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Knowing all this, I can only feel a pang of regret.
I no longer harbor any hatred for him.
With the passage of time, I’ve slowly begun to forget the pain he inflicted.
Even if it were a complete stranger ending up like this…
I’d still feel a pang of sympathy.
But only a pang, mind you. After all, I have my own life to live.
After the wedding, Isaac Hawthorn and I slowly started to reconnect. We’d been classmates
in university, but ever since I got together with Ricky Lancaster, I cut myself off from other guys.
At first, all I heard was that he’d joined the entertainment industry too.
And was making quite the splash.
Ricky Lancaster, concerned about appearances, point–blank refused to contact Isaac
Hawthorn.
way.
I was the one who had to swallow my pride and reach out.
After that, Ricky Lancaster’s career just skyrocketed. More and more opportunities came his
When Ricky Lancaster was just cresting the wave as an A–List Celebrity, Isaac Hawthorn had already been reigning supreme as Best Actor for years.
I know he’s not one for fancy words, but he has a good heart.
So, when I was utterly desperate, I turned to him for help.
After half a year of getting to know each other, Isaac took me to meet his family, back to his
hometown.
He held a black umbrella in one hand, my hand in the other, as we arrived at the cemetery in
the drizzling rain.
That’s where his parents were buried.
Turns out, he’s just like me – an orphan since childhood.
He was raised by his grandfather, Isaac’s grandfather.
I reckon that’s part of why he’s helping me.
Walking into his villa, I met Isaac’s grandfather.
He greeted me with a beaming smile, playfully asking:
“Has this rascal been giving you trouble? If he’s not treating you right, you come straight to Grandpa, and I’ll sort him out, I swear.”
him.
I, who was initially so tense, suddenly felt a wave of warmth.
Grandpa’s a real sweetheart. He didn’t look down on my past, but rather, he said I had s
“If you hadn’t married this little rascal, I’d have sworn he was doomed to be a bachelor
forever.”
4:10 pm GDD G.
her.”
The corners of my lips curved upward, and my eyes grew slightly damp.
It felt as if I were seeing Grandma again.
Isaac Hawthorn gently wiped away my tears and led me to his room.
I regarded the photos arranged on the table with a detached curiosity.
They documented his life from childhood onward.
Suddenly, a photo lying face down on the table snagged my attention.
I carefully lifted it.
The photo showed the back of a girl in a school uniform, her hair in a ponytail.
I asked Isaac Hawthorn with a strained smile, “So, this is your secret crush, huh?”
Isaac Hawthorn’s eyes shone like stars, fixed on me. “Yes,” he said, “I’ve always had a crush or
A bitter ache settled in my heart as I silently straightened the photos.
I rose, desperate to look at anything else.
But Isaac Hawthorn grabbed my arm and yanked me onto his lap.
“Little fool, are you jealous?”
“Take a closer look. Who’s the person in the photo?”
He gazed at me adoringly until the shocking truth dawned on me.
The girl in the photo wore a hair clip identical to one I’d worn back in college.
I was stunned. How could this be!
So, it turns out that in that frigid winter,
Isaac Hawthorn discovered I was being victimized and reported it to the police.
He even had Ricky Lancaster give me his coat.
He said he wasn’t cut out for that sort of thing.
“You’re telling me you saved me, and that coat was yours?”
I looked up, asking incredulously:
“Yes, I’ve kept that coat all this time.”
“Too bad you heartless thing threw yourself into another man’s arms.”
“I bitterly regret not giving you that coat myself back then.”
“But it’s not too late, thank goodness you’re back with me again.”
“Cynthia, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Isaac Hawthorn gazed at me with such profound affection, yet also a nervous trepidation, as
if terrified I might utter a single syllable of refusal.
A surge of warmth flooded my heart, and tears streamed down my face, each one a bead broken from a string of pearls.
So, the boy who rescued me from the darkness had never given up on me after all.
“I do!”
Isaac gently kissed away the tears at the corner of my eye. At twenty–seven, Isaac Hawthorn had finally found Cynthia Thompson, the object of his eighteen–year–old heart.
