“Millicent, what’s wrong? You haven’t been answering my calls or messages. Are you still angry about what happened last time?” Elio asked helplessly. He had been busy recently and might have neglected Millicent.
Without Irene’s reminder, he would sometimes forget to contact Millicent because he was busy with work.
Ever since Irene’s wedding was over, Elio had rarely spent time with Millicent. What an incompetent boyfriend he was! It was inevitable that Millicent would get angry.
However, Millicent wasn’t one to hold a grudge or be unreasonable. Perhaps everything would be fine if Elio could talk to her and appease her anger.
“No, haven’t you been busy lately? I didn’t want to disturb you,” Millicent said expressionlessly.
Recently, Millicent had spent a lot of time thinking about this matter at home. Perhaps they weren’t a good match for each other. However, she really liked Elio and didn’t want to give up just like that. Was she really going to doubt her friend and lover just because of her negative feelings?
This wasn’t her style, nor was it her personality.
However, Millicent would sometimes feel a strange lump in her heart when she looked at Irene and Elio. They seemed to be a match made in heaven. Even she, Elio’s official girlfriend, didn’t seem to have a chance to take part in their conversation or their life.
It felt like someone was tearing her heart apart. It hurt her immensely, but Millicent knew it would be more painful for her to give up on Elio.
Over the past few days, Millicent had forgiven Elio. However, she didn’t want to make it easy for him, so she ignored his calls and texts.
“Really?” Elio asked in confusion.
“Has my little princess forgiven me? I’m honoured.”
Millicent chuckled in amusement because she liked the way he said it.
“Alright, alright. I’ve forgiven you,” Millicent said with a joyful smile.
“Millicent, it’s my bad. I didn’t notice how you were feeling recently. But you don’t have to worry-I won’t do it again,” Elio said as he stared into Millicent’s eyes.
It was true that Elio still had some residual feelings for Irene. After all, he had loved her for a long time and it was impossible for him to let her go immediately. However, he was well aware that Irene loved Edward, not him.
Even if Edward was no longer here, he was still the most important person in her heart. How could Elio replace him?
Instead of making Irene feel guilty towards him because he liked her, Elio figured it would be best for him to let go of his feelings and start anew. After all, if things continued like this, perhaps they wouldn’t even be friends in the future.
He buried his emotions in the bottom of his heart, waiting for the day when he could let her go completely. Perhaps another girl would be able to lead him and give him a fresh start.
That girl was Millicent, and Elio was very sure about that.
Millicent met Elio’s eyes and was suddenly reminded of the conversation that she had overheard between the staff a few days ago.
“Mr. Ann looks at President Jones with such love and affection in his eyes! He doesn’t seem to do that to his girlfriend!”
There was a shadow that obscured Millicent’s heart.
Millicent didn’t want to dwell on the topic any longer. She lowered her head and ate as she listened to Elio talk about things that happened in the company recently.
“Millicent, Irene is really amazing, you know?”
“The company is huge! But she managed to grasp and master how to manage it in such a short period of time! It’s really amazing-”
“She also hasn’t been sleeping for a while now, and she refuses to listen to me. In the end, Claudia had to drag her away and force her to get some rest.”
“Moreover, Irene has never studied business before. I really admire her talent-”
Almost every sentence that came out of Elio’s mouth was about Irene. Millicent slammed her spoon on the table and said, “I’m full.”
…
“What? But you haven’t eaten much. How are you full?” Elio asked when he noticed that she had barely touched her food.
“It’s okay. My appetite has been bad recently,” Millicent said. In the end, she had to admit that she was jealous of Irene. Elio had spent more time with Irene than he had with her.
“Okay. Then I’ll send you home first,” Elio said. He failed to notice her strange behaviour.
“Okay.”
…
Irene was walking alone on the street. She didn’t ask someone to pick her up, and she wasn’t driving either.
When Irene learned that Elio was dating Millicent, she was very happy for them.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t aware of Elio’s feelings for her, but she knew she only loved Edward. Therefore, she could only turn Elio down. However, she also knew that Millicent really liked Elio. They had a pretty complicated relationship.
Now that they were dating, Irene could finally breathe a sigh of relief. It was common for young couples to quarrel, but they would soon reconcile after their fight.
Irene knew Millicent well and she knew she wasn’t one to hold grudges. She had been quite worried that Millicent would misunderstand her relationship with Elio, but her worries were cleared when she saw how they talked to each other at the restaurant earlier.
