he was thin. His skin was originally fair, and now, having been ill, he seemed to glow under the light.