After Hamish’s death, the single noble ladies of Chiwood lost a target for their daydreams. The women who once saw Hamish as their dream lover would gradually find their own happiness. Hamish’s appearance was like a missed subway train, briefly stopping in their lives before swiftly departing. Many years later, two or three friends would gather together, reminiscing about the youthful faces that once amazed them.
Someone said, “Hamish, ah…”
The most unforgettable individuals, in the vast universe, are like shooting stars that quickly flash and become dust, minuscule and pitiful.
Some will remember, while others will forget.
Hamish was a powerful figure in the Chiwood business world, achieving much at a young age and destined to become a legendary figure.
In the past, Tobias often ridiculed Hamish as a refined scoundrel, arrogant and cruel, only interested in exploiting employees. Yet, upon seeing the long string of digits on his paycheck each month, Tobias couldn’t help but marvel at what a good boss he was.
People are contradictory creatures. The bad is indeed bad, the hated truly hated, and the admired is deeply admired. Hamish was formidable. Those around him habitually regarded the powerful Hamish as a god-like figure, unaware that he too was weak and insecure, capable of selfishness and evasion when faced with insurmountable challenges. Slowly, in this world of deception, he lost himself.
One often hears the question: Are the wealthy happy?
The answer is that a rich person’s happiness is beyond imagination.
Is Hamish, as such a wealthy man, living happily?
Some spend wealth recklessly, losing love. Some toil their whole lives for a house. While others struggle to make ends meet on the streets, unable to afford a meal.
Life is fraught with troubles, exhaustion, discontent, and pain. No one can be entirely happy, but in the face of death, those troubles and pains become trivial.
The same goes for resentment.
Elisa no longer harbored resentment towards Hamish. Would she miss him? When thinking of him, would she feel sadness or an involuntary smile?
In their youth, they always believed in eternal love, unaware that eternity sometimes ends.
When Elisa wanted to marry Hamish, she truly loved him, regardless of childhood memories. People will always be drawn to outstanding individuals.
And with that “memory” imbued in her, Elisa could love Hamish for so long, drawing blood for the man she loved for four years, enduring a stomach illness that turned into stomach cancer, and choosing not to tell him about her impending death, not wanting to show any weakness. In the end, even as the Powell family vanished, she still wished them well when parting ways.
Elisa was somewhat naive back then. She had never felt fully loved, so in a state of extreme deprivation of love, she clung tightly to anyone who showed her even a glimmer of affection.
People always lean towards the positive, hoping that they might touch someone’s heart. But in reality, they only touch their own. Elisa was not irrational or unable to distinguish right from wrong; she was just too stubborn and yearned for love. Love brings happiness after all…
Hamish once told Elisa that he liked her eyes. She overlooked the word “eyes” and thought he liked her.
It was only when she saw Lila that she noticed their eyes were truly similar.
-“Hamish, should we try getting married?”
-“Stop kidding, I have someone I love.”
-“Is it that girl named Lila? Listen to me, she’s not right for you.”
-“I owe her my life, I promised her I would marry her.”
-“Are you marrying her out of love or because she saved you?”
At that moment, Hamish looked deeply into Elisa’s beautiful eyes and said, “It’s because I love you.”
Elisa didn’t want to know about Hamish and Lila’s affairs, for fear she would feel jealous, bitter, and uncomfortable. So she didn’t ask, and he didn’t say.
Elisa only said, “I will prove that Lila is not right for you. The one who should be with you shouldn’t seek your protection from behind but stand by your side as your equal.”
Back then, Elisa was proud and arrogant. She committed her first mistake in life, offering Lila fifty million to test her loyalty. When Lila chose the money and left, Elisa thought she had won. But when Lila got into a car accident, everything changed.
Hamish sought Elisa’s help to save Lila.
Elisa said, “The accident was planned by her. She wanted to blame me.”
“Do you have evidence?”
Elisa had no evidence, and the only witness had fled. How could she make Hamish believe her? Who would sacrifice their womb to stage a car accident, especially when Hamish so deeply loved Lila? What could she say to make him trust her?
“You’re saying all of this because you don’t want to help her, Elisa. Is it so difficult to save a life by drawing some blood?”
“Fine, if you want me to draw blood to save Lila, we must get married. You must become my man.”