As night fell, the bright and shining lights of the city drove away the darkness. However, they couldn’t warm Irene’s freezing heart. Like a zombie, she wandered the streets of the city aimlessly.
The colourful neon lights lit up and livened the night’s atmosphere. It was a beautiful sight. Despite the hustle and bustle of the city, Irene felt like she was trapped in her grief.
As she strolled about, she noticed an old woman had tripped and fallen by the roadside. There weren’t many people around, and those who passed by ignored the old woman. They wanted to save themselves the trouble of helping her up.
The city folks thought it was better to avoid troublesome matters.
However, Irene couldn’t bear to see it, so she headed towards the old woman to help her get up.
“Granny, are you alright? Can you stand?” Irene asked with concern.
A passerby happened to walk by them. Irene met eyes with him, and she found that he was looking at her in disdain. His eyes seemed to mock her and say, “Hey, look! We’ve found another fool who has been swindled by this old woman! Just you wait, the old woman will soon blackmail you!”
People had a tendency to put on an indifferent mask and assumed malicious things about other people. Even though they would surely want other people to show compassion to them in the future, they wouldn’t regret treating other people in this manner.
“I can. Alas, my body is old and weak. I tripped and fell because my gait wasn’t steady,” said the old woman. With Irene’s support, the old woman managed to stand up shakily.
Irene supported her and led her to the little stall that had been set up on the sidewalk. It seemed to belong to the old woman.
“Granny, are you all right? Do you need to go to the hospital?” Irene asked with concern.
“I’ll be fine. It’s just a minor fall. I didn’t break anything or hurt myself. I just didn’t have the strength to stand up once again. I’m really grateful for your help, young lady,” said the old lady.
“Many people are afraid of being blackmailed or scammed nowadays. Do I look like that sort of person? What an indifferent and cold world we live in today! Many people passed by me and pretended not to have noticed anything as they walked past,” huffed the old woman.
“Miss, you are such a kind-hearted individual. Good people like you will surely be rewarded.”
Irene smiled and remained silent.
“Allow me to read your tarot cards as a way to repay your kindness.”
“A tarot divination?” Irene asked in surprise.
The street lights were dim, but Irene could see the old woman’s stall clearly. She had never noticed it before.
A deck of tarot cards and a crystal ball were displayed on the little table.
Irene was at a loss for words and didn’t know how to react. The old woman had turned out to be a fortune teller!
“Thank you, Granny. However, I don’t believe in these things,” Irene said in refusal.
“Please, I must repay your kindness somehow.”
Now that the old woman had said something like that, Irene didn’t want to refuse her anymore. Perhaps the old woman was just lonely and wanted to talk to somebody.
“Okay, I suppose it won’t hurt to try,” Irene said with some thought.
“Pick a card,” said the old woman. Irene selected a tarot card from the deck and flipped it. The old woman took Irene’s hands in her palms and examined them.
“It’s the wheel of fortune, reversed,” Irene said. She thought the old woman might have some trouble reading the card.
“The wheel of fortune, I see. The cards are speaking to me. You’ve lost someone close to you. I see a great body of water in my crystal ball-perhaps this is where you lost them,” said the old woman.
Irene was surprised to hear what the old woman said. Indeed, she had lost someone dear to her, and the great body of water must’ve been referring to the ocean!
“Is he… Is the person alright?” Irene asked anxiously.
The old woman signalled for her to continue listening.
“The future is murky, but I see it! He is alive and well. However, he has lost something dear to him.”
Edward was alive?!
Irene was overjoyed. She could have hope as long as he was alive. Subconsciously, she ignored the part where he had lost something.
Irene wasn’t aware that Edward had now adopted a new identity by the name of Liam Nilson. The important thing that he had lost was his memory!
“Will he one day return to me?” Irene asked. At the thought of Edward, she wondered why he hadn’t found a way to return to her if he was still alive.
“Only time will tell,” said the old woman. She fell silent after that.
“What do you mean, Granny?” Irene asked anxiously.
“Miss, only the heavens know what fate lies in store for us,” said the old woman as she pointed at the night sky.
Irene was speechless as she looked at the mysterious old woman on the street. For a moment, the old woman looked like she was a powerful entity. However, when Irene took another look at her, she appeared to be a regular old woman.