Finn scoured through cabinets and finally found some medicine in the bedside table. Common medicines were neatly boxed inside – anti-inflammatories, stomach pills, cold medicine, ibuprofen, headache pills, sleeping pills…
Taking a stomach pill and ibuprofen, Finn felt some relief. Without Aoife, he had to settle for takeout.
He ordered from the highest-rated takeout place, but the taste was off. With an unsettled stomach, Finn couldn’t finish the meal.
This was what it felt like to be alone at home.
Finn glanced at the monitor, then remembered something. He went upstairs to the study, turned on the computer, and connected to the monitor. He rewound the footage to two days ago, after he left home. Aoife sat quietly at the dining table, staring blankly.
Finn didn’t fast forward, just watched Aoife on the screen.
Aoife was as despicable as he thought, throwing herself at other men. She wasn’t even angry, washing the dishes, cleaning the floor, even washing the clothes he had changed out of.
Then she went into the bedroom, changing clothes before coming out again. She was clearly trying to mimic Elisa’s confident and bright expression, yet no matter how much she smiled, her eyes betrayed her sadness.
But there was no denying it… Finn watched the person on the screen.
This was the most like Elisa that Aoife had ever “acted”, and it was the last time.
After that, Aoife left. Finn fast-forwarded the video and saw Aoife returning at three in the morning, dressed in a man’s coat.
Finn’s heart felt heavy, like swallowing a cactus, unable to go up or down. Whose clothes was she wearing? Finn couldn’t shake off this question.
Finn found himself ridiculous. He could throw Aoife to Hamish without batting an eye, but he couldn’t stand any other man touching her, even just to put a coat on her.
He threw Aoife to Hamish because he knew someone like Hamish wouldn’t bother with Aoife.
The things he had used, even if he threw them away, he hoped she would keep them clean and untouched by others, especially since he hadn’t truly “used” her.
With his fists clenched on the table, Finn struggled to close the video, until he saw Aoife return to the bedroom with a suitcase in hand.
Finn had never seen this suitcase before and wondered what was inside. She could abandon her valuable jewelry and clothes, but only drag this tattered suitcase along.
A person with a humble heart, even if clothed in expensive clothes and adorned with expensive jewelry, would still carry a sense of poverty.
Finn continued to stare at the man’s coat on Aoife. Suddenly, Aoife stopped in front of a camera, her eyes hollow. She stared at the camera, her gaze as if directed towards Finn on the other side.
“Mr. Snearl, goodbye.”
Those five simple words resonated clearly in his ears, as Finn watched her leave North Bankshire under the cover of night.
It was at that moment that Finn truly felt Aoife had left.
She said “goodbye” and not “see you later.” She truly didn’t want to see him again.
Finn remembered what the driver had told him. Once something is given away, it can’t be taken back.
How could such a despicable person not come back?
Little did Finn know, Aoife’s “despicability” stemmed from her affection for him, willing to be despicable in treating him well. But unrequited love and kindness would eventually wear thin.
Finn felt momentarily lost. For three days, Finn carried on with his routine as usual – waking up, eating, working, exercising, occasionally drinking. Everything appeared normal, but deep down, everything felt off.
Someone had replaced Aoife’s role, and Finn had to hire three people to barely handle the tasks she used to do. But none of them could match Aoife’s cooking, cleaning, or laundry skills.
All the unfamiliarity gradually became routine. Aside from the dissatisfaction in his life, Finn began to experience auditory hallucinations – constantly hearing his phone vibrate but finding no new messages.
On the fourth day, Finn couldn’t resist anymore. He called Aoife, not to ask her to come back, but to inquire how she washed his clothes to leave the scent of agarwood.
But the call only rang for three seconds before a cold automated message interrupted.
“Sorry, the number you dialed is currently in a call…”
Hung up on? Finn called again, but it was the same automated message every time. He tried messaging her on Facebook, only to see the recipient had blocked him.
Aoife had really blacklisted and deleted him.
Finn was infuriated, grinding his phone’s edges. “Well done, Aoife,” he muttered.
He lit a cigarette, trying to numb his emotions but only found it igniting like dynamite. The more he tried to suppress his thoughts, the more they consumed him.
His secretary nervously brought him a cup of coffee, which Finn promptly shattered. “Get out!” he bellowed.
The secretary fled with her hair in disarray. Even the coffee Aoife made tasted better.
Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her?
The more he tried, the harder it became. Finn felt like he was losing his mind.
After work, the driver came to pick him up. On the way home, Finn asked, “When you dropped Aoife off at the hotel that night, did she come back alone or was she accompanied?”
The driver recalled, “That night, Miss Powell had her luggage and intended to leave. It was late, so I offered to take her, but she refused, saying someone was waiting for her outside.”
“Do you know who it was?”
The driver shook his head.
Not wanting to show how much he cared about Aoife, Finn didn’t push further.
Even the observant driver knew that Finn still cared about Aoife.
Aoife hadn’t been gone long, yet Finn found himself becoming irritable every day. His eyes grew red again.
Unable to let go but not willing to swallow his pride and fetch her back, it was a struggle only Finn understood, silently, lest he lost his job.
Back at home, the chef inquired about Finn’s dinner preference. Finn didn’t feel like talking and just said, “Anything,” before heading upstairs.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that Aoife’s departure wasn’t as straightforward as he assumed. He had thought he could dismiss her easily, but now he couldn’t help but investigate what had transpired that night.
What had Aoife experienced at the hotel, who she met, and who gave her the coat.
Investigating wasn’t difficult. Within an hour, Finn found the hotel’s surveillance footage from that night, uncovering Aoife’s movements.
Watching her being thrown out of the hotel, hunched over with her hand covering her head, her hair disheveled, hiding her expression behind the rain, shivering in the cold rain while passersby watched and gossiped.
She left that place, looking disheveled. Finn discovered that Aoife went to the hospital afterward, her pinky finger fractured and in a cast – a result of Hamish’s cruelty.
Hamish often boasted about his ruthlessness, yet not as much as he truly was. Neither of them spoke about it, keeping their secrets hidden.
Upon leaving the hospital, Aoife encountered a man. Finn noticed the man in the photo and realized he was Ethan, the young master of the Jiang family. He had switched to acting and had worked alongside Aoife, playing the second lead.
Watching them holding hands, Finn grinded his teeth, chuckling coldly. He finally understood why Aoife had left so decisively – she had found someone else.
Finding a new partner so quickly, their intimacy, holding hands, wearing his clothes, being picked up – they probably started getting close during their time on set.
Perhaps Aoife had already wanted to leave him when she was still by his side.
With a sullen expression, Finn’s face twisted. He wished he could cut off the hands intertwined and put them on a knife-edge.