Out of fear, Finn had to resort to ruthless means to keep Aoife by his side, hoping to trap her with him for a lifetime.
How long is a lifetime? With gray hair intertwined, even without feelings, they would grow old together and die together.
Upon hearing Finn’s words, Aoife seemed to find it a big joke.
What did he mean by being the one who least wanted Ethan to die?
“The person who least wants Ethan to die is his family, his parents who raised him, his fans who love him. And you,” Aoife looked at him quietly for two seconds, a mocking curve forming at the corner of her mouth, “what are you?”
Her tongue had not healed yet, every word she spoke was painful, almost trembling as she finished speaking.
Finn did not wish for Ethan to die, not because he truly didn’t want to, but because after Ethan’s death, he would lose his leverage over Aoife.
In his eyes, Ethan was truly not worth it, just as much as the performance data he saw at work.
Unable to do anything against those who hurt her, Aoife was not as clever as Hattie nor had the strength to kill Finn. The only thing she could do was to kill herself.
But now, even “suicide” had become a luxury, as Hattie had told her in prison.
She had to outlive these scumbags. Yet, she couldn’t live longer… she had never imagined that living could be so painful.
She looked up at the sun in the sky, it was so glaring, yet she couldn’t help but look. In that halo of light, she seemed to see Ethan’s blurry figure, waving at her, smiling at her, the dimples on his face so sweet, as if they could suck people in.
Her hand on her thigh, her ring finger moved unconsciously.
Ethan, Ethan, Ethan…
“You haven’t healed your tongue yet, speak less and rest more, about the school…”
Finn was interrupted by Aoife before he could finish his sentence.
“I’m not going, I will go through the school withdrawal procedures. After completing them, I want to go back to my hometown, to bring the ashes of the child…”
Whether Aoife went to school or not was unimportant to Finn, he could afford her. Besides, he genuinely thought it was good for Aoife not to go to school. He didn’t know what kind of people she would encounter at school or what they might do to her.
Just like when she was cornered and bullied, he only found out afterwards. Although he warned the school, no matter how much he protected her, it was better to be by her side.
“Alright, it’s up to you.”
Aoife stayed in the hospital for a week before returning home, where she needed to rest for another ten days.
On a summer night, the stars were plentiful. Aoife’s biological clock was completely messed up, sleeping during the day and watching the stars at night. Counting the stars one by one, looking for the brightest one among the starry sky.
Finn was away on a business trip, and Linda was the one who stood by Aoife.
Seeing the light still on in the main bedroom at night, she sneakily opened the door to take a look. She was shocked to see Aoife standing on a stool in front of the window, with the window wide open. The cold wind blew her nightgown, making her appear as if she was suspended in midair, as if she could fall out of the window at any moment.
The window sill of the second floor was not too high, even if she fell, the lawn below would not kill her, at most, she would suffer from sprains and be sore for days.
Linda’s heart raced, both nervous and afraid of startling Aoife. She called out softly, “Miss Powell.”
Linda was in charge of watching over Aoife, making sure there were no sharp objects in sight at home, even the kitchen knives were locked in a box by the chef, fearing that Aoife might do something foolish. If anything happened to Aoife, she would be the first one held responsible.
Aoife’s figure swayed by the window, as if she was about to jump.
Linda’s heart leapt to her throat, she seized the opportunity, and in an instant, she rushed towards Aoife, hugging her legs tightly, preventing her from falling.
“Miss Powell, please don’t do anything drastic.” She was afraid Aoife would fall, but she was also afraid that Aoife would fall off the stool. She dared not move, only holding onto her tightly and pleading with her.
Aoife raised her eyelids in confusion, looking down at Linda’s pale face, before gazing at the hands that enveloped her legs. “What’s the matter?”
Aoife was wearing a nightgown, bare legs feeling cold. Linda’s heart raced, feeling that no matter how much she tried to warm up her body, she couldn’t stop her from feeling cold.
Finally, Aoife reacted and smiled slightly as if it was amusing. “Are you afraid I’ll jump out the window and commit suicide?”
Wasn’t that it?
“At this height, I wouldn’t die even if I jumped down. If I could die, I would have done it when I was forced into madness by Finn.”
Although she said that, Linda felt uneasy watching Aoife’s lifeless face and blank eyes.
“So why are you up here at this height?” Linda asked.
Aoife turned her head, her gaze shifting from the sky to the ground below. “To watch the stars. The stars are particularly beautiful at night, he has always been there…”
Linda mistakenly thought that Aoife couldn’t sleep and was passing the time by looking at the stars, but it was not the case.
– The person I love, he said he would become a star in the sky, and from then on, I fell in love with watching the stars.
Aoife looked at the stars in the sky with a faint gaze, counting how many stars were there today.
Countless stars, and today she had counted 5230 stars.
“Miss Powell, it’s windy and cold at night. Let’s come down first, so you won’t catch a cold.” As Linda gently pulled Aoife down, Aoife followed her lead, bending her legs, her toes touching the ground. She had been standing for too long, her legs felt weak and numb, staggering slightly, but Linda caught her in time.
“Are you okay? Miss Powell.”
Aoife shook her head, one hand resting on the windowsill.
Seeing her stabilize, Linda moved the stool away and went to close the curtains… “clatter-…”
“Linda, do you think it would hurt when you jump off a building and hit the ground?”
Linda’s hand frozen on the curtain, she turned to see Aoife’s desolate look.
“I once saw a news report. A man jumped off a thirty-something-story building and fell onto a construction site below. The steel bars pierced through his body, the scene was pixelated, but the bloodshed was gruesome. Even just watching on TV, I felt sick. How painful do you think it was for that person who died from jumping off a building?”
“Three floors, a few meters higher than this…” Aoife’s gaze shifted from the sky to the ground below, “How much pain must Ethan have felt… The news said, at the time, he even pushed the knife into his own heart, as his body fell on the ground, the knife pierced his heart, stuck in his ribs, unable to be pulled out…”
Aoife’s calm voice began to choke up, “Linda, you don’t know how afraid of pain Ethan was. When he was learning to cook, even a splash of oil would make him scream. He had a fear of heights, and he cared about his appearance… The final scene of his life, jumping off a building with a knife stabbed in his heart, his face hitting the ground…”
Linda was starting to feel chills from Aoife’s calm tone and dead eyes.
“And how high up he was at that moment when he jumped-…” Aoife continued, “How scared he must have been, the blood loss hurting so much… Linda, can you imagine?”
Aoife’s voice faded, and she slumped to the ground, her eyes staring blankly.