“Hamish, I wish you a safe and peaceful life, accompanied by warm winter sunshine and cool summer breeze. May your future be full of success, good health, and the meeting of a worthy partner, until old age… In the future… Let’s meet again, year after year, in peace…”
Not all mistakes are worthy of forgiveness, and of course… Not all things should be held onto with resentment.
Elisa said that she had truly let go, and in the end, she didn’t hate him or curse him.
To meet a worthy partner and grow old together… But his worthy partner no longer desires him… Does he still have time to grow old?
The night wind became colder and colder, piercing his body like needles, seeping through his pores as if freezing his organs. Hamish knelt on the ground, watching the gradually disappearing figure in front of him.
Curling up on the ground like an injured trapped animal, he licked his own wounds alone.
He didn’t know how long it had passed, but slowly, Hamish took a deep breath. He struggled to stand up, his legs stiff from kneeling for too long. As he got up, a numbness from his calves spread to both legs. Crawling and walking, he made his way back to the rocking chair Elisa had sat on earlier.
The fireworks in the sky were still going, lasting for half an hour. In addition to the fireworks, he had also prepared sparklers, which he found and ignited, resembling blooming dandelions.
Hamish held one in his hand, looking up at the starless sky. As the fireworks burned out, only darkness remained.
-Perhaps in this life, you’re the person you longed to meet in your previous life.
The person you didn’t cherish, the person you tormented, the person you once despised, perhaps they are the person you silently wished for from the depths of your heart in your previous life, wanting to have in this life.
So, stop talking about meeting in the next life. Cherish the opportunity in this life if you can.
Elisa being able to come back was his greed. He still wanted to use various means to keep her by his side, like a fishhook latching onto a fish, a cage trapping a bird, or a kite tied to a string.
When Elisa died, he went crazy for a while, always feeling her presence, living in front of his eyes.
But now… He truly felt Elisa disappear from his life.
The moment of losing the person you love doesn’t tear your heart apart. On the contrary, it feels calm. After reaching a state of tranquility, on a certain night, you realize you can’t fall asleep no matter what, staying awake until dawn with the gentle breeze brushing against the window sill.
The immense emptiness of losing a future with that person surrounds you in an instant. Your heart suddenly aches, tears unconsciously covering your cheeks.
Hamish sat on the rocking chair the entire night, countless burnt-out sparklers on the ground. He watched as the sun rose on the horizon. Hamish closed his eyes, and tears overflowed uncontrollably. He cried louder and louder, like a child losing something important for the first time.
Tears flowed down Hamish’s face, his mouth coughing up blood. His throat burned painfully, and his hands trembled. Even his scalp felt cold and painful. Although his whole body was in pain and numbness, he still felt intense pain, especially in his left chest area, as if it had been stabbed and left a hole for the cold wind to blow in, freezing his organs. He hunched over, and in addition to the sparkler in his hand, there was a crumpled “wish list” in his arms.
Over twenty wishes on the list had been checked off, the paper wrinkled and crumpled as he clenched it into a ball. Even though he had completed everything without any regrets, he still felt empty inside.
Hunching over, he reached into his pocket and shakily dialed a number on his phone.
After five seconds of ringing, someone picked up, but remained silent.
Hamish paused, his voice hoarse. “Tobias, I finally understand what you said. Loving someone doesn’t necessarily mean being together… I waited for her to come back, but missed her. She married me for four years, and I waited for her for six years. It seemed like the tracks that were supposed to intersect and reconnect, but now I see her happily with someone else.” He let out a sigh, his mouth filled with an increasingly bitter taste.
There was still no sound on the other end of the phone, but Hamish knew that Tobias was listening.
Now, only Tobias was willing to be his listener, patiently allowing him to confide in him repeatedly.
“Tobias, come back. There’s no need to do those things anymore…”
After remaining silent for so long, Tobias finally responded to those words. “Okay.”
The amusement park accident was arranged by him, as was loosening the brakes. He was the one who sent Elisa the text messages, and he was the one who informed her about Hamish’s late-stage lung cancer. He was also the one who “threatened” her.
Tobias had been with Hamish for too long. Aside from being Hamish’s superior, they were more like friends and family to each other. After all these years, the person who had been with Hamish the longest, counting neither Lila nor Elisa, was him.
Hamish had done many foolish and bad things, but if it weren’t for Tobias, who observed coldly from the sidelines and deceived him for his own benefit, perhaps this situation wouldn’t have occurred.
Hamish was dying. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer, and it was Tobias who took him to the hospital. From the mid-stage to the late stage, Hamish gave up treatment and relied on medication to live day by day, treasuring each day he had.
Tobias wanted him to keep living, but “living” wasn’t something that could easily be done. The illness was serious, and death was only a matter of time.
At least… let him be happier during this time. That was what Tobias thought, even though he couldn’t achieve it himself. Only Elisa could.
But Elisa couldn’t return to Hamish’s side.
The remaining option was for Hamish to figure it out on his own.
Unfortunately, Hamish was trapped in a dead end and couldn’t find a way out. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t let go of Elisa.
On that day, Tobias and Hamish had an argument. Hamish told him to leave, and he really did leave. He also considered leaving for good. After working for so many years, he could easily find a less demanding job outside of Hamish’s control.
But when he thought about how Hamish would never be able to let go and would die with sorrow, he decided to help him.
So he devised a series of events, never intending to harm anyone, just wanting to scare Elisa a little.
After being with Hamish for so many years, he understood not only Hamish but also Elisa.
Using gentle methods would never make Elisa willingly come back. Even if he kneeled in front of her until death, she might not even spare him a glance. Only by resorting to familiar tactics such as threats and intimidation, as they did in the past, would he have a chance.
As expected, everything went according to plan, step by step, until Elisa went to Hamish’s side. Even then, Tobias didn’t let his guard down and continued paying a high price to have a detective monitor the situation.
Hamish had always known that Tobias was behind all this, but he didn’t say anything or explain. He allowed Elisa to misunderstand.
He knew that everything Tobias did was for his own good.
To make him understand that keeping Elisa by his side could never achieve what he fantasized. Elisa would only hate him more.
He also understood that letting her go was the best choice.
Finally, he understood the words Tobias had once said.
To love someone doesn’t necessarily mean being together.
Compared to him, the White family was a better choice. At least they didn’t hold onto Elisa for their own interests. When Mrs. White used all of the White family’s assets as a bargaining chip, he knew that he lost this gamble.