At that moment, Hamish, feeling tense and confused, stared at Elisa and said, “Fine, let’s get married. Don’t regret it.”
Regret? Yes… she regretted it. The gamble she set had not only failed but also cost her a lifetime.
If only she had known how painful entangling one’s heart could be, she would never have met him.
After Elisa’s death, she heard a divine voice asking her if she wanted the chance to relive her life. Her answer was no. Going back in time wouldn’t change anything. Her feigned arrogance was irretrievable, and she would still be the “enemy” born without a mother, resented by her father and brother.
She knew her existence only brought misery to others. If she had never been born, her mother would still be alive, her parents in love, her brother content. Her grandfather wouldn’t have succumbed to stomach cancer.
And Hamish? Hamish would still be Hamish. Perhaps he would have married Lila, but his life would have nothing to do with her.
Her return to the past held no meaning. She should not have sought a little love or clung to so much. Why hold onto something so dearly? Couldn’t she live like an ordinary person? Even without being fully loved, she had money. In the world of extravagance and excess, she could still find happiness.
But that version of Elisa wouldn’t truly be Elisa. Lost in a world of indulgence, she would be someone else entirely. Compared to the pain of her previous life, it would be better, much better.
Contentment leads to happiness and eliminates regret.
Elisa and Hamish spent most of their lives entangled in pain, surpassing the lifetimes of ordinary people. Elisa never expected to cry over Hamish’s death.
For the regrets of their past missteps, for herself, for letting go of the past, for their brief love, for the wrong methods used, and for that mistake in life she shouldn’t have made.
When she most despised him and wished for his death, he didn’t die. Now that she no longer hated him, he was gone.
-“Hamish, stop smoking.”
-“Hamish, smoke less.”
-“Hamish, smoking is harmful to your health. I bought you nicotine gum. Will you try it?”
“In the past, when I told you not to smoke, you still did. Did you really think I was harming you?” Elisa self-deprecatingly said, tears streaming down her face.
Hamish smoking was akin to Elisa not eating regularly, slowly developing stomach issues, which eventually turned into stomach cancer. Despite knowing the harm it caused, he didn’t change, leading to a slow death.
Hamish saw Elisa’s eyes and found them beautiful and familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before. It was only later that he realized her eyes looked much like Lila’s.
Preconception led him to believe Lila came first, but he had never thought Elisa’s eyes resembled Lila’s. It was Lila who had eyes similar to Elisa’s.
On January 22, Elisa and Louis got married.
Watching their wedding live stream, Hamish cried inconsolably, his heart breaking.
As Elisa recited her vows to the officiator, he couldn’t help but remember their past. Her words echoed in his mind, as if they had just been uttered yesterday.
She said, “Hamish, the one meant to be with you for a lifetime is me, Elisa.”
Yes, the one meant to be with him for a lifetime was her. He lost her first, so in the end, she no longer wanted him.
In love, hurting each other was inevitable. The deeper the love, the heavier the hurt. Overcoming it led to transcendence, but failure led to a abyss. Late genuine feelings are as thin as paper, as cheap as a mosquito.
People may act, but the heavens are always watching. Those who do wrong will face punishment, as heaven never spares those who do wrong.
For four years of marriage to him, Elisa sent the most texts and made the most calls, all asking about him.
-“Hamish, are you coming home today?”
-I want to go home… I really want to go home…
If she had always been waiting for you to come home, why didn’t you ever “come home”?
She wanted a home, but didn’t she have one early on?
If there is such a thing as divinity, another life, or a next life, could he be given another chance at having a home?
“I want a home, and I also want a warm home with her. Am I being too greedy?”
Hamish’s inheritance was transferred to Elisa, a vast fortune that, even divided by three, was the largest sum she had ever seen. This money had been with the Burns family for generations.
Tobias instructed her to hand one portion to the White family. She delivered it to Mrs. White.
Mrs. White, upon reading the will, was stunned, as if her soul had momentarily left her body in the face of overwhelming disbelief.
Elisa conveyed the messages Tobias and she had discussed.
Gradually, Mrs. White asked, “How do you intend to use this money?”
Without hesitation, Elisa replied, “Donate it to the government for road and bridge construction, fund impoverished areas, contribute to orphanages, build schools…” There were many avenues for its utilization.
Pushing the will towards Elisa, Mrs. White said, “Let’s do it together…”