Hamish couldn’t listen to what Tobias was saying. He stood up, opened a drawer, and took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Ignoring Tobias’s dissuasion, he forcefully lit a cigarette and held it in his mouth.
It had been a long time since he had smoked. Not used to the smell of the cigarette, he suddenly coughed uncontrollably, blood staining the cigarette. The cigarette fell from his mouth to the ground, the flickering flame eventually extinguishing, leaving behind a layer of ash, marking the clean floor.
Tobias’s voice reached his ears, but Hamish didn’t hear a word. He watched Tobias rush to get some medicine and a glass of water, but as Tobias handed it to him, Hamish knocked the glass over, pushing himself onto the arm of the sofa. He struggled to stand, his legs trembling, as if a gentle push would make him collapse.
Seeing Hamish in such a state made Tobias think of Elisa, who had suffered from a terminal illness, enduring pain. She had it worse than Hamish.
At the very least… Hamish had not been forced to kneel in the pouring rain, had not undergone a miscarriage, had not been falsely accused and humiliated…
The pain Hamish felt now was not inflicted by anyone else, but by his own unrealistic expectations.
Tobias, as Hamish’s assistant and work partner, could not, in good conscience, leave him. He watched as Hamish swayed, and went over to support him. “Mr. Burns, where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to the White family, to find Louis, to find Elisa…”
“And then what?”
Hamish suddenly couldn’t answer. His head felt heavy, his vision alternating between darkness and light.
“Mr. Burns, have you ever considered that your feelings for Miss Powell stem from your dissatisfaction with the past?”
Yes, he was dissatisfied. Hamish met Tobias’s gaze, but didn’t know how to respond.
It was the first time Tobias had ever looked at him with such cold, indifferent eyes, a look that left him puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
Tobias let go of Hamish and placed his hands on his thighs, his tone firm, his voice slightly weighted. “Your feelings for her are just a loss of control, a possessiveness you’re accustomed to. You say you’ve let Miss Powell go, but when have you ever really let her go? Your repeated unkept promises have pushed Miss Powell away from you.”
Tobias had made up his mind. Even if he risked being fired, he had to speak his mind.
By clinging to Elisa, Hamish was making both her and himself suffer. Sometimes Tobias didn’t understand what Hamish was thinking. After working with him for so many years, it was as if Tobias had never truly understood the man.
It was all for Elisa’s good, to see Louis’s choice, but when he saw the two of them together, he couldn’t bear it.
It was like a trapped animal facing death, letting out one last futile cry.
Tobias, in his thirties and still single, used to have some thoughts about relationships, but after witnessing the relationship between Hamish and Elisa, he had become wary. If even an onlooker like him was afraid, how could Elisa, who had suffered so much, not be afraid?
People aren’t foolish, and Elisa was not the kind to go back on her decisions, especially when those decisions were so painful.
It’s often said that onlookers see more than the players, and Tobias seemed to have figured it out. But Hamish hadn’t, he needed someone to wake him up. Others didn’t dare, so it had to be Tobias.
Tobias didn’t dare to truly scold, he could only speak the truth.
“Mr. Burns, in fact, you are not the only one for Miss Powell. Didn’t you live quite well in the three years she was gone? Now that she’s back, you’re clinging to her. Have you ever considered that this is just your possessiveness, and perhaps you don’t love her as much as you think?”
This was the first time Tobias had spoken like this. Hamish’s face darkened, his breath turning cold. After a long while, he said, “I love her… I am very clear that I love her…”
“Mr. Burns, come to your senses. Can you call that love?” Tobias took two steps back, creating distance between them, and said slowly, word by word, “Think about the things you’ve done in the past, forcing her to do things she didn’t like. Now the person she loves is in trouble, and you see her upset, heartbroken, and afraid. Is that love? Mr. Burns, love is not about possession, it’s about letting go and understanding…”
“Butthey don’t deserve each other!”
“You are the one who is the most undeserving. How long can you live in the late stages of lung cancer? If you really love Miss Powell, you should find someone who can take care of her and accompany her for the rest of her life, rather than driving away everyone around her one by one. Even if Miss Powell forgives you and you reconcile with her, then what? Can you accompany her to old age? After you die, have you thought about what she will do?”
“I haven’t thought about being able to accompany her to old age…” Hamish’s eyes welled up, his face uncomfortably cold.
He did like to take matters into his own hands, and many people didn’t understand, not even Tobias, who had been with him all this time.