Leland Burns had been away for forty-five days, making a business deal in the Midlands. Sitting on the plane, he touched the ring hanging around his neck.
These five years felt unbearably long to him. He still suffered from insomnia and often dreamt of Winifred Dawson, sometimes hearing his voice as if it were real.
In his wallet, there was a photo of Winifred Dawson. For five years, he had obsessively looked at her picture. He even learned to paint, showing a natural talent for sketching and oil painting. His villa had a dedicated studio filled with paintings of Winifred Dawson, all imagined by him.
He wondered what she would look like if she were alive. At twenty-five, she might have curly hair, more mature and beautiful than her nineteen-year-old self. He painted her with long hair, short hair, curls, and straight hair that men liked. He depicted her in long dresses, casual clothes, sleeping, reading… Each painting made her seem so real as if she had been modeling for him all these years.
Time’s cruelty struck him; despite looking at her photos daily and painting countless images of her, his memory of her true appearance grew increasingly blurred. Sometimes when someone mentioned “Winifred Dawson,” he would be momentarily stunned.
Even in his dreams, Winifred Dawson’s face became less clear over time. Now he could hardly see her face in his dreams.
Sometimes, looking at her photo felt unfamiliar.
If she became unfamiliar, maybe it was time to let go.
Leland Burns tried to remove the ring from his neck several times but couldn’t bring himself to do it. Even when he managed to take it off, the absence around his neck felt wrong. His hand would instinctively reach for it and find nothing there, so he always ended up putting it back on.
Habit was more terrifying than forgetting.
Leland Burns returned to Peachshire Town. Over the years, spring turned to autumn repeatedly; days passed into months and years. The surroundings changed significantly with urban redevelopment-skyscrapers and bright neon lights at night.
Autumn Joy Estate and North Bankshire remained largely unchanged.
Leland Burns lived alone in Autumn Joy Estate. The house was too large, so he hired people monthly to clean and maintain the garden. He lived alone most of the time, managing his own life-cooking and doing laundry. He disliked having others in his private space.
He only kept a driver and an assistant for daily needs.
The estate lacked proper management; many flowers died, especially the roses around the central fountain. They were uprooted when they died, leaving wild grass to grow unchecked-completely different from when red roses bloomed everywhere.
…
As for Garrison Reeves, he had been searching for Winifred Dawson all these years but found no trace of her. Since the discovery of that female corpse, there had been no other bodies found. Whether Winifred Dawson was dead or alive remained unknown; only those who loved her believed she was still alive.
The police had already filed Winifred Dawson as deceased.
Garrison Reeves refused to give up. After five years of searching without success, he tiredly chose a plot in Peachshire Town Cemetery and erected a tombstone for Winifred Dawson-a cenotaph near Gu Chaodong’s grave.
Leland Burns no longer searched for Winifred Dawson but occasionally heard news about Garrison Reeves.
Upon returning home and hearing that Garrison Reeves had erected a tombstone for Winifred Dawson in the cemetery, Leland Burns immediately went there without resting.
From a distance, he saw the newly erected stone with five words engraved on it:
–Grave of Winifred Dawson
There was also a photo of Winifred Dawson on the tombstone. Leland Burns arrived with anger but paused upon seeing the black-and-white photo on the stone.
The photo used was from Winifred Dawson’s ID card. Usually, ID photos don’t flatter people, but this one was beautiful-showing her smooth forehead and delicate features clearly.
In the photo, Winifred Dawson smiled sweetly with slightly upturned lips revealing small canine teeth and shallow dimples on her cheeks. Her eyes were clear and bright; her whole face exuded gentle warmth.
The ID photo was taken when she was sixteen-still very young then. Leland Burns hadn’t seen such a smile from Winifred Dawson in a long time; seeing it again on this cold stone felt surreal.
He stopped about six or seven meters away from the tombstone-a few steps could close this distance-but each step felt heavy as if crossing between life and death.
Leland Burns brought people with him today: bodyguards for his safety-three guards plus a driver-all tall and strong men radiating power.
Leland Burns couldn’t tolerate seeing Winifred Dawson’s photo on this tombstone; it felt too ominous. In his heart, she wasn’t dead yet-even if another ten or twenty or fifty years passed without finding her body-she wasn’t dead until proven otherwise.
No one could erect a tombstone for someone not dead!
He intended to demolish this cenotaph and destroy the tombstone.
“Go smash it!” Leland Burns ordered coldly; his subordinates rushed forward immediately to start dismantling the grave.
Garrison Reeves visited this cemetery whenever possible; today he arrived late-around five o’clock-and noticed something amiss upon arrival: a car parked at the entrance seemed freshly parked based on tire marks-an unusual sight at this hour since today wasn’t any special occasion.
Garrison Reeves initially planned just to walk past but recognized Leland Burns’ license plate upon glancing casually at it-
Leland Burns was here?
Feeling uneasy instantly without bringing anyone along except his driver today-Garrison Reeves hurried inside towards where loud noises came from-the direction of Winifred Dawson’s tombstone undoubtedly-
“Leland Burns!” Garrison Reeves gritted out through clenched teeth wondering why after all these years Leland Burns still opposed him everywhere!
At five o’clock in this chilly cemetery with eerie winds blowing around-Garrison Reeves ran anxiously towards where Leland Burns led people dismantling graves-the tombstone nearly toppled over already…