Ivan looked at Elisa at the end of the red carpet, tears flowing down his face without him realizing it. He didn’t notice he was crying until Micah, who was next to him, coldly asked, “Why are you crying?”
Suddenly, Ivan couldn’t catch his breath from crying. He gasped for air, choked up, and said, “I feel like I saw my sister.”
Micah’s throat tightened, his eyes turning red as well. He looked at Elisa on stage and said, “Unfortunately, your sister is already dead.”
He knew that his sister Elisa was dead. This Elisa had the same name, but they had no connection. Yet, he didn’t understand why he felt that they were so alike, as if they were the same person.
Every time he thought about Elisa’s ashes floating in the cold sea water, he couldn’t bear the pain. Even after all these years, he still dreams about Elisa, dreaming of that time in the Bankshire underground casino when he abandoned her, while Elisa cried and called out to him from behind.
“Brother, are you really going to abandon me?”
He had abandoned Elisa twice. The first time, she was still a little girl, around seven or eight years old. He had taken her to the amusement park and left her there, alone. He went back home alone, feeling guilty and scared when children do something bad, and he had planned to go find her. However, he didn’t expect her to come back alone when it got dark.
He thought she would complain to their grandfather, but she didn’t mention it at all. Instead, she developed a high fever and a rash in the middle of the night and was sent to the hospital.
Ever since then, Elisa never went out alone with him again.
Until that time, when he was caught in the Bankshire underground casino and someone threatened to cut off his hand, Elisa still came without hesitation when she heard he was in danger.
Whenever he thought about all this, he couldn’t stop feeling regret. He looked at his broken right hand and thought, “I deserve it. It was with this hand that I pushed away my own sister.”
Ivan believed that the sensation of losing his hand was the greatest pain he had ever experienced in his life. But only after Elisa’s death, when he lost the only family he had left, did he truly understand that the greatest pain was being the only person left in this world, without any family.
In his midnight dreams, he always dreamed of Elisa and their mother.
His mother looked at him in sorrow, her eyes filled with anger. Her voice trembled as she said, “Why did you abandon your sister? Didn’t you say you would protect her for the rest of your life? Why didn’t you protect her properly? Why did you let other men bully her?”
He wanted to reach out and hug his mother, but she pushed him away and shouted angrily, “I don’t have a son like you!”
He woke up, just like he did now, with tears streaming down his face, unable to stop crying.
If he had treated Elisa better, maybe she wouldn’t have died. If he hadn’t abandoned her in the Bankshire underground casino, maybe she wouldn’t have died. If he had cared more about her and known that Elisa frequently went to the hospital, maybe she wouldn’t have died. If he had taken Elisa away from Hamish, maybe she wouldn’t have died…
It wasn’t until after Elisa’s death that he learned from Micah that she had early-stage stomach cancer. She went to the hospital alone for check-ups, chemotherapy, blood tests, and repeated gastroscopic examinations.
She suffered endless domestic violence from Hamish and lost a child, which led her to fall into depression while lying in a hospital bed.
His sister, the pride of the Powell family, the beloved daughter of the Powell family in Bankshire, became a madwoman because of them and died in a distant place, burned in a fire.
“If she hadn’t died, maybe she would have been so happy,” he thought.
But there are no “ifs” in this world, and certainly no “maybes.”
Ivan lifted his head and looked at the unmanned drone in the sky, silently praying in his heart, “Mom, can you see our sister? Today, I attended a wedding, and the bride’s name is also Elisa. I wish this Elisa was my sister.”
Ivan sat at the table, drinking and eating with his head down. He had become adept at using his prosthetic right hand and his remaining left hand, and there were no inconveniences in his daily life.
The newlyweds came out to toast and arrived at his table. Ivan stood up, not wanting to stare at a woman, but he couldn’t control his gaze. He looked at Elisa standing next to Louis.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn’t know what to say.
However, Micah, beside him, spoke first, “Congratulations on your wedding.”
Elisa replied, “Thank you.”
She felt immense gratitude towards Micah. Without Micah, there would be no her today, and no Louis.
Elisa’s gaze lightly swept past Ivan. There was no surprise in her eyes. She invited Ivan to the White family, and she had known this for a long time.
Ivan, seeing Elisa looking his way, couldn’t stop his trembling hand holding the glass and his stuttering voice as he said, “I wish you a lifetime of happiness, many children, and a blissful marriage…”
For Ivan, his feelings towards Elisa were not as deep anymore. Those excess emotions from the past seemed to have faded with time.
However, seeing him appear before her once again, at her wedding no less, caused a slight pang in her heart, like being bitten by an ant – not painful, but with a hint of sourness.
With a hoarse voice, Elisa replied, “Thank you.”
After finishing her drink, Elisa held Louis’ hand and adjusted her dress, preparing to turn around, when Ivan suddenly called out to her.
“Can you… call me brother?” Ivan didn’t know how those words came out of his mouth. It was as if he was being controlled by some external force. It was only after speaking that he realized what he had said. Everyone at the table looked at him as if he was joking, making him embarrassed and wanting to find a hole to crawl into.
Everyone in the room probably thought he was trying to climb the social ladder.
However, now that he had said it, Ivan didn’t want to take it back. He was just embarrassed and said, “Please don’t misunderstand, I have a sister named Elisa too, and she looks so much like you. When I see you, I can’t help but think of her… She is just as beautiful and outstanding as you…” In his heart, the past Elisa was even more outstanding and dazzling than this Elisa. No one could compare to his own sister.
Seeing that Elisa didn’t respond, Ivan started to ramble, “I just said it without thinking… I didn’t mean to gain any advantage. I truly couldn’t hold it in. My sister passed away six years ago… And I… I miss her a little…” By the end, his voice was choked with tears. It was too embarrassing and too disgraceful. If it weren’t for the inappropriate occasion, he would have turned around and left. Everyone in the room watched him coldly, and no one came to his aid.
Head lowered, Ivan couldn’t bear to look at Elisa’s embarrassed face. He was about to apologize, “Sorry…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Elisa on the opposite side softly called out, “Brother.”
He stood frozen in place for a long time. When he finally reacted, a gust of wind blew, drying the tears at the corners of his eyes. He looked up to see Elisa’s figure, already walking away from him.
With teary eyes, Ivan blinked away the pain, and tears trickled down his cheeks.
Micah, beside him, patted his shoulder in a comforting manner.
“You said… when I grow old and die, and I see Elisa, will she still call me brother? Will my sister forgive me?”
Micah replied, “Maybe… she has already forgiven you.”