“Elisa has left, what’s the point of my effort?” Louis did everything for Elisa. He worked hard to take over the White family, all for the purpose of letting Elisa put her heart at ease. He fabricated an illusion of everything being fine, not wanting Elisa to worry or feel guilty.
Accustomed to sacrificing herself so as not to “burden” others, Elisa always put others before herself. This behavior traced back to her upbringing, a result of a lack of love and security. The slightest kindness shown to her would be etched in her memory forever, even a piece of candy given as a gesture of goodwill would become the most beautiful taste in her memory.
People lacking in love can be categorized into two types without a doubt: those who become indifferent and those who become extremely sensitive. The more they lack, the more they yearn for it. With very little sense of security, when someone provides that security, she will reciprocate.
Mrs. White fell silent.
Louis didn’t say much more. He abandoned his work completely to continue searching for Elisa.
No matter how hard he searched, he couldn’t find a trace of Elisa. She seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Mrs. White also spent a day searching, inquiring everywhere. She couldn’t find Elisa. Perhaps she had already left the area, disappeared for so long, maybe she had gone abroad.
Louis didn’t sleep a wink all night, and during the day, he ran around in the rain without eating. At most, he drank a few sips of hot water. With an acute attack of gastroenteritis, he endured the pain for a long time, his face turning slightly blue.
He replaced the IV needle on the back of his hand and continued to search after a brief rest. He didn’t take his own health into account at all.
Knowing she couldn’t persuade him, Mrs. White let him be. Hamish’s phone was also unreachable. Unable to get through via phone calls, she sent a text message.
Sending more wouldn’t be of any use. Mrs. White sent only one text, succinctly stating four words.
— Let’s talk in person.
During the time away from Louis, Elisa did not leave Bankshire. She was still in North Bankshire. Every day, she stared at her phone blankly or stood by the French window holding a book, seemingly unresponsive to whatever Hamish said, like a puppet, nothing like a living person.
Sometimes, Hamish felt he was quite despicable. He would rather Elisa scold him as she used to, calling him heartless or crazy, or even scum, rather than seeing her lose her soul like this.
Could it be… he had really done wrong?
“You haven’t eaten anything all day, aren’t you hungry?” Exhausted, Elisa curled up in the rocking chair. The heating was on in the room, and she was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt. The clothes were the ones she had left here six or seven years ago. The quality of the clothes was good, but after being left for so long, they had a slight musty smell, which would go away after being washed and dried.
Elisa didn’t bring any clothes. She didn’t want to wear the clothes Hamish had bought for her. She’d rather wear the old clothes she had left here before.
Watching her wear her old dress, Hamish’s eyes revealed a sense of nostalgia.
“You are still the same as you were at the beginning, nothing has changed.”
Looking at Elisa this way, Hamish’s mind conjured up her appearance at twenty. At that time, Elisa had a bold smile, and everyone said the Powell family’s young lady was proud like a swan, showing no interest in suitors. But every time she looked at Hamish, it was with tenderness and admiration.
No one expected that one day, the proud Elisa would give up her pride to pursue a man, causing a scandal. After that, Hamish turned the affectionate Elisa cold, even the sweet dimples on her face gradually disappeared.
The Elisa in his memory drifted further and further away from him. Even now, standing in front of him, he couldn’t imagine her looking at him with the same affection as before.
“I would be cheap and foolish if I remained the same as before.”
Hamish’s heart tightened. “That’s not what I meant.”
Elisa gave a cold sneer, her smile forced: “Then what did you mean?”
The harm Hamish caused her was a double blow of retaliation, not only physical but also physiological torment. In the years since her death, Hamish had kept everything here well-preserved, even the wedding photos she had smashed and thrown away were restored and left untouched in their original positions.
Elisa’s heart couldn’t help but ache, so heartbroken that she couldn’t even summon anger.
“Hamish, you pretend that nothing has changed.”
Hamish’s finger twitched, and he clenched his hand, smoothly changing the subject: “Have something to eat, your stomach isn’t feeling well. Don’t starve yourself.”